Black History Month: Republican's call to honor white people draws outrage
Thursday, January 2, 2020
January 2, 2020 - TheGuardian
Wisconsin lawmakers are locked in a dispute over who qualifies to be honored during February’s Black History Month after a senior Republican suggested a list where the majority of named picks were white.
Republican state senator Scott Allen circulated a resolution recognizing 10 historical figures for celebration. But six of those who’d been active in Wisconsin’s Underground Railroad, helping southern slaves escape to freedom turned out to be white, according to the State Journal.
The choice provoked a backlash from local black lawmakers, who said Allen circumvented the state’s legislature’s black caucus from choosing how to honor the contributions of black Americans.
“If this was intended to be without controversy, you failed,” state senator Lena Taylor wrote to Allen in response. “Thank you Massa Allen for pickin’ whose we should honuh suh. We sho ain’t capable of thinkin’ for ourselves, suh.”
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