Wisconsin GOP lawmakers force Colin Kaepernick’s name out of Black History Month resolution
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State Sen. Lena Taylor (left, D- Milwaukee) and State Rep. David Bowen (D-Milwaukee) sing along with Chris Crain during a Black History Month observance recognizing the winners of a Martin Luther King Jr. writing and speech contest at the Capitol in Madison. (Photo11: Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MADISON – For the second year in a row, some white lawmakers in the state Legislature objected to how black lawmakers want to honor Black History Month — this time because of Colin Kaepernick.
The state Assembly passed a resolution Tuesday drafted by the Legislature’s black caucus to honor prominent black Americans during February — but only after Republicans blocked it until black Democratic lawmakers agreed to remove the name of the controversial National Football League quarterback.
Democratic Rep. David Crowley of Milwaukee, who authored the resolution, called the episode “a textbook example of white privilege” and a “slap in the face.”
Crowley said he was grateful to ultimately have the Assembly pass the resolution authored by black lawmakers, “but I had to get the blessing of all of my white counterparts.”
“It is critical for this body to recognize the black caucus and recognize the resolution we put forward,” Crowley said on the Assembly floor. “Many of these people that you don’t agree with will still be in the history books that your children and grandchildren will be reading.”
Kaepernick, who was born in Milwaukee, has drawn a firestorm of controversy after he began kneeling in 2016 during the national anthem to protest poor treatment of black Americans.
Supporters say Kaepernick is exercising his First Amendment right to protest what he sees as racial injustice. Critics say he is denigrating the American flag and American principles…
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I don’t understand why his name can’t be part of black history month. But they want to keep the names of racist president on building. And the names of very racist general in their army.