Whether it was well-intended or not, when Democrats showed up to the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center wearing kente cloth stoles in a show of Black “solidarity,” the gesture came off as clueless.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD ) kneeled for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. That’s how long former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on the neck of George Floyd.
Congressional Democrats wore the traditional African cloth to announce the Justice in Policing Act — sweeping legislation aimed at increasing the accountability of police officers.
The kente cloth stoles were handed out by the Congressional Black Caucus.
While the proposed police reform act has been praised, people reacted to the kente cloth-clad politicians on social media.
“Well this happened. @SpeakerPelosi finally broke her ominous SILENCE on the national uprisings against white supremacist violence. And while she looks fetching in her African patterned shawl we’re not going for SYMBOLIC GESTURES. LAWS AND PROSECUTIONS.
Oh yeah and #CutTheCheck“, Black Authority tweeted @TheBlackChannel.
“This is so racist. Wearing Kente cloth and kneeling like white gods in unity as a performance not policy changes. Burn it down. Fvck Capitalism” Dinah is more than a Vote tweeted @DinahPoellnitz.
Rodney D. Pierce @MrRDPierce called for Democrats to focus on reparations, not kente. He tweeted, “@SpeakerPelosi and @DNC, while the Kente Cloth is laughable at best, you and the party would show true solidarity by giving my people our #Reparations, the debt that’s owed by the US government for chattel slavery, Jim Crow & ongoing racial injustice. #Reparations2020.”
But Rep. Bass, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, defended the clothing accessory choice to MSNBC.
Written by Ann Brown
Source: moguldom.com
