For the second consecutive year, Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature blocked a resolution recognizing Black History Month, this time over Colin Kaepernick.
The resolution, authored and introduced by the Assembly Black Caucus, mentioned the former NFL quarterback who has been out of the league since he began kneeling during the National Anthem. Republicans blocked the measure until Black Caucus members agreed to remove his name from those being honored in the bill.
Resolution author David Crowley of Milwaukee called the episode “a textbook example of white privilege” and a “slap in the face,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
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.”
The Black Caucus should be allowed to acknowledge their black leaders during #BlackHistoryMonth.
I can’t believe I actually have to tweet this. ????????https://t.co/xjyxHAOLtb
— JoCasta Zamarripa (@repjocasta) February 12, 2019
Republicans said they could support a resolution honoring Black History Month only if it didn’t include controversial figures.
Kaepernick was included in the resolution in part because of his Wisconsin roots — he was born in Milwaukee and lived for part of his childhood in Fond du Lac.
