Given the racist, xenophobic rhetoric that has been just about the only consistent thing about Trump’s presidency, it’s no surprise during Black History Month, Senate GOP would decide to diss an African American woman by silencing her.
Just this past week, Senate confirmed Jess Sessions to be attorney general in Trump’s cabinet. The controversy surrounding Sessions involves his questionable history on Civil Rights. An article from the Chicago Tribune accused Sessions of trying to mislead Senate into thinking he was a champion of civil rights. Really, he just signed his name to a piece of paper. He has called organizations such as the NAACP and American Civil Liberties Union “un-American.” Back in 1986, Sessions was rejected from becoming a federal district court judge. Part of what contributed to his rejections was the voice of Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr.
Senator Elizabeth Warren read part of the letter Coretta Scott King wrote which accused Sessions of suppressing black voters. In yet another move which toes the line between fascism and democracy, majority party leader Mitch McConnell basically forbid Warren from speaking again about Sessions’ nomination. He used the guise of Rule 19, “which prohibits a senator from impugning the character” of Sessions. A simplified narrative is a white woman used her platform of privilege to try to elevate the voice of a woman of color and was shut down by white men. The sad truth is this nothing new.
Even sadder is the truth that the only way a black woman could be heard on the Senate floor, during Black History Month nonetheless, is when a white man quoted her. This didn’t escape Stephen Colbert, who covered the story in the beginning of his Late Show. He says, “to recap, these days a black person can’t get their message heard, even when a white person is saying it, unless that white person is a guy…” After silencing Warren, the GOP allowed a number of white men to read excerpts of the same letter, including Bernie Sanders and Tom Udall.
Now, Black History Month isn’t the only time we should be celebrating black excellence and the contributions of black people in American society. But it is certainly worth mentioning Coretta Scott King’s excellence, as it is often overshadowed by that of her husband. This woman received her Bachelor of Arts from Antioch College and another degree from New England Conservatory of Music. Coretta Scott King worked right alongside her husband during his civil rights work in the ‘50s and ‘60s.
Even after MLK’s assassination, she continued on. She founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, which was later passed on to her son, and fought to get MLK day recognized as a national holiday. She was actively engaged in social issues, writing and commentating until her death in 2006.
Coretta Scott King encompasses the “Black Girl Magic” that is so often overlooked and devalued in this society. The plights of black women are overshadowed by the injustices that afflict their male counterparts, and their value is reduced to negative stereotypes in our media. But they are with us every step of the way when it comes to fighting patriarchy and white supremacy. They bring intersectionality to our movements. Coretta Scott King’s letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee begins:
Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to express my strong opposition to the nomination of Jefferson Sessions for federal district judgeship for the Southern District of Alabama. My longstanding commitment which I shared with my husband, Martin, to protect and enhance the right of Black Americans, right with include equal access to the democratic process, compels me to testify today.
This is the voice Senate tried to silence. Here is her entire letter. It’s past time she was actually heard.
