[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 166 (Thursday, September 24, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H4952-H4955]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1800
COLOR OF CRIME
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2019, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green) is recognized for
60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. And still I rise
in the name of liberty and justice for all. And still I rise in the
name of justice for Breonna Taylor.
Mr. Speaker, there are many questions to be answered, critical
questions to be answered. In this case there has been no indictment,
nor arrest. There are unanswered questions. Who killed Breonna Taylor?
Was the warrant properly executed? But there are some more questions
that are quite critical.
Is the system of justice in this Nation broken, or is it doing what
it was designed to do? Was Breonna Taylor's death a tragedy, as has
been announced and published far and wide? Or was her death a tragedy
that was, in fact, a crime?
And still I rise to address the issues associated with Breonna
Taylor's death.
First, let me simply say this: Breonna Taylor was a young woman. She
was loved by many, especially those who were very close, such as her
mom, who thought she was easy to love. She was a person who finished
high school and attended college.
We have heard none of the things that one might hear in cases such as
these, because it is usually immediately published, the things about
the person that are newsworthy with reference to their character. Her
character has not been displayed in a negative way.
So I rise today because Breonna Taylor was a 26-year-old African-
American woman. Breonna Taylor was an innocent person in her home at
the midnight hour. She was unarmed. She committed no crime. Breonna
Taylor was doing what most people in this country do at the midnight
hour. Yet, Breonna Taylor is no longer with us.
And the question that I posed earlier and I pose now is this, Breonna
Taylor was a Black woman, but the question is: If Breonna Taylor were a
26-year-old innocent, unarmed White woman who was killed in the middle
of the night when Black police officers intruded into her home, would
her death be a simple tragedy or would it be a crime to be prosecuted?
To answer this question, I think we have to examine the color of
crime.
The color of crime dates back to the arrival of Africans in the
Americas. At one time when Africans were first brought to this country,
they were slaves, and as slaves the White masters had the right to hold
them in bondage. But the slave committed a crime if the slave sought
freedom. To seek freedom, to seek the liberty and the justice that we
hold so near and dear, was a crime for the slave. The slave was Black.
That crime was relegated to the Black slaves. Slavery was a crime that
had color associated with it.
Let us move forward. After slavery was abolished with the 13th
Amendment--the Emancipation Proclamation
[[Page H4953]]
was a great document, but it was the 13th Amendment that freed the
slaves. And after the 13th Amendment was passed, the slaves were left
to privation. They were left without the necessities of life. They were
dependent on the very people that enslaved them. And as such, being
dependent on the very people that enslaved them, they had few choices
when it came to employment.
But employing them was not enough for the slave masters, they used
the color of crime to keep them in bondage. They employed the use of
Black codes. They made it a crime to be a vagrant. To have no job was a
crime. The people who enslaved them were the people who denied them
jobs, and the people who inculcated, passed laws, that made it possible
for them to be arrested for not having a job.
This was a Black code. The color of crime was Black. The Black codes
also saw something else come into being, something that Texas has had
some dealings with as of late. Convict leasing. A person who was caught
and accused of a minor crime, they had something called Pig Laws. Steal
a pig, some minor crime, they would be punished, found guilty and
punished, and required to be leased to another person. Just another
form of bondage. Just another form of slavery.
In Houston, we had 95 such persons found near a school in Sugar Land,
Texas. The Sugar Land 95. They were persons who were slaves by another
name. They were leased. There was a color associated with crime.
And we move forward, if we may, to today. We find that we have this
question before us. If Breonna Taylor were a White woman, would she be
alive today, or would the persons who perpetrated this crime against
her be punished? Would they have to be held accountable?
And I ask you, if, in your mind, you conclude that a White woman
under the same circumstances, with three Black officers associated with
her demise, would there be more than a tragedy? Would it be a crime?
And, if, in your mind you say, yes, then you understand now some of
what the color of crime is all about, because we are looking at two
people, same facts, one with a darker hue than the other. And as a
result, there are a good many people, and I am among them, who believe
that her color had much to do with her demise and the lack of
accountability.
Her color was something that does not receive the same level of
respect that persons of a lighter hue receive. She had no gun. She
didn't fire on the officers. She was in her home. Yet, the officers
fired and the bullets hit her multiple times.
