Actor Danny Glover was chastised by a lawmaker Wednesday for speaking out of turn during a congressional hearing on reparations.
“Mr. Glover, with great respect, the panel and the way we operate is that we go from member to member and they can ask questions, and if the next person wants to ask you, they can ask you,” Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., told the 72-year-old actor.
Glover, of “Lethal Weapon” fame, had just provided testimony to the House Judiciary Committee’s Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee that was unsolicited by a member of the panel, which had been convened to discuss a bill that would create a commission to study how to make amends to black Americans for slavery.
“Let me have a word please,” Glover said after being overlooked by lawmakers for his perspective.
He spoke about his time working for local government in northern California in the 1970s and how he witnessed Great Society-era social and economic programs being rolled back.
“I watched the evisceration of the city and people’s lives because of crack cocaine and mass incarceration as well right in my neighborhood,” Glover explained. “I think we have to kind of look at this as people say often that this is just a study to look at racism and all of its manifestations in terms of gentrification as well.”
He then emphasized the importance of telling “ourselves the truth.”
“This country is trapped in not telling the truth,” Glover added.
H.R. 40 was first introduced by former Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., in 1989. Wednesday’s hearing was the first time the measure has received committee consideration.
