“Is This Who We Are Now?” Rep. Jasmine Crockett Confronts Racism and Abuse of Power

 

“Is This Who We Are Now?” Rep. Jasmine Crockett Confronts Racism and Abuse of Power

 

We Are Now?” Rep. Jasmine Crockett Confronts Racism and Abuse of Power

Rep. Jasmine Crockett

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Jan 16, 2026 #JasmineCrockett #Congress #CivilRights

In this hearing, Rep. Jasmine Crockett speaks from frustration, history, and facts. As a civil rights lawyer and member of Congress, she confronts what too many are dancing around: racial profiling, ICE overreach, and a government that keeps pretending cruelty is policy. This is not a left versus right argument. It’s about whether we still believe in the Constitution. It’s about whether arresting people for their skin color, their accent, or their disagreement is ever acceptable. And it’s about calling racism what it is instead of watering it down for comfort. Crockett connects today’s abuses to the past, refuses to soften the language, and makes one thing clear: when rights are violated for some, none of us are safe. Silence is not neutrality. It’s permission. This is what oversight looks like when someone actually shows up to do the job.

 

Transcript

0:00

I've heard so much and I have prepared

0:02

remarks and if you know anything about

0:04

me, you never know where I'm going. Um,

0:06

and frankly, I don't either because I

0:08

have already cried this morning. Um, and

0:12

you know, so I'll just start here. As a

0:14

civil rights lawyer, I'm insensed. As an

0:16

American, I'm embarrassed. As a human,

0:19

I'm infuriated. And as a member of

0:21

Congress, I am immovable in my pursuit

0:24

of accountability.

0:26

You see, right now people want to

0:28

pretend as if this is right or left, but

0:30

I'm here to tell you that this is about

0:32

right or wrong. And it is very sad that

0:34

the only people that are sitting here

0:36

are members of the Democratic side. So,

0:38

I guess we just want to stand on the

0:40

side of rights. For once, we will be

0:42

associated with being right instead of

0:44

left.

0:45

Because my question to any of you, and I

0:49

just go down the line and ask you, is it

0:51

right or wrong to arrest someone because

0:54

of the color of their skin?

0:57

Absolutely not.

0:58

Is it right or wrong to arrest somebody

1:00

because of their accent?

1:01

Wrong.

1:02

Is it right or wrong to arrest somebody

1:04

because they were exercising their

1:06

constitutional rights?

1:07

It is wrong.

1:08

Is it right or wrong to arrest somebody

1:11

because they simply disagree with you?

1:13

It's wrong.

1:14

All right. So, it seems like y'all all

1:16

went to elementary school and y'all can

1:17

tell right from wrong. I'm not really

1:19

sure what is going on with ICE right

1:21

now, but I can tell you and as we heard

1:25

earlier, this is pure racism. I don't

1:28

know why we want to tinker around with

1:30

it and pretend as if it's something

1:32

other than what it is. I like to call a

1:34

thing a thing. And he has told us time

1:36

and time again who he was when he talked

1:38

about certain people being from certain

1:40

hole countries. Those are his

1:41

words. the only reason I'm cussing in

1:43

this moment. When he said things like

1:46

they are eating the cats and dogs,

1:49

we knew exactly what we were getting.

1:51

And some people are saying, "I don't

1:53

know how we got here, but I do

1:55

because we know that dehumanizing I

1:58

believe that you said something to the

2:00

effect of cruelty and humiliation are

2:04

the point."

2:05

That's what you said, Miss Patty.

2:07

Because when we look at other places,

2:09

say places that did things like, oh, you

2:12

know, go door todo

2:15

looking for people as they had to hide

2:18

out, say, in an attic. Does that sound

2:19

familiar to anybody?

2:22

Or the images that I have seen of people

2:26

being attacked by law enforcement,

2:28

whether we're talking about dogs or fire

2:30

hoses, it seems very reminiscent of

2:33

something that we have seen before in

2:35

this country. And then people get

2:37

offended and try to say I'm too black.

2:40

But the reality is that y'all never let

2:42

the fact that I am black go.

2:44

So I'm going to be clear about one

2:46

thing. I know my good black history. And

2:48

so when I look and I say, and I will say

2:51

it loud and proud because the DH

2:53

secretary had a few choice words for me,

2:55

but this looks like modern-day slave

2:57

patrols.

2:58

And they have been sanctioned by this

3:01

Supreme Court.

3:03

Who ever thought we would live in a

3:05

country that progress looks like having

3:07

a Supreme Court that says yes, it is

3:09

okay to look at somebody or to listen to

3:12

their accent and give permission to grab

3:15

them. The last time that I checked, ICE

3:17

is only supposed to be doing immigration

3:19

enforcement. And right now we have a

3:21

record number of US citizens that have

3:23

not only been arrested but as we saw

3:26

with Renee that have been killed, that

3:29

have been maimed, that have been

3:31

bullied, that have been brutalized, that

3:33

have been unlawfully arrested. Y'all, we

3:36

are living with an abuser right now.

3:40

That is who Trump and his administration

3:42

is. And frankly, I think we all have a

3:45

little bit of PTSD. But if you know

3:47

anything about a domestic abuser,

3:50

the one thing about them that you need

3:52

to know is that they are some of the

3:53

biggest cowards that you will ever find.

3:56

What they can't stand is when you

3:57

actually fight back. And so, thank you

4:00

so much for everybody in Minnesota. But

4:04

it is time for our ent entire country to

4:06

stand together. Because if you don't

4:08

recognize that we are all in the same

4:10

sinking ship, whether you are black,

4:12

white, Latino, African, whoever you are,

4:16

the reality is that we have an

4:18

administration that has decided that

4:20

they are going to ignore our

4:21

constitutional rights and we will not

4:23

stand for it otherwise our democracy

4:25

will fall. So I just got this to say

4:27

because she has Thank you,

4:28

Representative Crockett. We got some

4:30

people that got to make some planes. So