Al Green Accuses Trump Of 'Injecting Racism Into Presidential Policy' In Pushing Texas Redistricting

On the House floor, Rep. Al Green (D-TX) slammed President Trump for attempting to get Texas to redistrict.

Transcript

00:00Mr. Speaker, and still I rise, a liberated Democrat, unbought, unbossed, unafraid,

00:16censured, but not silenced. And I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to address the topic of racism

00:25infused in Texas politics. Racism infused into Texas politics. Mr. Speaker, I have in my hand a letter

00:35from the Justice Department. It is a letter that has as its reference unconstitutional race-based

00:45congressional districts, and then it cites the districts. Texas District 9, occupied by a person

00:54of color. Texas 18, was occupied by a person of color who is deceased, to be filled soon.

01:0229, occupied by a person of color. 33, occupied by a person of color. Now this letter goes on

01:12to infuse race into the conversation. Read the last line, last sentence, in the last paragraph.

01:22It reads, if the state of Texas fails to rectify the racial gerrymandering of Texas 9, Texas 18,

01:33Texas 29, and Texas 33, the Attorney General reserves the right to seek legal action against the state,

01:44including, including, without limitation, under the 14th Amendment. So, race has been infused into this letter.

01:54It is sent to the Honorable Greg Abbott, that's the governor of the state of Texas, and the Honorable Ken Paxson.

02:03Dear friends, at the end of the day, if they can fulfill what they proclaim in this letter,

02:14there will be more white representation in Congress from Texas, and less black and Latino representation.

02:22This is nothing more than an attempt to silence many of the voices that are emanating from communities of color

02:31in the state of Texas. It is racist. Now there in this country seems to be a problem with people saying racist.

02:39It's okay to say anti-Semitism, but don't say racism. Racism has not received the same amount of acclaim

02:47when it comes to dealing with racist issues that anti-Semitism has received when it comes to dealing with things that are anti-Semitic.

02:55Well, I'm not afraid. I'm going to speak truth to power and about power. And here is the truth.

03:02Under this president, under this president, Republicanism, Republicanism is eroding and devolving into racism.

03:13Under this president, who has declined to allow persons from countries of color to come into the country

03:20when he has opened the door to Anglos from South Africa. This president has found a way to circumvent

03:27what would ordinarily be a society that appreciates and respects people of all colors. And he's turning society against people of color.

03:36This letter, if they succeed with this, will be the equivalent of having a mid-decade redistricting

03:44without the empirical evidence necessary to do it with a sense of justice. They will do this, and in so doing

03:51it's comparable to having the halftime at a basketball game, and one team decides, because they have the power to do so,

03:59to remove two players from the other team, and let that team proceed with three players, and they'll now proceed with five.

04:07Oh no! Wait, you have to have ten players on the floor. So what they'll do is, they'll just take those two players

04:13and they'll add them to their team. So they'll play with seven, and the other team will play with three.

04:18They are diminishing the amount of representation that people of color will have in the state of Texas.

04:25Republicanism is being equated to racism too often in this country, and that is not the case.

04:31Republicanism has always been about conservative policies, but now they're about racist policy.

04:37This president is infusing, injecting racism into presidential policy. It is unconstitutional.

04:44I'm going to fight it, but more than that, I'm going to tell the truth about it.

04:48And if I happen to be one of those who is extricated, who is removed, evicted, if I happen to be one of those,

04:55I will be bloodied but not unbound. Nobody is going to silence me. You can come after me, but you won't stop me.

05:03You won't silence me. I refuse to allow Republicanism in the form of racism to dictate the policies in the state of Texas

05:11without my voice being heard. And finally this. Friends, I have on my Texas tie. I'm proud to represent my state.

05:22The gentleman's time's expired. And I'm proud to say I stand against Republicanism as racism.

05:28Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities towards the president.