Republican Congressman Troy Nehls (R-TX)
attacked his colleague, St. Louis
Congresswoman Cori Bush (D-MO) with language
that is rash, brash, and out of control. It
happened at the end of January, but somehow
his attack sticks in my craw. I am tired of
unprincipled attacks on Black women, and more
than that, I am tired of the casual use of
racist tropes to demean us. The misogynoir
that Black women experience often goes
unanswered. I’ve had enough.
Congresswoman Bush is being investigated
for her use of campaign funds. After numerous
death threats, she has chosen to use those
funds, which are not federal funds, to hire
security to protect her. One of the security
officers she has hired is her husband, who has
worked as a security guard in the past. She
has done nothing illegal, although anyone
would say the appearance is challenging. One
investigation has found that she has done
nothing wrong. The second investigation will
likely find the same thing.
Troy Nehls, clearly a virulent racist,
was asked what he thought. He described
Cortney Merrits, Cori Buish’s husband, as a
“thug”. Really? Nehls is a disgraced former
police officer, fired for mihandling evidence.
He served our country as an Army reservist,
and was an elected sheriff in Fort Bend, Texas
from 2013 through 2021. He ran for office
planning to address issues of health care for
veterans. So why is he attacking a fellow
veteran, Cortney Merrits, as a “thug”? Does he
only have concerns for veterans when they are
white? Should he not have respect for a
colleague’s husband, who served our country,
put his life on the line? A deep dive into Mr.
Nehls background reveals him to be a deeply
flawed, indeed unsavory, individual and an
undistingurshed member of Congress who needs
to know how to keep his mouth shut.
Nehls did not stop at attacking Cori
Bush’s husband. He went on to call her “loud”
and to say that if she “toned it down” she
would not have experienced the death threats
that require her to have private security.
Loud? Cori Bush was not elected to be quiet.
She has been a tireless advocate, a Black
Lives Matter leader, a vocal member of “The
Squad” who is a force for social and economic
justice. Loud? I wish she were louder and more
vocal, because she is speaking our truth. Some
are upset that she has called for a cease fire
in Israel, and in her reelection campaign, she
has attracted opponents who disagree with her
stance. She increasingly represents the
progressive voices who are disgusted with the
loss of 25,000 or more Palestinian lives
because of Israel’s “response” to the Hamas
October 7 attack. Israel’s Prime Minister,
Benjamin Netanyu wants to wipe Palestinians
out of Gaza, and the United Nations has
advised Israel to stop targeting civilian
lives. Cori Bush is saying nothing more than
any principled human being is saying. Tone it
down? No turn it up
Nehls comments about Congresswoman Cori
Bush are inflaming, and his descripton of her
as “loud” reminds me of the 1918 lynching of
Mary Turner, a young black woman who protested
the murder of her husband and threatened to
press charges against the white men who killed
him. She was described as “mouthy”, or in
other words, loud. Because she had the nerve
to confront white men, she was lynched. She
was nine months pregnant when she was killed,
hung by her ankles, doused with gasoline, set
on fire. She was under such physical distress
as she was lynched that she expelled her
fetus, which rabid and soulless white men then
stomped to death.
Most of our nation’s five thousand
lynching were of Black men, but as many as one
hundred Black women were lynched, and Mary
Turner is one of them. She was lynched as an
example. Don’t speak up, Black women, or you
will suffer consequences. Don’t confront white
men, or we will knock you down. Mr. Nehls
invoked a dangerous racist trope, and he has
yet to apologize for his language. He isn’t
likely to apologize because it is open season
on Black people and these racist tropes play
well with his crowd. He helped the Capitol
Police barricade the capitol on January 6, but
has since written a book supportive of the
45th President. He fits right in with the
racist crowd that has nothing but disdain for
Black people (except Tim Scott) and Black
women.
Nehls racist rant is rash, brash, and out
of control. We must respond to him forcefully,
and throw our enthusiastic support behind
Congresswoman Cori Bush, an American patriot,
activist, and shero.
