Delegate Anitra Hamilton, D-Monongalia, knows exactly why West Virginia never seems to move forward.
On the last day of what was, overall, a dreadful legislative session as the Republican supermajority prepared to pass a bill defunding any state program labeled as a diversity, equity and inclusion initiative, Hamilton laid bare the utter hypocrisy and counterproductive nature of the legislation.
In her comments, Hamilton noted that cutting funding for DEI programs in a state that is constantly losing population, and has the least diversity in the nation, is a self-inflicted wound of the type the Legislature keeps committing.
Without different people, there are no different ideas, said Hamilton, who is the only Black woman serving in the House of Delegates.
She also exposed the more sinister nature of ditching programs aimed at giving minorities equal footing for education and employment opportunities, while also touching on legislation that has been passed in recent years aimed at suppressing other minority groups.
“We tell the state every day that you’re not welcome here,†she said. “You’re welcome to work here, but your voice don’t matter. We want your work, we want your money, but your equity and your worth don’t matter. That’s the kind of message that we send.â€
Hamilton touched on her own experiences as a Black woman, saying that, in her first term last year, she spent most of her time explaining to people that she wasn’t Danielle Walker, a previous member of the House who also is a Black woman.
She was even stopped from entering a meeting during last year’s session because security assumed she wasn’t a member of the House. A fellow delegate, Hamilton said, had to inform security that Hamilton was allowed in, “when it was their job to know who I am.â€
“I had a seat at the table and I still had to explain why I deserved to be in the room,†Hamilton said. “It happens all the time.â€
That type of thing shows that DEI programs are still needed, Hamilton said, and she’s right.
DEI programs are not handouts or special passes that give jobs to minorities at the expense of others. They simply allow populations that have been repressed for decades, if not centuries, access to opportunities they didn’t have before.
As Hamilton put it, representation matters.
Some Republicans in the House said they were tired of talking about the bill, which also stoked Hamilton’s ire, and for good reason.
“If anybody in this room is tired of talking about this, it’s us,†she said, “because we deal with it every single day.â€
Hamilton asked her Republican counterparts, mostly white men, how they would feel if it was their history being erased from texts or if no one at their job looked like them. She said they would find that it doesn’t inspire hope. Indeed, Hamilton said she’s had to find her own hope while “fighting for a state that doesn’t fight for you.â€
She masterfully exposed the hypocrisy of Republican House members complaining about the long debate with a simple, insightful line.
“If you’re tired of hearing about it, talking about it, then quit bringing this type of legislation forth,†Hamilton said.
Amen.
The bill passed, of course, and made it through the state Senate, also controlled by a Republican supermajority, through some dodgy tactics that ensured time on the session didn’t expire.
That doesn’t make what Hamilton had to say any less important. In fact, her remarks were some of the most meaningful delivered in the House of Delegates in recent memory. And, as Hamilton said, “We’ll keep fighting.â€
