Political Quotes

“Madam President, last week marked the beginning of Black History Month. And so I come to the floor today to celebrate the important roles Black Americans have played both in my home State of Maryland and in U.S. foreign policy. Paying homage to our country's rich Black heritage--including learning about the challenges Black Americans have overcome--makes our Nation stronger, both at home and abroad. But in recent years, this history has become increasingly polarized and politicized. The rise of the ``war on woke'' has led to a growing hostility toward diversity and inclusivity. It has led to the rewriting and even omitting, of brutal, but significant parts of our Nation's story. We cannot allow this to overshadow our celebration. We must not shy away from studying our Nation's history with thoughtful critique. We should not settle for sanitized lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, and others in America's classrooms-- because Black History Month, like many of our cultural heritage months, should be a time to illuminate stories that may otherwise get lost. Overlooking such stories, especially in a State like Maryland, a place rich with Black history, would be a travesty--Maryland, the site of Kunta Kinte's arrival at the docks in Annapolis, as told in Alex Haley's ``Roots''; Maryland, home to greats like Harriet Tubman and Thurgood Marshall; Maryland, where Black waterman have lived on the Eastern Shore for generations.…”