Friend,

Three weeks before he was murdered, Martin Luther King Jr (MLK) spoke in a suburb of Detroit about how we need to acknowledge and reckon with our country’s racism in order to solve it.

His words are still so relevant today, on MLK Day 2021, as conservatives suggest we just sweep white supremacist terror under the rug:¹

“...There must be a recognition on the part of everybody in this nation that America is still a racist country. Now however unpleasant that sounds, it is the truth. And we will never solve the problem of racism until there is a recognition of the fact that racism still stands at the center of so much of our nation and we must see racism for what it is... It is the notion that one group has all of the knowledge, all of the insights, all of the purity, all of the work, all of the dignity. And another group is worthless, on a lower level of humanity, inferior.”

Racism is based on hate that denies people their full humanity, essentially questioning whether people of color have a right to even exist. This is why it has been essential to declare that Black Lives Matter.

With a clear backlash from white supremacists, we now face a choice.

If we want to tear out this hate from the fabric of this country, we must first acknowledge it, just as MLK said.

But instead of acknowledging the hate and racism that continue to exist in America, GOP leaders have been calling for “unity” in the lead-up to Joe Biden’s inauguration… a hollow unity based on willful ignorance and a continual escape of accountability. There can be no unity or healing without truth and accountability first.

That’s why my colleague, Rep. Cori Bush, has been spearheading an effort in Congress to hold our GOP colleagues accountable for enabling January 6th’s attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Her words echo MLK’s, as she recently wrote in the Washington Post:²

“Many have said that what transpired on Wednesday [Jan. 6th] was not America. They are wrong. This is the America that Black people know. To declare that this is not America is to deny the reality that Republican members of the U.S. House and Senate incited this coup by treasonously working to overturn the results of the presidential election.... It’s to deny that what my Republican colleagues call “fraud” actually refers to the valid votes of Black, brown and Indigenous voters across this country who, in the midst of a pandemic that disproportionately kills us, overcame voter suppression in all of its forms to deliver an election victory for Joe Biden and Kamala D. Harris.

This is America, and it will continue to be America, until white supremacy is dismantled. Justice starts at removing each and every representative who incited this insurrection. I’ve unveiled my first piece of legislation that would do just that. We cannot denounce white supremacy and allow its endorsers to continue serving in our government.” (2)

Amen!

This MLK Day, can you take one step toward dismantling white supremacy by signing and sharing this petition to hold the GOP accountable for inciting January 6th’s brutal white supremacist attack?

Thank you. In solidarity,

Rashida