Rep. Byron Donalds’s (R-FL) office received a copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin on Thursday, according to the congressman, who accused the book’s sender of having “hate in their heart.”
The 1852 anti-slavery novel is one of the best-known abolitionist works of all time, but its portrayal of the deferential main character Uncle Tom, a slave, is used against conservative black people to accuse them of selling out to the Republican Party.
‘HE IS A PROP’: CORI BUSH DIMINISHES BYRON DONALDS SPEAKERSHIP NOD
“Whoever sent this book did so w/ hate in their heart & the desire to depict me as a sellout,” he tweeted, followed by a quote attributed to basketball player Bill Russell: “Concentration & mental toughness are the margins of victory.”
Today, my D.C. office received a copy of the world-renowned book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Whoever sent this book did so w/ hate in their heart & the desire to depict me as a sellout.
Concentration & mental toughness are the margins of victory.
– Bill Russell pic.twitter.com/vwb1Bu8vwL— Congressman Byron Donalds (@RepDonaldsPress) January 19, 2023
Donalds faced race-based attacks from across the aisle during the contentious House speaker election, in which conservatives trying to keep Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from winning the gavel voted for Donalds instead. Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) accused him of being a “prop” who supports “white supremacy.”
“@ByronDonalds is not a historic candidate for Speaker. He is a prop. Despite being Black, he supports a policy agenda intent on upholding and perpetuating white supremacy. His name being in the mix is not progress — it’s pathetic,” Bush tweeted.
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Donalds responded, “If you see a Black man rise, let the man rise even if you disagree with them. I’d be happy to sit down and debate our policies one on one whenever you’d like. As a black man to a black woman, I’d never do that to you. It’s a shame you did it to me.”
Donalds and many of the hard-liners supporting him ultimately backed McCarthy after the GOP leader made rules concessions to win their votes.
