Racist Man Threatened To ‘Lynch’ Rep. Who Said ‘Amen and A-woman’ During A Prayer In Congress In Early January

Updated March 10, 2021.

Democrats have taken control of the house and they are working to fight for equality and progressiveness. Earlier this week, on Monday, they made efforts to lay down the law and pave the way for legislation such as a “Green New Deal.” The changes come as Democrats have managed to take the majority in the House with a little less than a half-dozen seats.

Still, it’s their latest change that has caused the greatest stir.

The U.S. House of Representatives has added a new code of conduct that swaps gendered language for gender-inclusive terms.

The proposal for the change was outlined in early January by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, and Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts according to U.S. News. The proposal is part of the Democrats’ package of “sweeping” rule changes which work to promote diversity and inclusion in the 117th Congress.

In January, the House approved the package in a 217-206 vote on party lines.

The change of rules does not ban the use of gendered language in the House but works to rename certain language found in the official House rules.

The words that will be changed in the code will include:

▪ “Seamen” which will be replaced with “seafarers.”

▪ “Chairman” will changed to “chair.”

▪ When it comes to terms related to familial relationships (including mother, father, daughter, son, sister, and brother) will be changed to broader terms such as parent, child, and sibling.

▪ Submit his or her resignation” is a phrase that will be replaced with “resign.”

▪ “He or she serves” and “he or she holds” will be changed to ‘‘such Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner” serves or holds.

▪ “Himself” and “herself” will change to themself.

Evidence of the new rules and their affects on the tone and culture of House were already in affect by mid January.

During an opening prayer, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver said the words “Amen and A-woman.”

Emanuel Cleaver is a United Methodist minister and former mayor of Kansas City, Missouri who recently entered his ninth term. In an interview with the Kansas City Star, Cleaver explained that his use of the word “A-woman” was intended to recognize the number of women serving in Congress. Currently, there are 144 women serving in the House and Senate. The previous high was 129.

Some conservatives accused Cleaver of lacking an understanding of the meaning of “amen” which means “so be it” in Hebrew.

In response to his change of phrase, on January 7, a Missouri man with a history of making alleged racial threats, proposed a lynching against the Black congressman.

According to federalederal prosecutors of the U.S. Justice Department, Kenneth R. Hubert, 63 left a voicemail on Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s office and used a racial slur to when he asked “How about a noose … around [your] neck?”

Chief Magistrate Judge David P. Rush told Hubert in hearing that “words have meaning” and “your words rise to the level of posing a danger.”

Cleaver noted that his words were only meant to be “a lighthearted pun in recognition of the record number of women who will be representing the American people in Congress during this term as well as in recognition of the first female chaplain of the House of Representatives whose service commenced this week.”

“I personally find these historic occasions to be blessings from God for which I am grateful,” Cleaver said, adding that he was “deeply disappointed that my prayer has been misinterpreted and misconstrued by some to fit a narrative that stokes resentment and greater division among portions of our population,” he added. “Rather than reflecting on my faithful requests for community healing and reversion from our increasingly tribal tendencies, it appears that some have latched on to the final word of this conversation in an attempt to twist my message to God and demean me personally. In doing so, they have proven one point of my greater message – that we are all ‘soiled by selfishness, perverted by prejudice and inveigled by ideology’.”

The Democrats have made other changes that have proven to be less controversial. The new rules make it a violation of House ethics rules to reveal the names of whistleblowers. They also include initiating a review of the use of misleading “deepfake” videos by lawmakers which tackle the issue as an ethics violation.