In this society, the lack of the same respect for people of color as
is given people who are of a lighter hue is evident. It is evident in
the financial services industry. It is evident in banking. Persons who
are of African ancestry, who are more qualified than persons who are
what we refer to as White in this country, of European ancestry, they
can apply for loans. Black people, more qualified, will get less in a
loan, or have a higher interest rate. It has been documented.
There is a color associated with lending in this country. And this
color allows people to steal the future of Black people. Their futures
are dependent upon what we call bootstraps. Bootstraps are loans.
People buy homes with loans. People go into businesses with loans.
Black people are being denied loans to a greater extent than some White
people who are less qualified for the loans that they eventually get.
So the color of crime is in the financial services industry.
But the color of crime is also in policing. Not all police officers
are bad. I absolutely deplore what happened to the police officers in
Kentucky recently who were shot. The people who committed these crimes,
if there were multiple people, they should be arrested, they should be
prosecuted. And there is a good likelihood that they will be arrested
and prosecuted. And there is a good likelihood that their arrest will
take place rather quickly, and the prosecution will proceed with
deliberate speed. There is a good likelihood that if you hurt a police
officer, you are going to receive swift justice.
But in policing, the color of one's skin has consistently
demonstrated that there is a different standard of behavior that
emanates from some police officers, not all. But because some do it,
and not all are involved in this, we cannot allow ourselves to say that
all police officers are bad. I don't agree with this.
But I also think that we cannot be put in a position such that we
can't talk about the police officers who are bad, because somehow
people will conclude you are talking about those who are good. I'm not.
I want to talk about the officers who do dastardly deeds under the
color of the law. And these officers understand, many of them that do
these things, without having been told in the academy, without having
to discuss it among themselves, they understand that Black people in
this society do not get the same level of respect as White people.
And as a result of not getting the same level of respect, as a result
of not having the same consequences accorded people who hurt Black
people as those who would hurt a White person, it is understood within
the psyche that White officers, Black officers, regardless of their
color, they can do things to Black people and escape the level of
punishment that they would get if they performed these same insidious
acts on White people.
If officers were properly punished, George Floyd would still be
alive. If officers were properly punished, I believe that Breonna
Taylor would be alive. And if, by chance, she had lost her life, as she
has, if they were properly punished, there would be something more to
be accorded in this case other than a simple indication that it was a
tragedy.
It was a tragedy because she was Black. It was a tragedy because she
was born of a different hue, a darker hue. If she had been born a White
woman in this society, the rules would be different. Not the rules that
had been codified, but the rules that have been inculcated into the
psyche, into the minds of people who happen to wear a badge and carry a
gun.
{time} 1815
Let's just talk about whether the system is broken or whether it is
functioning as created. The system employs the grand jury. It is said
that the prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich. But what is not said is
this: That same prosecutor can exonerate a ham sandwich.
The prosecutor can present a case without any defense lawyer being
present, present a case and decide which witnesses will be called,
generally speaking. In so doing, the prosecutor frames the case, and
the prosecutor leads the grand jury.
When the prosecutor wants an indictment and believes that an
indictment should be had, an indictment is generally had in the case.
The prosecutor has the ability to lead a grand jury.
This system, while it has great benefits, also has its flaws because
the prosecutors will tell you what happens within the grand jury room
cannot be discussed. You can't talk about it. It is secreted. That is a
means by which the truth doesn't always get out.
So, the prosecutor can use the grand jury as a means of allowing a
guilty person to go free by contending that the grand jury decided that
the person should not be indicted. It is the prosecutor who can indict
the ham sandwich, and it is the prosecutor who can exonerate the ham
sandwich.
I believe that we have a challenge in this country, the challenge
probably of our time for these seminal moments in time. The challenge
has to do with whether we are going to do something about this color of
crime and this systemic racism that exists.
Are we going to simply talk about it and decry it when each case
arises, silo the case, and then move on to the next? Or are we going to
commit ourselves to eliminating invidious discrimination in all of its
forms as it relates to anti-Semitism, as it relates to racism, as it
relates to xenophobia and Islamophobia, as it relates to transphobia,
all the invidious phobias? Are we going to commit ourselves?
The way to commit ourselves, to have the public know we are
committed, and to move us forward so that the color of one's skin will
not determine your worth when it comes to the behavior of some people
in this society as they interact with you, if we are going to do this,
then we have to have a reconciliation.
We have not reconciled in this country. We have not reconciled. We
have
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not settled the differences that were created as a result of people
being held in human bondage. We haven't reconciled. We haven't made it
such that those persons who were enslaved can now have equal
opportunities within this society.
