Representative James Clyburn (D-SC) claimed Friday on CNN’s “Inside Politics” that the country was in danger of Jim Crow laws returning because voters did not prioritize democracy.
Host Dana Bash said, “I want to switch gears to something that former President Obama said. He made I believe his first comments since the election. He said this last night. I want you to take a listen.”
Thursday in Chicago, former President Barack Obama said, “Talk of bridging our differences when the country and the world seemed so bitterly divided felt like an academic exercise, it felt farfetched, even naive. Especially since as far as they were concerned, the election proved that democracies pretty far down on people’s priority list.”
Bash said, “What do you make of the former president’s comments?”
Clyburn said, “Well, I think they ring true. Not that they should be true but they have demonstrated that that is the case. I you know, you know me very well, and you know that I spent a lot of time studying history. I’ve talked about this election, even going in the run up to the election from a historical standpoint. I seem to remember, as we were celebrating the 100th anniversary of this country’s existence, we had a presidential election in 1876 and you see what happened to democracy in that election, it led to Jim Crow. I’m the ninth African-American to serve in Congress from South Carolina the problem is that 95 years between number eight and number nine because democracy was driven so far down on people’s lists back in 1876. There’s a danger of that happening again.”
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