[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11104]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   CONFEDERATE BATTLE FLAG SYMBOLISM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Jeffries) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, had this Confederate battle flag prevailed 
in war 150 years ago, I would not be standing here today as a Member of 
the United States Congress. I would be here as a slave. Over the last 
150 years, we have made tremendous progress in this country, but we 
still have a long way to go.
  As the tragic events in Charleston, South Carolina, illustrated, when 
nine God-fearing, churchgoing African American citizens were killed by 
a White supremacist, there is much work that needs to be done to 
eradicate the cancer of racial hatred.
  When Dylann Roof committed this act of domestic terror, his emblem 
was the Confederate battle flag.
  Later on today we are going to have a vote on the legitimacy of this 
flag. On Tuesday, it appeared that House Republicans were prepared to 
do the right thing in support of three amendments to prohibit the use 
of Federal funds for the purchase, sale, or display of the Confederate 
battle flag on National Park Service land.
  But less than 24 hours later, House Republicans reversed course in 
the dead of night under cover of darkness to introduce an amendment 
supporting the Confederate battle flag, which is nothing more than a 
symbol of racial hatred and oppression.
  There are some in this House who have made the argument that the 
Confederate battle flag is about heritage and tradition. I am 
perplexed.
  What exactly is the tradition of the Confederate battle flag that we 
are supporting? Is it slavery? Rape? Kidnap? Treason? Genocide? Or all 
of the above.
  The Confederate battle flag is nothing more than a symbol of racial 
hatred and oppression. And I stand here with chills next to it because 
the red in this flag is a painful reminder of the blood that was shed 
by Africans who were killed when attempted to be kidnapped and thrown 
into the institution of slavery.
  The red on this flag is a painful reminder of the blood that was shed 
by millions of Africans who died during the Middle Passage when being 
transported from Africa to America.
  The red on this flag is a painful reminder of the blood that was shed 
by African American slaves who were beaten, raped, lynched, and killed 
here in America as a result of the institution of slavery.
  What exactly is the tradition the Confederate battle flag represents?
  We were sent here as leaders to make decisions on the morality of 
America. And where we are, notwithstanding our painful history and the 
legacy of slavery, we have an opportunity today to make a definitive 
statement to be leaders, not individuals who cower in fear of some 
narrow-minded Americans who aren't aware that the South lost the war 
150 years ago.
  Let's choose racial progress over racial poison. Let's choose harmony 
over historic amnesia. Let's choose togetherness over treason. Let's 
come together not as Democrats or Republicans, not as Whites or Blacks, 
not as northerners or southerners.
  Let's come together as Americans and vote down the Calvert amendment 
and relegate the Confederate battle flag to the dustbin of history, 
which is where it belongs.

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