AFRICANGLOBE – Vice President Mike Pence is having just as hard of a time honoring Black History Month as President Donald Trump, given one of his latest tweets.
On Wednesday, Pence commemorated the beginning of a month dedicated to celebrating Black Americans who made contributions to enriching American culture, society, and government by shouting out a white man — Abraham Lincoln — for signing the Emanicpation Proclamation. He proceeded to get schooled hard by Black Twitter.
As #BlackHistoryMonth begins, we remember when Pres. Lincoln submitted the 13th Amendment, ending slavery, to the states #NationalFreedomDay
— Vice President Pence (@VP) February 2, 2017
@VP ……he was white. This is BLACK History Month.
— cx cope (@cxcope) February 2, 2017
@mskristinawong @VP Is he seriously finding a way to celebrate a white guy during #blackhistorymonth??? These turds are atrocities.
— Kimberly Coleman (@Kimmie_RN) February 2, 2017
@VP did you really try to honor #BlackHistoryMonth by praising a white man?
— Stephanie Sheh (@stephaniesheh) February 2, 2017
@VP Why is your #BHM shoutout for a white guy?
— William J. Simmons (@WJ_Simmons) February 2, 2017
@VP Cool, Lackwit. Any actual black men or women you want to celebrate?
— HarleyPeyton (@HarleyPeyton) February 2, 2017
Some Twitter users pointed out that Pence was repeating the same problematic pattern of white people crediting other white people for ending slavery, which does a disservice to the countless Black Americans who fought for the abolition of slavery.
.@VP it’s part of the racist imagination that Black history began when white men “freed the slaves” – #BHM is timeless.
— William J. Simmons (@WJ_Simmons) February 2, 2017
@VP Remember, black people were actually human beings before they were emancipated.
— Carrie Coon (@carriecoon) February 2, 2017
Twitter user @4NIKKOLAS used Pence’s tweet to allude to President Trump’s embarrassing gaffe on Wednesday, in which he referred to abolitionist Frederick Douglass in the present tense. New York Daily News social media editor Candace Amos pointed out that it was especially tone-deaf for the Vice President to ring in Black History Month by mentioning slavery:
@VP “Somebody get this Frederick Douglass on the phone so I can give my congrats on the amazing job he’s doing” #TrumpBlackHistory #BHM
— NIKKOLAS (@4NIKKOLAS) February 2, 2017
@VP You commemorate the first day of #blackhistorymonth with a shoutout to slavery. Just delete.
— Candace Amos (@CandaceAmos) February 2, 2017
Pence also got a stern rebuke from Twitter users who weren’t fazed by his Black History Month tweet, pointing out that the Vice President is still the number two man of a party that works diligently to pass laws that systematically disenfranchise Black voters.
@VP do you also remember how your party actively suppresses minority voting?
— Brian Gianelli (@bgianelli) February 2, 2017
@VP Racism didn’t end when slavery ended. It’s embedded in our institutions and carried forward with racist public policy.
— Kristina Wong ❄️ (@mskristinawong) February 2, 2017
However, Twitter user @cjchandler77 had perhaps one of the most poignant responses, when he told Pence that African Americans shouldn’t be remembered by their time in chains, but by their accomplishments as free men and women.
@VP emancipation is not black history. It did not free slaves, just deligitimized slavery. Black history is what we did for America.
— Chris Chandler (@cjchandler77) February 2, 2017
By: Tom Cahill
