03.29.19

Chair Grijalva Denounces Racist, Pro-Trump Attack on Oklahoma Native Americans, Calls for GOP Leadership Pushback & Policy Response

Washington, D.C. – Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said today that yesterday’s racist, pro-Trump attacks on the Chickasaw Nation and the Oklahoma Democratic Party headquarters need to result in a substantive policy response and comprehensive pushback from Republican Party leadership. Grijalva thanked Oklahoma Republican Reps. Tom Cole and Markwayne Mullin for their joint statement Thursday evening condemning the attacks, which included racist graffiti and threats of violence.

The messages spray-painted at Oklahoma Democratic Party headquarters in Oklahoma City on Thursday included one message that read “White planet only. Gas the rest,” and a note left on the building door “promoted Trump’s 2020 re-election and had a photo of former President Barack Obama with what appeared to be blood on his face,” according to the Oklahoman newspaper. The Chickasaw Nation parking lot had similar offensive and racist language toward Native Americans.

“This administration has been encouraging racism and division since President Trump got to the White House, and the days when the Republican Party can pretend otherwise are over,” Grijalva said today. “Without a comprehensive, substantive policy reaction – including the Department of Justice acknowledging and responding to the rise of white nationalist criminality – this is going to get worse, not better. Polite expressions of concern are not getting the job done, and if my Republican colleagues are serious about stopping this, they’ll spend more time actively fighting racism and less time absolving themselves and their leadership of any responsibility.”

“The acts of bigotry and anti-Semitism displayed to the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma remind us that racism is still alive in this country,” said Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), who chairs the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands. “It reveals an ugly reality that Native Americans and people of color still face today. Our communities deserve to feel safe, and we must condemn this behavior against any group of people.”

Haaland is one of the first two Native American women serving in Congress and serves as co-chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that 250,000 people are victimized by hate crimes each year, but a recent report finds that federal agencies may be significantly undercounting those numbers because many crimes are not reported to federal databases.

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