U.S. Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas is under fire after delivering what many are calling a “racist” argument against granting statehood to the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.
“Would you trust Mayor [Muriel] Bowser to keep Washington safe if she were given the powers of a governor? Would you trust Marion Barry?” Senator Cotton asked, after noting that most of D.C. is under the control of “left wing politician” Muriel Bowser. Listen to Cotton as he says her name with deep disdain:
For those too young to know or remember, Marion Barry was the mayor of D.C. from 1979 to 1991 and then from 1995 to 1999. But in 1990 he was arrested by the FBI after a sting operation caught him smoking “crack” cocaine. He died nearly six years ago in 2014.
Mayor Bowser, who has stood up solidly against President Donald Trump, has a 67% approval rating. She’s been rumored to be under consideration to become Joe Biden’s vice presidential running mate.
Both Bowser and Barry are Black.
That wasn’t the only racist attack Cotton made.
“Yes, Wyoming is smaller than Washington by population, but it has three times as many workers in mining, logging and construction, and ten times as many workers in manufacturing. In other words, Wyoming is a well-rounded working-class state,” he said on the Senate floor – suggesting D.C.’s residents have the wrong kind of jobs for them to become citizens of a state. “What vital industries would the new state of Washington represent? Lobbying? Bureaucracy? Give me a break. By far, the largest group of workers in the city are bureaucrats and other white-collar professionals. This state would be nothing more than an appendage of the federal government.”
D.C just happens to be 46% Black. Cotton is also wrong about the makeup of D.C. workers, the majority of whom do not work for the federal government.
Esquire’s Charles Pierce explained the Republican Senator from Arkansas’s speech by writing, “not only is Cotton a bobble-throated slapdick, but he is a dangerous monger of war. He’s also supremely arrogant.”
On Friday, for the first time since 1973, the House will vote on D.C. statehood. The White House officially opposes it.
Here’s what some are saying about Cotton’s comments.