I am so proud of my new Congresswoman. To be clear, I am new not her. Rep Barbara Lee (D-CA 13) has been representing the area I just moved to since 1998 and, from what I can tell, doing a damn fine job of it.
To those of you who have congressional representation, this may seem like nothing special. To me, however, this is new stuff. I have lived much of the last few years in Washington, DC with no real representation in Congress. Don't get me wrong, I love Eleanor Holmes Norton but she has barely more power in the federal government than I do.
But on to the good stuff. Rep Lee released this statement today:
“My colleague Congressman Ryan’s comments about “inner city” poverty are a thinly veiled racial attack and cannot be tolerated. Let’s be clear, when Mr. Ryan says “inner city,” when he says, “culture,” these are simply code words for what he really means: “black.”
“As someone who sits on the Budget Committee with Mr. Ryan, I know that his assertions about the racial dynamics of poverty are not only statistically inaccurate, but deeply offensive.
“Instead of demonizing “culture,” and blaming black men for their poverty, Mr. Ryan should step up and produce some legitimate proposals on how to tackle poverty and racial discrimination in America. His uninformed policy proposals continue to increase poverty, not solve it. My colleague is demonstrating a complete lack of knowledge and
understanding of the issues in urban and
black communities.”
You know what
he said and where he said it.
Follow all the "He's a Racist/He's Right" back and forth here
I much prefer Rep Lee's initial reaction from her campaign twitter account ...
... to the more staid version from her official account.
Okay, I know I'm late to the party and that this has been hashed and rehashed on dKos already. I just wanted to throw a shout out to my Congresswoman.