Equal opportunity is something I strive for, but it doesn't exist for
people of color. It doesn't exist for some other people as well, not
just people of color.
One of the things that we learned at my committee was that LGBTQ
persons, if they go in for a loan, they, too, are discriminated
against. Two gay people, a man who is married to another man, they are
discriminated against.
Discrimination of this type has to be eliminated. The way to commit
ourselves to the elimination of all forms of invidious discrimination
is with a department, a department of reconciliation, a department with
a secretary of reconciliation, a secretary of reconciliation who
reports directly to the President of the United States of America. We
can do this. The question is, do we have the will to do it, a
department of reconciliation with a budget, a budget that will allow
persons to become a part of this department as under secretaries?
This department can take up the issue of reparations. This department
can take up the issue of a truth commission so as to gather all the
necessary truths and facts about what has happened to African Americans
in the United States of America. We need a department of
reconciliation.
This challenge is something that is applicable to you, regardless of
your party. It doesn't matter whether you are a Democrat or a
Republican. What matters is, will we move forward with a department of
reconciliation?
It doesn't matter which President we are talking about or which
candidate we are talking about. Every candidate ought to be held
responsible for answering the question: Will you agree to a department
of reconciliation?
Every candidate, it doesn't matter whether you are liberal or
conservative, the question is: Will you agree to a department of
reconciliation?
I say to you, the candidate who says this is going to find that there
are many people who are going to have favor bestowed upon this
candidate such that the candidate will benefit greatly in November.
But there must be reconciliation, and the best way is through a
department of reconciliation.
Now, to the family of Ms. Taylor, I have never met you, but I assure
you that I will not let her death go unnoticed. This House of
Representatives is going to have it called to their attention on
multiple occasions. We cannot tolerate this kind of behavior. If we
tolerate it, we perpetuate it.
I plan to go to Kentucky. I want to see what happened in this place
where she resided. I want to see the facility. This is important. We
cannot allow her name to be a momentary announcement and then go on to
the next thing that causes a good deal of shame. We can't do it.
To these officers who were shot and their families, I want you to
know that I stand against people who shoot police officers simply
because of who they are, who commit crimes against police officers.
Innocent peace officers, police officers, deserve the same level of
respect that other citizens who are innocent deserve.
Officers ought not be assaulted simply because they are members of a
police force. I absolutely oppose it, and I absolutely support peaceful
protest, not these protesters who believe that they have to destroy
things. I believe you can be disruptive without being destructive.
Peaceful protest is about being disruptive, yes. Sometimes, people go
to jail. Dr. King went to jail for peaceful protest. John Lewis went to
jail for peaceful protest. I have been to jail many times for peaceful
protest, being disruptive without being destructive.
I want the families of the officers to know that I stand with you. I
want you to know that I want justice for those who have hurt these
officers.
Officers, I want you to know this, as well. My uncle was a deputy
sheriff. I understand a lot about law enforcement. I was a judge of a
justice court. I am a lawyer. So, I appreciate law enforcement.
What I don't appreciate is what happened to Breonna Taylor. I don't
appreciate a system that allows a prosecutor to lay the blame for lack
of justice at the feet, at the hands, of a grand jury.
The grand jury system has to be reevaluated. This notion that it is
secreted and that we will never know what happened before the grand
jury--there are ways to find out, I am sure. In fact, I know that there
are, but in most cases, you can't or you don't.
The system has to be reevaluated because the lack of transparency
causes people to believe that this system is hiding something that is a
part of covering up the wrongs that are being perpetrated against Black
people and others, as well.
We have to examine the system. That doesn't mean that we have to
eliminate the police departments. I don't want to eliminate police
departments. I would never agree to eliminating the police departments.
I believe you have to have policing in your community, so I am for
policing. But I am for people being treated with dignity and respect at
all times, even when you are performing the act of policing.
Tonight, I believe that on March 13, 2020, when Ms. Taylor lost her
life, a 26-year-old Black woman, I believe that if she had been a 26-
year-old White woman with the same circumstances, my belief is that she
would probably not have lost her life.
But let's assume that she would have. Then, I believe that there
would be accountability because I believe there is color associated
with crime and that people who enforce the laws don't give the same
level of attention to a Black person who is the victim of a crime as
they do to White people. Not all the time, by the way. Not all the
time. But in critical circumstances, it happens far too often, and we
have to do something about it.
