Professor: 'Flippant, disrespectful' Mitch McConnell couldn't care-less about Black people
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When civil rights icon and longtime Georgia Congressman John Lewis died in July 2020, politicians from both sides of the aisle celebrated him. They all talked about Lewis’ greatness, how much they respected him, and how important his work was in making America better.
Then Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was among those rendering praise.
When McConnell spoke at Lewis’ memorial service in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, he recounted how he was in the crowd at the 1963 March on Washington and “marveled” at the oratory of the fiery young Lewis, who was then the chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. McConnell waxed poetic, “History only bent toward what’s right because people like John paid the price to help bend it. ... Even though the world around him gave him every cause for bitterness, he stubbornly treated everyone with respect and love.”
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It was easy for McConnell and others to utter such words a year-and-a-half ago. After all, like many other Black champions, Lewis was dead and could threaten them no longer. If there was any justice in this world, McConnell would never have been allowed to speak at the great man’s services. Why?
Because he is the type of ideologue Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis and their comrades had to work against to bend history and the moral arc of the universe toward justice. He proved it once again a few days ago.
As Republicans continue to ramp up their efforts to suppress the Black vote nationwide (because Blacks, by and large, don’t vote for them), McConnell and his confederates killed the possibility of bringing the “John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act” to the Senate floor for a vote. So much for all that respect and love for Lewis and his work.
When McConnell was asked about growing concerns that the Black vote is being negatively impacted, he responded in typical, cold “Grim Reaper Mitch” fashion. “Well, the concern is misplaced because if you look at the statistics, African American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans,” he said.
His diversionary quip set off a firestorm.
Does McConnell not see African Americans as real Americans?
Is there no qualifier needed for the true (white) Americans?
To be fair, McConnell’s comment in defense of his party’s sinister behavior around voting may have been a slip of the tongue. He may have simply omitted “white” or “non-black” in the comparison. Who knows? What we DO know is this isn’t the first time he has been dismissive, flippant and disrespectful where black people are concerned.
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Remember when he tossed aside any conversation about reparations because “We elected an African American president”? There have been many others.
At the end of the day, Sen. McConnell does these things because he knows he can get away with them. He does them because, despite the mild protestations, he delivers with a wink and a smile, he doesn’t care very much about Black people.
He does them because he knows his supporters don’t give a damn about black people either and many of them will love him even MORE because of his cool hostility.
And please don’t bring up McConnell’s supposed father-son relationship with Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to excuse his handling of Black folk. We love him as a human being, but Daniel doesn’t count in the Black conversation any more than the likes of Clarence Thomas, John McWhorter or Candace Owens.
The truth of the matter is this: from voting to race-based attacks in education, Black people are under assault by the right. Some of the assaults are sophisticated and cloaked. Some are obvious and clumsy. But they’re all assaults just the same.
Make no mistake, this is a ramped-up response to the so-called 2020 “racial awakening” and ouster of Donald Trump.
It is reminiscent of the socio-political attacks levied against African Americans after the passage of the Reconstruction Amendments from 1865 to 1870. They went into overdrive after Reconstruction itself was ended by the infamous Hayes-Tilden Compromise in 1877.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Republicans are winning!
They are winning because they are vicious and unrelenting. They are winning because they care nothing for justice, decency or truth. They are winning because Black people are incredibly disorganized, distracted, and disempowered.
They are winning because Black people continue to depend on the Democratic Party to fight for them even though most of the Democrats don’t give a damn about Black people either.
Democrats want Black votes but care little about Black people’s agendas or well-being. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are just extreme examples of that negligence and disrespect.
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So, maybe Mitch McConnell made a mistake with a word omission. Maybe he didn’t. You choose. Neither choice really changes anything. Black people know what he is. Callous. And he knows what they are right now. Powerless, until there’s a radical change that has yet to materialize.
America has seated almost 2000 U.S. senators since its founding. Only 11 have been Black. Only seven of those 11 were elected by popular vote. Good luck, Charles Booker! You have an uphill battle in blood-red Kentucky, but many people need you!
Ricky L. Jones is professor and chair of the Pan-African Studies department at the University of Louisville. His regular column appears bi-weekly in the Courier-Journal in Louisville.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Does Mitch McConnell care about Black people?
