Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the manager for her leadership. I also thank all of those on the floor who understand the indignity of…”

“I thank the manager for her leadership. I also thank all of those on the floor who understand the indignity of massacres, racism, and devastating histories that our country has faced. We, too, are Americans, and I love this country. Last night, on the floor of the House, I said that, as a young girl, I knew about the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria; I knew about Columbus and Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. And that was well, though, obviously, there are challenges to that history, even today. That is what we knew. But we did not know the history--the slave history or even the fact that there was something called Tulsa, Oklahoma, a bright and shining star of economic opportunity. This picture shows young girls dancing in a parade, just like today, with cowboy hats on, the high school dance team, if you will. None of that was taught to any of us, this prosperous place. And then a community known as Greenwood, in June of 1921, after a series of heinous events that nearly entirely destroyed Greenwood. We knew nothing about this. A hundred years; three living descendants. We will be on our way. I thank the Congressional Black Caucus for championing this with me, and Chairwoman Beatty for understanding the validity of telling the truth. In this story, they saw men, women, and children driven like cattle, huddled like horses, and treated like beasts.…”