Update: The Democrats' anti-hate resolution overwhelmingly passed Thursday evening by a vote of 407-23.
Original Post:
House Democrats postponed debate on their anti-hate resolution Thursday and revised it to include mentions of Latinos, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and LGBTQ people. The House had initially planned the debate on the resolution to begin at roughly 3:15 p.m., but delayed it so they could add more marginalized groups.
The initial text of the resolution, released earlier Thursday, said white supremacists have targeted "traditionally persecuted peoples, including African Americans, Native Americans, and other people of color, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, immigrants, and others with verbal attacks, incitement, and violence."
The newest version includes Latinos, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and LGBTQ people in that list.
New version now posted: https://t.co/riCaOhtdpG
— Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) March 7, 2019
References to Latinos, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: and the LGBTQ community added... pic.twitter.com/SpU25nmmGR
That addition could be inspired by a criticism earlier this week from freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) who tweeted that it was “hurtful” that there are not reprimands for statements against other communities.
It’s not my position to tell people how to feel, or that their hurt is invalid.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 5, 2019
But incidents like these do beg the question: where are the resolutions against homophobic statements? For anti-blackness? For xenophobia? For a member saying he’ll “send Obama home to Kenya?”
The resolution was initially planned by top Democrats after freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) made remarks “about the political influence in this country that says it is okay for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” in reference to Israel. Many of her fellow Democrats condemned these comments as a reference to an anti-Semitic “dual loyalty” trope. Omar has also had to apologize for similar past comments that were widely interpreted as anti-Semitic.
However, the resolution condemning anti-Semitism split the Democrats as some of the far-left members of the party came to Omar’s defense and also questioned why there was a resolution condemning anti-Semitism but not condemning other forms of prejudice.
The resolution, which never directly named Omar, will still be brought to the floor Thursday, barring delays for the addition of any other persecuted groups. It currently "rejects the perpetuation of anti-Semitic stereotypes in the United States and around the world, including the pernicious myth of dual loyalty and foreign allegiance," and "condemns anti-Muslim discrimination and bigotry against all minorities as contrary to the values of the United States."
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