Senator Warnock Accuses Ron Johnson of ‘Racism and Moral Blindness’

“We Know Hate When We See It”: Rev. Raphael Warnock On The Atlanta Killings

On Thursday, Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) was a guest on SiriusXM’s The Joe Madison Show and said he would like to talk with Senator Ron Johnson about his “racism and moral blindness” and spoke about the recent killings in Atlanta.

Senator Warnock told Joe Madison:  “Certainly [Senator Ron Johnson’s] comments are disturbing. And look, I’d like to talk to the brother. He is obviously misguided…And then he says there was nothing racial about his comment. That suggests a kind of racism and moral blindness that makes it difficult for him to see what’s obvious. I think that part of how bigotry works is that it renders one irrational in a lot of ways.”

On the Atlanta killings: “What we ought to be doing is highlighting the stories of the victims. This is how white supremacy works. It centers the humanity of certain people even when they are the perpetrators. We need to be telling the stories of these women, mostly women, these Asian sisters and brothers whose lives were lost. They had family. They had people who loved them and who cared about them. They had dreams and ambitions. Who are they? And we ought to center their stories so that we can connect with each other’s humanity,” Sen. Warnock told Madison.

 

The discussion went like this:

JOE MADISON, HOST: Senator Ron Johnson, Republican from Wisconsin, the senior center Senator from New Jersey, we’ve commented on his position, should Senator Ron Johnson be censured in the United States Senate?

 SEN. WARNOCK: Well, listen, I’ve been here a few short weeks. Certainly his comments are disturbing and look, I’d like to talk to the brother. He is obviously misguided. Whenever someone says that, you know, I’m not afraid, I wasn’t concerned about people who were violently attacking the capital, but I would be concerned if these were Black Lives Matter activists. And then he says that there was nothing racial about his comment, that’s just kind of racism and moral blindness that makes it difficult for him to see what’s obvious. I think the part of how bigotry works is that it renders one irrational in a lot of ways. And right now, while I am deeply concerned and disturbed by his words, I’m very focused right now on what the Senate has failed to do, and that is to pass The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

JOE MADISON, HOST: If a vote came up to censure him, would you vote for it?

SEN. WARNOCK: I would have to look at the language of the censure and I would make a decision at that point.

JOE MADISON, HOST: Let me ask you about what’s happening in your state right now that has dominated the news. And that is the killing of eight people, and that this is now I’m trying to frame the question, but you can respond however you feel necessary. The killings are now being framed as a matter of sexual addiction, as opposed to a hate crime…your thoughts?

 SEN. WARNOCK: Listen, we know hate when we see it, and we’ll learn more about this person, I guess, as we move forward. Clearly he is a sick and misguided individual who took eight precious lives. What we ought to be doing is highlighting the stories of the victims. This is how white supremacy works. It centers the humanity of certain people even when they are the perpetrators. We need to be telling the stories of these women, mostly women, these Asian sisters and brothers whose lives were lost. They had family. They had people who loved them and who cared about them. They had dreams and ambitions. Who are they? And we ought to center their stories so that we can connect with each other’s humanity because this is what drives this kind of badness, the ways in which people are unable to see the humanity in their neighbor. We ought to lift up the victims, recommit ourselves to building what Dr. King called the beloved community, and the kind of active peace, peacemaking that stops these kinds of events from happening in the first place.

Transcripts and audio highlights provided by SiriusXM’s “The Joe Madison Show” weekdays from 6 a.m.- 10 a.m. ET on SiriusXM Urban View channel 126.

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