A group of House Democrats, led by Rep. Al Green of Texas, have introduced a bill (H. Res. 919) that would establish a Cabinet-level Department of Reconciliation. The new department, if formed, would be tasked with waging "unconditional war on racism" and be given about $70 billion a year to do it.
"Invidious discrimination has no place in our society," Green stated in introducing the resolution on February 9, "yet we will never see its demise as long as we fail to rectify the injustices that have been proliferating within our nation over the course of centuries …. A Department of Reconciliation with the necessary resources and budget to heal the wounds of our nation is long overdue."
Author and commentator Dr. Carol Swain says in her eyes, the bill's backers are the last people qualified to address racism in the US.
"I find it ironic that [many of] the Democrats who have signed onto it … are a part of the Congressional Black Caucus, which is itself a caucus that many Americans would consider racist because it segregates black legislators from white legislators," Swain begins.
The bill stipulates racism in the United States is "pervasive," "institutionalized," and "systemic" – and specifically calls out policing, criminal justice, voting, housing, banking, employment, education, health care, and the environment.
Swain, a retired professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt, says all that is a fiction fabricated for political gain.
"The bill should never become law because it seems to be heavily influenced by critical race theory – and I think we need to focus on [the label] 'theory,'" she emphasizes. "It's someone's idea dreamed up in an armchair, [and] it's not necessarily supported by reality. So, it's not like something that has been proven."
And while the resolution isn't likely to become law, Swain says the effort betrays the motives of the race-obsessed Left. "I cannot think of anything that would be more divisive to our country than to set up a Cabinet-level 'department of reconciliation' that's based on racist principles," she offers.
Racism, she argues, isn't something that just happens to black people. "Any group can be racist in their actions," Swain adds, "and they can harm other people."
