US house passes Bill to remove statues honouring those who upheld slavery passed
By Asianet Newsable English | First Published Jun 30, 2021, 11:38 AM ISTThe proposed legislation is called the Remove Hate bill and targets statues and busts that include one honouring former US Chief Justice Roger Taney, who authored a key decision supporting slavery.
Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill that will remove from the Capitol building statues honouring those who upheld slavery or backed the Confederacy.
The Capitol building displays statues elected by all 50 American states.
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This is the second time that the House has passed the Bill. The Bill could not be implemented in 2020 due to the Republican Senate.
Democrats now have a slight majority in the Senate, which allows them to vote on the measure. They only need the support of 10 Republicans for the Bill to be passed.
The House of Representatives passed the Bill 285-120, with all the votes against the Bill coming from Republicans.
The proposed legislation is called the Remove Hate bill and targets statues and busts that include one honouring former US Chief Justice Roger Taney, who authored a key decision supporting slavery.
US Chief Justice Roger Taney's judgment in 1857 in the Dred Scott case ruled that African-Americans cannot be seen as citizens and that Congress could not prohibit slavery. The verdict was overturned by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which was adopted in 1868.
Taney's bust would be replaced by former Supreme Court Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American to serve on the high court.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the removal of the statues would not erase history or racism in the country today.
However, she wondered how the scourge of racism could be ended when the worst perpetrators of that racism were being hailed in the halls of Congress.
Critics said it would be wrong to dictate to individual states whom they can and cannot honour by sending statues to the Capitol.
Republican Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama called the Bill an example of 'cancel culture and historical revisionism' by 'elitists who claim they know more than regular citizens.'
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