Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett is seen is seen during the first hearing held by the House Oversight Committee in impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden at Rayburn House Office Building in Capitol Hill of Washington D.C., on September 28, 2023. | Source: Anadolu / Getty
A brief video clip from an interview with Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett addressing the topic of reparations was going viral on Wednesday morning. But that’s about the only truth to what’s turned into a disingenuous narrative on social media that’s apparently being fueled by right-wing conservatives similar to those who have managed to turn “DEI” into a racial slur.
The progressive Democrat’s nearly half-hour-long interview with the Black Lawyers Podcast was posted on Tuesday. Soon afterward, the “End Wokeness” social media account posted a minute-long clip from the interview on X, formerly Twitter, and declared as fact that Crockett “suggests exempting blacks from taxes.” The post also claims that Crockett “then says maybe it’s not the best idea because many blacks don’t pay any taxes anyway… so maybe give free checks.”
The X account is likely banking on its more than 2 million followers to trust that the post is true and accurate without any verification – troubling behavior that we have seen from like-minded individuals (sheep?), particularly on Jan. 6, 2021.
But all it takes is for anyone with working ears to listen to Crockett’s own words and understand that she said nothing close to what the “End Wokeness” account claims she said.
And you don’t even have to listen very long to know that Crockett never came close to suggesting to exempt Black people from paying taxes as a possible means of reparative justice.
Nearly immediately, Crockett makes it clear that the concept of Black people not having to pay taxes as part of a reparations package she is referencing came from a “celebrity.” While Crockett does pause to say that’s “not necessarily a bad idea,” she quickly qualified that musing by adding that she would “have to think through” such a concept “a lot” before endorsing it.
All of that happened within the first 13 seconds of the clip, swiftly contradicting the “End Wokeness” account’s incorrect claims that Crockett “suggests exempting blacks from taxes.”
The account also failed to mention how Crockett eloquently went on to break down the concept of reparations to explain the moral obligation that the U.S. has to the descendants of enslaved African Americans.
Nowhere in the brief clip did Crockett mention anything about “free checks” or the racist lie that “many blacks don’t pay any taxes anyway.”
Watch the full interview below.
Ironically, Crockett is likely the target of this conservative-led campaign of deliberate disinformation because of her dedication to exposing the truth.
Back in October, Crockett went viral for all the right reasons when she swiftly gathered House Republicans during a hearing on the impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden. She clearly articulated her case against the inquiry by highlighting the absurdity of it all with facts and evidence.
In January, Crockett – clearly making a habit out of exposing House Republicans’ hypocrisy – called out the partisan politics behind Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, being the consistent target of a GOP that is still licking its wounds from losing the 2020 election.
In that instance, Crockett notably cited “white privilege” as a motivating factor.
All of this is very on-brand for Crockett.
The former Texas State Representative, public defender and attorney is determined to dismantle the white supremacist agenda at the root of the current Republican Party.
“We were never a part of the equation. We were somebody else’s property,” Crockett previously told Amanda Seales during an interview on the Small Doses podcast. “If we now are a part of the equation, then how do we get America to live up to the ‘beautiful’ that it has promised to be?”
SEE ALSO:
Michigan GOP’s Racist Post Calls Baltimore Mayor’s Response To Anti-Blackness, ‘Colored Communism’
Missouri GOP Sues To Block ‘Honorary’ KKK Member From Running For Governor As Republican
The post Fact Check: No, Rep. Jasmine Crockett Did NOT Call For Black People To Be Exempt From Paying Taxes appeared first on NewsOne.
Fact Check: No, Rep. Jasmine Crockett Did NOT Call For Black People To Be Exempt From Paying Taxes was originally published on newsone.com
