Call it another dog whistle moment. A black member of the Indiana state legislature recently digressed from her prepared remarks in a heated debate on aspects of the state’s much-in-the-news Religious Freedom Restoration Act to speak out against another societal ill, racism.
Rep. Vanessa Summers actually “went there,” naming names. But the identity of the racist she singled out caused some in the chamber to wonder whether she had taken leave of her senses. Her j’accuse was directed at the son of one of a colleague, Rep. Jud McMillin.
The only problem with her allegation is the child’s age: A year and a half.
The money portion of her statement comes at 3:14 in the video below (transcript follows):
I have told Representative McMillin I love his little son, but he’s scared of me. Because of my color. And that’s horrible. It’s true. And that’s something we’re gonna work on…. I asked him, please, introduce your child ro some people of color. So that he won’t live his life as a prejudiced person.
The American Mirror reports that McMillin dignified Summers’s inane rant by needlessly defending his son, noting that the child tends to react this way to all newcomers. He is quoted as adding, “You’d like to think that we would have professional discussion on the House floor and certainly be able to avoid having 18-month-olds in the discussion.”
