‘I Am A Descendant Of Jefferson Davis’: SC Rep Delivers Fiery Plea For Removing Confederate Flag
South Carolina State Rep. Jenny Horne late Wednesday night delivered an impassioned plea begging her fellow House lawmakers to vote to take down the Confederate flag.
Much of America today is talking about the passionate speech State Rep. Jenny Horne delivered last night, begging and pleading and cajoling her colleagues to vote to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Statehouse.Â
Horne, a Republican who represents Charleston, the city where her fellow state lawmaker Clementa Pinckney and eight others were gunned down in a historically Black church by a white supremacist, made sure the vote would go her way.
“I cannot believe that we do not have the heart in this body,” Horne admonished, then shouted, “to do something meaningful, such as take a symbol of hate off these grounds on Friday.”
“And if any of you vote to amend, you are ensuring that this flag will fly beyond Friday. And for the widow of Sen. Pinckney and his two young daughters, that would be adding insult to injury, and I will not be a part of it.”
“I’m sorry, I have heard enough about heritage,” Horne continued, attacking those who falsely claim the flag represents “heritage, not hate.”
“I am a life-long South Carolinian. I am a descendant of Jefferson Davis,” she reminded them, as if she spoke for the former president of the confederacy. “But that does not matter,” she added. “It’s about the people of South Carolina who have demanded that this symbol of hate come off the statehouse grounds.”
“The world is watching this debate,” Horne reminded her colleagues.
Watch:
It worked:
Breaking: South Carolina House And Senate Vote To Remove Confederate Flag From Statehouse
Via Twitter, many, like U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, applauded Horne:
I congratulate @JennyHorne on a powerful speech to #TakeItDown. This is the beginning of a conversation, not the end https://t.co/RT4Eauuzxc
— D. Wasserman Schultz (@RepDWStweets) July 9, 2015
And others did too:
This distant relative of Jefferson Davis went straight at the issue of “heritage” and ended with #TakeItDown! https://t.co/OCqiJX35vA
— Chris L. Robinson (@chrisLrob) July 9, 2015
Emotional plea by SC State Rep, a descendant of Jefferson Davis, to take down the flag – then House votes to do so: https://t.co/sezjGvAQeK
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) July 9, 2015
State Rep Jenny Horne: “If you cannot be moved by the suffering of the people of Charleston, you don’t have a heart.”
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) July 9, 2015
Rep. Jenny Horne says she didn’t have any prepared remarks when she took to the floor to make the emotional plea to take down the flag
— Cynthia Roldan (@CynthiaRoldan) July 9, 2015
Ladies and gentleman your 2015 SC Legislator of the Year, the Honorable Representative @JennyHorne. #ConfederateFlag
— Leon Stavrinakis (@leonstav) July 9, 2015
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Image: Screenshot via YouTube
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