Black Lawmakers Wore Kente Cloth to the State of the Union to Protest Trump's 'Shithole' Remarks
Black representatives were not here for Trump's State of the Union address.
Donald Trump gave his first State of the Union Address last night, and while folks were criticizing the president all night on social media, the black lawmakers who were in attendance decided to take the shade to more symbolic levels.
While several members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), including Representative Maxine Waters, decided to skip the event, those who where in attendance collectively donned kente cloth—the recognizable patterned fabric which originated with the Ashanti people of Ghana—in order to protest Trump's infamous "shithole" comments and his overall affinity for anti-blackness.
"Wearing kente cloth to the #SOTU with my fellow @OfficialCBC Members to stand in solidarity with people from you-know-what countries," tweeted US Representative from Virgina Bobby Scott, just ahead of the address.
CBC members appeared conspicuously unenthused throughout the entire address, refusing to applaud when Trump tried to take credit for the decline in the African-American unemployment rate. Ha!
No one was having it. I mean, who does this man think he's fooling?
Congresswoman Alma S. Adams set the record straight about the black unemployment rate with a simple tweet.
"African American unemployment has been declining for a decade yet it's still double white unemployment," she wrote during the address. "Would POTUS be celebrating if this stat were the other way around?"
Great question Congresswoman. Shout out to the black lawmakers for continuing to call this man out on his "shithole-ness."