Recapping Del. Susan McComas’ Racist Remarks About Black Fathers
Recent racist comments by Del. Susan McComas (R-Harford) show exactly why organizations like Progressive Harford County are needed. On Feb. 24, she used a racist trope while on the House floor that Black fathers weren't as prevalent in their children's lives.
Here’s McComas’ comments, as quoted in Maryland Matters:
“Over the years we’ve watched that society has changed, the family unit is different. And I’ve been accused of implicit bias because I said, you know, the Black fathers aren’t as prevalent as they were in the 40s and 50s,” she said, drawing ire from lawmakers in the chamber.
Progressive Harford County swiftly denounced using that harmful rhetoric.
The Harford County NAACP issued a strong statement condemning her. They asked for McComas to apologize to all Black families, especially Black fathers, and strongly urged the House of Delegates to condemn and censure her for her racist remarks.
She apologized the next House session, but didn't apologize for singling out Black fathers.
Seeing this kind of blatant racism isn't new for McComas. The Harford NAACP pointed out in their statement that she previously voted against police reform and repealing racist overtures in the state song as well as saying in a public forum that Black people hate the police.
This whole episode shows why an organization like Progressive Harford County is needed to hold our elected officials accountable and organize to vote them out of office. But we need as big of a coalition as possible to make that happen.
Join Progressive Harford County today to help organize and vote out elected officials like McComas. Dues are $10, $5 or $3 monthly, or waive your dues altogether — it's all the same membership.
Her making racist statements on the House floor is also a good time to mention that currently no Democratic candidates have filed to run against her for the legislative district 34B seat. And it's not just that seat, Democrats have not filed to run for numerous other local offices in Harford County.
Circulate our candidate recruitment form to help us find candidates to run against McComas and for other offices in Harford. The deadline to file to run for office is March 22.