Political Quotes

“I join with my colleague, Congresswoman Plaskett, and I am very honored to be able to join with her as one of the coanchors for the Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour. Tonight, as my colleague indicated, we are here to honor the life and legacy of a civil rights icon, the honorable Judge Damon Keith, who was also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. Judge Keith was born on July 4, 1922, the grandson of slaves, who went on to become an internationally revered champion of justice. Judge Keith has vigorously enforced the Nation's civil rights laws, most notably in the areas of employment and education. In Stamps v. Detroit Edison Company, Judge Keith ruled the Detroit Edison Company had practiced systemic racial discrimination, resulting in fines against the company of $4 million and against the employee union of $250,000. He ordered the company to institute an aggressive affirmative action program. In 2016, Judge Keith wrote a searing dissent when an appeals panel ruled that Ohio's voting rights laws did not discriminate against minorities by restricting early and absentee ballots. He said in that dissent: ``The birth of this Nation was founded upon the radical principle that we, as a people, would govern ourselves. And voting is the ultimate expression of self-government.…”