On the recordSeptember 28, 2023
I am so proud to be an American, and I am proud to be an American because the world watches as this experiment of so many different communities--racial, ethnic, and religious groups-- have come together. By and large, we have been successful--our United States military, our educational system, and our neighborhoods. I am so proud to be a Houstonian, an eclectic city with so many different, wonderful diverse communities, including the LGBTQ+ community. Mr. Chair, I rise today with shock and dismay because my good friend from Colorado has a train wreck of amendments against those of color and diversity as well as the LGBTQ+ community. Day after day, after all of these appropriations, these poison pill riders of getting rid of the Office of Civil Rights, getting rid of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, is absolutely absurd. Why? Because I lived exclusion in this Nation, but it didn't make me bitter. We worked. We struggled. We marched. We died. Those in the civil rights movement died. Dr. King was killed because he insisted on a place where we did not discriminate because of the color of your skin. Some have turned that around, but what he was saying is that race exists, and it still does in discrimination against people who are different and diverse. {time} 1315 Why did I have honors classes, and yet no college recruitment came, or I was not invited to any college recruitment in my high school?…
