The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to remove statues honoring those who upheld slavery; or backed the Confederacy from the Capitol building; which displays statues selected by all 50 states on Tuesday.
This is the second year in a row that the House passed the bill, which the then-Republican-controlled Senate in 2020 declined to take up. Democrats now have a razor-thin Senate majority, which could allow them to force a vote on the measure, which would need the support of 10 Republicans to pass.
The bill passed the House 285-120 with all the votes against the measure coming from Republicans.
The statues and busts targeted by the “Remove Hate” bill include one honoring former U.S. Chief Justice Roger Taney, who was the author of a key decision supporting slavery. They also include leaders of the rebellious Confederacy; whose battle flag was seen in the Capitol on Jan. 6 when supporters of then-President Donald Trump launched a deadly attack that attempted to overturn his election defeat.
Taney’s bust would be replaced by one of former Supreme Court Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first Black man to serve on the high court.
UPDATE: THE HOUSE HAS ONCE AGAIN VOTED TO REMOVE THE BUST OF ROGER TANEY—THE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE WHO SUPPORTED SLAVERY AND AUTHORED THE DREDD SCOTT OPINION—ALONG WITH OTHER CONFEDERATE STATUES FROM THE CAPITOL.HTTPS://T.CO/NXTDXSWGU3
— MS. MAGAZINE (@MSMAGAZINE) JUNE 30, 2021
Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said removing the statues will not erase the stain of racist acts from U.S. history, nor will it erase racism in the United States today. But she asked, “How can we expect to end the scourge of racism … when we allow the worst perpetrators of that racism to be lauded in the halls of Congress?”