Trey Gowdy Schools Professor's View on Racial Discrimination

Republican House Representative from South Carolina, Trey Gowdy directly challenged the assertion by professor and community policing advocate, Deborah Ramirez, that African-American victims of crime are treated differently than white victims of crime in America. This quickly sparked a fierce debate, with Gowdy's beginning his line of questioning by listing some of the “more than 340 officers killed in the line of duty in South Carolina” followed by several victims of “interracial homicides in South Carolina.”

Gowdy was relentless in taking Ramirez to task for her assertion that poor black communities often fail to receive justice, while noting that there is a very real problem of actually getting the victims of violent crime to cooperate with police investigations - “even after a drive-by shooting of an 8-year-old at a birthday party?,” he shouted at Ramirez.

His frustration comes as House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Bob Goodlatte says he “will not rest until we make progress”, in regards to policing and criminal justice reform. However, the Virginia Republican’s effort to build consensus has continuously devolved into partisanship - with Tuesday's hearing being the latest case. This suggests Goodlatte and reform advocates have a long way to go before they will ever find any common ground for on new policing standards or training.

This was the first of several planned Judiciary hearings on the rising tensions between police and African-American in their local communities. Several of the most high profile cases of police brutality and abuse of power have been perpetrated against African-Americans, the most famous case of course, being that of George Floyd, occurring in the summer of 2020.

“I want us to get to the point where we lament the murder of a black female … at the hand of her abusive husband … just as much as if it was at the hand of a white cop,” said Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor.

Democrat Representative from Texas Sheila Jackson Lee attempted - as she does - several times to defuse tensions at various moments in the hearing, interjecting to people in the room that they “may disagree” but “we don’t heal when we take each other’s pain lightly.” She has continuously urged the panel to work together to find a solution. However, has also spent more of her time caught in the same partisan rhetoric she accuses her colleagues of displaying.

Many of the African-American members of the panel chose to spend their allotted time seeking guidance from policing experts about what Congress should do to improve the situation, and also sharing personal stories of being stopped or harassed by police. Republicans, meanwhile, used their time to discuss the essential need for policing, imploring the public and Congress to respect community police officers and allocate them the appropriate funding they need to do their job safely and successfully.

“I want to assure all of you that the purpose of this hearing and the ongoing efforts following this hearing is to make sure we’re doing everything possible to address the problems that have arisen in recent months to make sure communities are safer, police officers are safer and our citizens’ rights are protected,” Goodlatte said.

Despite a measured tone by the Chair, fiery rhetoric from Milwaukee, Wisconsin County Sheriff David Clarke, stole the show. Clarke blasted federal lawmakers for getting involved in issues of policing at all, arguing they are a matter for local consideration, outside of federal authority. This is inline with the Republican's past and present support for states rights. Clarke has taken the same stance essentially, just in a more micro sense. Republicans, like Arizona conservative Trent Franks, praised Clarke for his work, with members asking him how officers are handling the political heat?

“Let’s leave that police conduct for the public to engage in, not… the elected officials who can’t resist the opportunity to exploit the emotions of an uninformed or misinformed public simply for political gain,” Clarke said, before suggesting the root of current problems is “black underclass subculture behavior” that has little to do with police practices.

Since the recent Baltimore riots, Goodlatte and Conyers have been working together, inviting witnesses to testify and talk about potential future next steps.

Sheriff David Clarke Testifies Before House Judiciary on Police Conduct:
https://youtu.be/AttTKZagN0o

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