Did Republicans do the right thing?
Back in July 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to acknowledge the role that slaves played in the construction of the U.S. Capitol building.
The vote that day was 399-1.
That one “no” vote came from Steve King of Iowa.
King has accumulated quite a list of eyebrow-raising, racially insensitive actions since he was first elected to Congress back in 2003.
Now in his ninth term, there are lots of people, especially many of his fellow Republicans, who’re hoping he finds his way back to Iowa – and stays there.
It all started when he gave an interview for the New York Times, and he asked a pretty dumb question: “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”
King doesn’t understand that the phrases white nationalist and white supremacist have (or should have) been considered offensive since they were first uttered.
King is a guy who proudly displays a Confederate flag on his desk, even though his state (Iowa) fought on the side of the North during the Civil War.
That’s just another of King’s, well, greatest hits.
Another is he’s called the Congressional Black Caucus, and the Hispanic Caucus “separatist groups.”
So, despite King’s previous, and plentiful, indiscretions, Republican leaders in Congress finally drew the line and sprouted a conscience after he publicly implied that white supremacists are inoffensive.
So, the Republican leadership of the House gave Rep. King a rather rare (dis)honor. By stripping him of all committee assignments, King is one of only three Republicans in the House who’re now committee-less.
The other two (Duncan Hunter of California, and Chris Collins of New York) are currently under indictment.
I’m not going to give Republicans any credit for doing something they should have done years ago.
They shouldn’t take a bow for this.
Especially since right after the reelection of Barack Obama in 2012, Republicans released their 100-page autopsy report, known as the “Growth and Opportunity Project.”
In it, Republicans acknowledged that African-Americans, Hispanics and a majority of women had largely avoided the Republican Party like the plague because they hadn’t felt welcome.
So, there would be a concerted effort to attract minorities and women, blah, blah, blah, so that they might vote, blah, blah, in upcoming elections, blah, blah, blah.
Here’s what those blah, blahs look like in print: “If Hispanic Americans perceive that a GOP nominee or candidate does not want them in the United States (i.e. self-deportation), they will not pay attention to our next sentence,” it says right there on page eight.
Heck! That sounds like some mighty sage advice.
Enter Donald Trump.
He set sail on his presidential campaign, by doing everything he could to alienate Hispanics and African-Americans, and women, too.
Republicans who had studied their demise in the previous presidential election, stepped aside while Trump (the original birther) insulted his way into the White House.
The only Republican presidential candidate who even paid heed to the so-called “Growth and Opportunity Project” report, was Rand Paul.
Paul did attempt to build a little outreach to minorities, but his candidacy didn’t last beyond the first presidential primary.
Republicans, instead, preferred the guy who has a longer history of racial insensitivity (Donald Trump) than Steve King.
Ironically, as King sat precariously in the hot seat for his New York Times interview, Trump hurled racially tinged tweets in the direction of Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
He made a joke, and included the events of Bighorn and Wounded Knee, for good measure.
That drew the ire of Republican U.S. Senator Mike Rounds.
“The Wounded Knee Massacre was one of the darkest moments in our history. It should never be used as a punchline,” Rounds tweeted.
Those words will, no doubt, be the last words from a Republican in Congress on the subject.
Rounds is a Senator from South Dakota.
The Wounded Knee Massacre took place there.
The overwhelming number of Republicans in Congress will ignore Trump’s “joke.”
Warren is running for president. Republicans don’t want to get caught defending her.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 20-year TV news veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.