(DENVER, Colo.) — In a recent session at the Colorado State House, a resolution recognizing February as Black History Month faced unexpected controversy when Colorado Springs State Rep. Ken DeGraaf (R) emerged as the sole dissenter.
During a session that unfolded on Feb. 1, the only six Black female representatives in the Colorado State House proposed the resolution, aiming to honor the contributions of Black Americans throughout history. Representatives invited students to watch the resolution, which they thought would be a celebration of sorts.
However, Rep. DeGraaf’s objections took center stage as he expressed reservations about the resolution’s language.
“We could or should talk about how the first owner of a chattel slave was a free man of African descent, or how the blood and treasure of Britain and the United States — trillions in today’s dollars went into fighting the slave trade that was promulgated by African-American and Arabian empires who had based their economy,” Rep. DeGraaf said in his speech marked by references to the primacy of verbiage, historical inaccuracies, and challenges to established scientific and historical narratives.