Friday, February 12, 2021

Stacey Plaskett again

Representative Stacey Plaskett (D, Virgin Islands), a House impeachment manager, this afternoon:

“The defense counsels put a lot of videos out in their defense, playing clip after clip of Black women talking about fighting for a cause, or an issue, or a policy. It was not lost on me that so many of them were people of color and women, Black women, Black women like myself who are sick and tired of being sick and tired for our children, your children, our children. This summer things happened that were violent, but there were also things that gave some of Black women great comfort. Seeing Amish people from Pennsylvania standing up with us, members of Congress fighting up with us. And so I thought we were past that. I think maybe we’re not.

“There are longstanding consequences, decisions like this, that will define who we are as a people, who America is. We have in this room made monumental decisions. You all have made monumental decisions. We’ve declared wars, passed civil-rights acts, ensured that no one in this country is a slave. Every American has the right to vote — unless you live in a territory. At this time some of these decisions are even controversial. But history has shown that they define us as a country and as a people. Today is one of those moments, and history will wait for our decision.”
The racism and misogyny of that defense presentation weren’t lost on me either. The presentation was made for “the base,” and it was base. The veil was exceedingly thin. Transparent, really.

A related post
It doesn’t get much plainer (Also Stacey Plaskett)

[My transcription, punctuation, paragraphing, and spelling (ensured ), from Aaron Rupar’s video tweeting of the trial.]

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