Grijalva calls Crane’s speech ‘dog whistle to white nationalists’

Rep. Raúl Grijalva said fellow Tucson-location Rep. Eli Crane’s usage of the term “colored people” throughout a House flooring argument was a “dog whistle to white nationalists.”

Crane, a freshman Republican from Oro Valley, said he misspoke during a debate Thursday over his proposal to prohibit the Defense Department from teaching or requiring adherence to “race-based or ideological concepts.”

He unsuccessfully asked Thursday to change his words to “people of color.” Crane was not available for an interview Friday, however his workplace provided a composed declaration.

“In a heated floor debate on my amendment that would prohibit discrimination on the color of one’s skin in the Armed Forces, I misspoke,” the declaration said. “Every one of us is made in the image of God and created equal.”

Grijalva, a Tucson Democrat, said Friday that he was pleased Crane reclaimed his words, however that doesn’t negate the effect of those words or of the modification Crane was promoting.

“This integrated military needs to be reflected in diversity at all levels. And so everybody is aware, and everybody fully understands, that’s what he was after. That’s what he was trying to stop,” Grijalva said. “And I think that you know, all you do, is it’s a dog whistle to white nationalists.”

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, who was on the opposite of the flooring argument Thursday, called Crane’s speech “racist and repugnant.”

“I am still in utter shock and disbelief that a Republican uttered the words ‘colored people’ in reference to African-American service members who sacrifice their lives for our freedom,” Beatty said in a tweet.

The remark came throughout argument on Crane’s proposed Protection of Ideological Freedom modification to the Pentagon spending plan. The modification, which consequently passed, “prohibits DOD from considering race, gender, religion or political affiliations or any other ideological concepts as the sole basis for recruitment, training, education, promotion or retention decisions.”

While safeguarding his modification, Crane, a veteran, said the military “was never intended to be, you know, inclusive. Its strength is not its diversity, its strength is its standards. Diversity can be a great thing but that should not be our focus.”

Beatty, keeping in mind ratings of Republican changes on whatever from abortion to variety, said it was “very difficult as a Black woman for me to stand on this House floor and have my colleagues say that there is no value, there is no need for diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Crane said his modification has “nothing to do with whether colored people, or Black people, or anybody, can serve,” however was focused on making sure that “our military does not become a social experiment.”

Beatty right away asked that Crane’s “offensive and inappropriate language” be stricken from the record. Even though Crane attempted to backtrack after Beatty contacted us to have his words stricken, critics were not flexible Friday.

Charles Fanniel, the president of the Arizona state conference of the NAACP, said “shame on him,” especially in “this day and time when race relations are so fragile right now and there’s so much division and hatred.”

“You know, when you get young people like him, especially an elected official … this same type of ideology and mindset is certainly frightening,” Fanniel said. “It’s not welcoming, you know, it’s just like you’re still stuck in yesteryear.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he thought that Crane misspoke however included Friday that the stricken language was “not acceptable.”

The Congressional Black Caucus called the minute “shameful” and “unconscionable” in a tweet Thursday and said Crane must ask forgiveness to Beatty.

The Arizona Democratic Party said in an emailed declaration Friday that citizens “will hold Representative Crane accountable on the ballot in 2024.”

But Rodd McLeod, an Arizona political campaign strategist, said the minute is not likely to impact Crane’s opportunities in 2024 in his Republican-leaning, rural second District, which covers much of northeastern Arizona.

“It’s a very tough district for a Democrat to win, the way the district was drawn,” he said.

“It went from being a, you know, a swing district to a lean-Republican district,” McLeod said. “So unfortunately, he might be in a situation where he’s got to behave however he wants, you know, he’s going to be OK.”