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Arizona Republican Eli Crane seemingly referred to Black Americans as “colored people” on Thursday, July 13, sparking a heated debate online. The Congressional newbie was immediately reprimanded by the presiding officer of the chamber on the House floor.
Eli took the podium to promote an amendment that he proposed to the National Defense Authorization Act or NDAA. The Rep. said that the NDAA will control the wokeness in the U.S. Department of Defense.
The 43-year-old, who is a member of The Freedom Caucus, a far-right congressional caucus proposed the amendment to bar the consideration of gender, religion, race, or political affiliations as well as other ideological concepts as the sole criterion for recruitment, training sessions, promotion, or retention.
“My amendment has nothing to do with whether or not colored people, or Black people or anyone can serve, okay?” Eli said.
Eli’s remarks were condemned by senators from both parties, and people online were not having it either. One user commented on The Shared Room’s post about the matter and wrote that nobody was shocked or in disbelief.
Rep. Eli Crane's remarks leave the internet divided
The internet was furious at Eli Crane's use of the phrase "colored people" as they deemed it insensitive and derogatory. Many Democrats called Eli out for his openly racist remarks. Several netizens urged others to vote the Republican out.
While the Republican Representative's mention of "colored people" earned him strong criticism from politicians and the general public, a few tried to reason that there was nothing wrong with what he said.
Several people wrote that Eli was not referring to Black people as "colored people" but he meant "people of color" as an umbrella term for people from other ethnicities living in America. These include Hispanics, Asian Americans, Middle Eastern Americans, etc.
Eli Crane's remarks were removed from the record
Democratic representative Joyce Beatty who is the Congressional Black Caucus’ former head objected to Eli Crane's proposed amendment, arguing that the Republicans were trying to set them back.
“I’m old enough to remember when Black officers, when women, were not allowed to serve. You are setting us back. On this floor on both sides of the aisle we have people of color, we have people who have served,” she said.
However, the Republican said that his proposal has nothing to do with the color of one’s skin or things related to that. He said that the amendment aims to preserve and maintain that the U.S. military does not become a place for social experiments. He continued:
“We want the best of the best, we want to have standards. I’m going to tell you guys right now, the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians, the North Koreans, they are not doing this because they want the strongest military possible. I hope my colleagues on the other side can understand what we’re doing.”
Though Eli quickly tried to backtrack and asked to amend his remark about the people of color, Joyce Beatty was not having it as she firmly declared that she had asked the Speaker to have Eli’s words stricken and not altered. Eli Crane’s words were then removed from the official record without objection.
