(Above: Rep. Alvin Holmes doubles down on his racist comments on the Hannity show)
Alabama State Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, found himself in the spotlight last week when he called US Supreme Court Justice Clarence an “Uncle Tom” and criticized his interracial marriage while speaking at the mic on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives.
For those who have been listening to Holmes’ ramblings for years, his comments were hardly out of character, and he proved as much during an interview with Fox News correspondent David Webb during Monday night’s episode of Hannity.
Webb began by asking Rep. Holmes if he stands by his description of Justice Thomas as an “Uncle Tom.”
“Yes I do,” Holmes replied without hesitation. “I think Justice Thomas on the United States Supreme Court is an Uncle Tom. A black man allowed himself to be used to carry the message of a white man, which is against the interests of black people in America. In my opinion that’s an Unlce Tom. In my opinion, Clarence Thomas is a very prolific Uncle Tom.”
Webb then asked Holmes about his derogatory statements about Thomas being married to a white woman.
“[I said that] because there were members on the floor that were saying that,” Holmes said, deflecting the blame. “Many of them.”
Webb pressed Holmes to identify who the other members were, but he would only say that it was both Democrats and Republicans.
“I don’t recall exactly who did it,” Holmes said. “There’s 105 members of the House of Representatives and right off hand I don’t remember exactly who stated it. But I wouldn’t dare to say something like that.”
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Webb then asked Holmes to respond to a recent controversy in which the North Carolina NAACP president called black Republican US Senator Tim Scott a ventriloquist’s “dummy.” Holmes seemed to agree with the NAACP official’s characterization of Sen. Scott, and said it was about Scott not being a role model for the next generation of black leaders.
“If you get to be a United States senator, and every position you take is the position that the white folks tell you to take, what incentive is that going to be for young blacks?” Holmes asked.
Webb told Hannity that it was clear Holmes was not very familiar with the positions taken by Sen. Scott on specific issues, but he decided to ask Holmes how he knows Sen. Scott always takes the positions that the “white folks” tell him to take.
“Because every report I have read, he goes by what the white people been telling him,” Holmes replied. “If a white holding those positions votes against the interests of black people, we call them racist. If a black is in a position and votes against the interests of black people, we call him an Uncle Tom.”
Webb, a black conservative activist and commentator, called Holmes’ statements “hypocritical” and “disingenuous,” among other things. The full interview is worth a watch and can be found above.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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