I am committed to bringing about this level of change. I don't know
whether it will happen on my watch, but I do know this: On my watch, I
will not be silent. On my watch, I will stand even if I have to stand
alone because it is better to stand alone than not stand at all.
We have some difficult days ahead. Dr. King reminded us of this. But
we are seeing the difficulties manifest themselves before us on a daily
basis--difficult days ahead.
I spoke about the color of crime. Let's talk about it just one more
time as it relates to voting. It is intuitively obvious to even the
most casual observer that there are efforts to suppress the vote, and
these efforts to suppress the vote have a greater impact on Black
people than they do a good many others.
Black people and brown people, minorities, this effort to suppress
their vote is evident, self-evident. I believe that we who hold public
trust must do something to prevent what is about to happen, to the
extent that we can.
I don't know that we can do what really should be done because of the
tug of war between the parties, but I do know that we have to try. We
have to make every person's vote count in this country and give every
person the opportunity to get registered to vote.
There are people who are doing their very best to circumvent the
registration and participation of minorities in this system of voting.
This system of voting is something that we cherish and that we have to
exercise. As my dear friend John Lewis put it, it is something that you
must use, and, he intimated, if not, you may lose this precious right
to vote.
{time} 1830
So we have to exercise this right, but let us be realistic and
acknowledge that there are people who are doing their best to suppress
the rights of minorities when it comes to voting.
Remember, this is a country that had to pass the 13th Amendment to
free people who were held in bondage. This is a country that had to
pass a constitutional amendment to accord people who were held in
bondage this right of citizenship and then the right to vote. The 13th,
14th, and 15th Amendments are important to people of color.
So I say to everyone, there is color associated with criminality in
the sense that people who are charged with enforcing the laws don't
provide equal protection under the laws to all of the people in this
country.
Mr. Speaker, I want to say to my friends who are charged with the
responsibility of enforcing the laws in
[[Page H4955]]
Houston, Texas, I want to say to them, in Houston, Texas, there was a
case that is still pending.
This is the case of Joshua Johnson. Joshua Johnson lost his life
under questionable circumstances. The case is still being investigated,
and the lack of transparency is something that concerns me as it
relates to Joshua Johnson.
Joshua Johnson lived in the Ninth Congressional District. I happen to
represent the Ninth Congressional District.
Joshua Johnson: killed under questionable circumstances.
We have the same system in place where there is a grand jury and a
prosecutor, that I have great respect for, but we still have this same
system. But Texas has a solution that is different from any other State
in the country. There is no other State that has the solution that we
have in Texas for these kinds of questionable killings.
In Texas, we have the opportunity to take such a case and move it
through a justice system that has a court involved in it, as opposed to
the grand jury, in the initial aspects of it, or it can be after the
grand jury has given a ruling.
In Texas, we have the opportunity to go to a district court judge and
present probable cause, and if that judge concludes that there is
probable cause, that judge goes to an administrative judge, and the
administrative judge can then appoint a judge to have a court of review
to review what happened in this case.
It is time for us to look at something similar to this on the
national level for our Nation.
I believe that a court of inquiry--which is what it is called in
Texas. It reviews evidence. But a court of inquiry can make a
difference on the national level, and, as a result, I plan to introduce
legislation for us to have courts of inquiry at the national level so
that we don't have to depend on prosecutors and grand juries.
A court of inquiry in Texas allows any citizen who knows that a crime
has been committed to present this evidence to a district court judge.
I believe a similar circumstance--maybe not the same--ought to exist
for people when it comes to Federal crimes. So I will introduce
legislation calling for courts of inquiry across the length and breadth
of this country so that we may have transparency in this process.
I will not seek to eliminate the grand juries, but I will seek to
give an alternative for citizens who are concerned about transparency
when there are questionable circumstances, when you don't have body
cameras, when you have persons who are committing no crimes yet find
themselves losing their lives at the hands of the constabulary.
I hope to have this legislation ready for this Congress, but if not,
it will definitely be introduced for the next Congress. We need courts
of inquiry or something similar to what we have in Texas.
I love my country. It means something to me to say that I am a part
of this great country. I love it, and I do everything out of love for
country and a belief that there should be liberty and justice for all,
regardless of who you happen to be, regardless of your race, creed,
color, or national origin.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the time. I thank the leadership for giving
me the opportunity to have this time on the floor.
I promise that I am going to do as much as I can to eliminate
invidious discrimination in all of its forms.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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