Black leaders are speaking out against U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, who denied a request to have Rev. Jesse Jackson lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol.
As theGrio previously reported, the decision by Johnson, a Republican, was reportedly justified as precedent, given that lying in state in the Capitol rotunda is typically reserved for former presidents, and certain members of Congress and military officials. However, there have been exceptions, such as the civil rights icon Rosa Parks and former Capitol Police Officer Jacob Chestnut Jr., the first Black American to receive this honor.
“Mike Johnson will defend a president who wants to unlawfully nationalize elections, but won’t authorize a civil rights legend to lie in honor,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. “That tells you everything you need to know about Mike Johnson and his gross disregard for our Constitution and our democracy.”
Johnson added, “Rev. Jesse Jackson preached to all Americans to Keep Hope Alive, and to dream of a nation where all people are treated with dignity and respect. No message could be more fitting for all Americans to embrace at this time.”
Judge Greg Mathis, who was mentored by Rev. Jesse Jackson, told theGrio that he is personally “angry” with Speaker Johnson’s decision but was not surprised by it.
“I think that one of the foundations of the Republican Party right now is racism. I think that’s one of the existing systemic characterizations of the current Republican Party, so I’m not surprised at all [by] someone who is complicit in having all of the representation of Black history removed from our schools, from our museums, from other places of art and history,” said Mathis, who first met Jackson as a troubled teen in jail when Mathis was just 17 years old.
Jackson being honored inside the U.S. Capitol would’ve represented “real Black history,” said Mathis, who added, “I think others should be angry. And I know folks say you shouldn’t get angry about politics. Well, this isn’t just politics. This is humanity…Black humanity.”
Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who famously represented the family of Ahmaud Arbery, Atatiana Jefferson, and others, said of Johnson’s decision, “This is not about protocol,” but rather about “power and disrespect.” He called it a “deliberate choice to minimize the legacy of a man who bled for this country’s promise of equality,” adding, “We will not quietly accept this insult to Rev. Jackson, his family, or the movement he helped build.”
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Congressional Black Caucus is pushing for a viewing of Jackson’s casket to take place in another part of the U.S. Capitol. The outlet also reported that the Jackson family had been exploring alternative locations in Washington, D.C., including Howard University, the Washington National Cathedral, or the National Museum of African American History. The family is also planning for Jackson to lie in state at the South Carolina State Capitol. Jackson would be the first African American to receive such an honor.
D.C. Councilman Zachary Parker called Speaker Johnson’s denial of Jackson to lie in state “disgraceful” and urged D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to notify Jackson’s family that the District of Columbia would “gladly” honor the civil rights icon and his family at the Convention Center or “at another District building.”
