On the recordJune 24, 2015
I thank the gentleman for those remarks. Mr. Speaker, last Wednesday, Dylann Roof walked into Emanuel AME and stole the lives of nine innocent Americans. In the days since, somehow we have lost track of the real problems. We keep talking about a flag, a flag that is a symbol of many our Nation's most glaring problems, but it is only a symbol. I don't want to get too far off track, but I do want to make something perfectly clear. Symbols may matter, but they don't matter as much as the actions of police who consistently treat black men and women with clear and biased disregard. Symbols don't matter as much as the mandatory sentencing laws that have propped up a prison industry with hundreds of thousands of Black men. Symbols don't matter as much as the predatory loan structures that put Black homeowners underwater and decimated the Black middle class, practices that banks were never truly held accountable for. So, alongside those calls to take down the flag, I would appreciate calls to acknowledge that persistent racism is not the only problem here. Pervasive and unnecessary gun violence is also one of our Nation's most pronounced flaws. Mr. Speaker, let me say this: I fully support the permanent removal of the Confederate flag. It represents one the darkest stains on our Nation's history. It represents baseless hate, disrespect for the civil rights and freedoms this Nation was founded upon, and enduring mistreatment in communities of color.…
