In honor of Black History Month, we would be remiss if we didn’t help amplify the voice of Coretta Scott King, testifying in 1986 against Senator Jeff Sessions’ appointment to a federal judgeship. Senator Elizabeth Warren was prevented from reading this letter in the Senate last night.
Unfortunately, as you probably already know, Sessions has been confirmed as Attorney General of the United States. One Democratic senator, Joe Manchin of Virginia, joined the Republican senators in a party-line vote.
We won’t get any deeper into politics of the Senate or the arcane workings of rules designed to avoid fistfights. We simply ask that you take a moment to read the letter, if you haven’t already; if it’s appropriate for your classroom, share it with your students. To paraphrase, learning from history is preferable to repeating it.
The full text of King’s letter is available here via NPR.
.small stones. 