Rep. Maxine Waters claimed that police believe their “greatest challenge” while working is “to keep black people in their place.”
“The police, I think, really believe and in some ways are led to believe that their greatest challenge and their greatest choir is to keep black people in their place,” Waters said Sunday on Spectrum News 1’s In Focus SoCal.
Anchor Tanya McRae asked the California Democrat why the United States “has such difficulty” making changes “when it comes to violence and injustice done to black people” as racial tensions continue following last year’s summer of riots and protests.
“I believe that it stems from the history of this country. It stems from slavery, when whites were absolutely in charge and they absolutely controlled the lives of people and their families. They decided to separate families and send the boys in one direction, the girls in another, the mothers to the big house,” Waters responded.
MAXINE WATERS: ‘I WILL NEVER EVER FORGIVE’ BLACK VOTERS WHO VOTE FOR TRUMP
“I mean, they’ve always been in charge. I think that this thinking about the need to control, the need to, you know, make sure that people stay in their place, so-called, has been what has — basically what has happened in America all of these years. And I think it continues in various ways, sometimes a little bit more sophisticated ways,” she added.
Waters has previously placed the blame on former President Donald Trump for what she characterized as emboldening white supremacists and Ku Klux Klan members across the country, leading to racial tensions.
“The divisiveness that this deplorable human being has caused, the confrontation, the dog-whistling to the right wing, the white supremacists, the KKK, and they’re coming alive,” Waters said just days ahead of the 2020 election. “They’re emboldened because they’ve got a leader who wants them to do it. What did he say to the Proud Boys? Stand back and stand ready? Ready for what — confrontation? Give me a break, Joe. I thank you. I know you’re on it, doing everything that you can. We’ve got to shout it from the rooftops — vote, vote, vote.”
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She added at the time that she would “never, ever forgive” black voters who voted for Trump.
“He’s a racist. He does not have any appreciation for black people and black women, in particular. He has talked about us so bad. He talked about John Lewis so bad,” Waters said. “He has no respect for us. He’s not doing anything for us.”
