Colorado state Rep. Ron Hanks (R) is facing criticism after he made a lynching joke on the state House floor and argued that the Three-Fifths Compromise of 1787 \u201cwas not impugning anyone\u2019s humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The newly elected lawmaker, who was part of the insurrectionist mob that marched on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6,\u00a0was mistakenly introduced as Rep. Lynch during debate on a bipartisan bill to strengthen civics education in Colorado public schools. (There is a Colorado lawmaker named Mike Lynch).\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing called Mr. Lynch might be a good thing for what I\u2019m about to say. No, just kidding,\u201d Hanks began.<\/p>\n
He then defended the Three-Fifths Compromise, the agreement reached at the nation\u2019s founding that counted slaves as three-fifths of a person when determining a state\u2019s population.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing back to the founding, and going back to the three-fifths, and I heard the comments and I appreciate them, and I respect them. But the Three-Fifths Compromise, of course, was an effort by non-slave states to try to reduce the amount of representation that the slave states had,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was not impugning anybody\u2019s humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hearing dissent in the chamber, Hanks asked, \u201cIs this really racist to be talking about what the Three-Fifths Compromise was?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think so, and I think it\u2019s important. It\u2019s part of the civics lesson here. It was brought up, and it merits discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several members of the Colorado Democratic Party condemned the comments in an emailed statement, called on Hanks to apologize, and asked state and House Republican leadership to join them in denouncing the comments.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo call the comments made by Mr. Hanks today disgusting and ignorant would be a gross understatement,\u201d said Shenika Carter, chair of the African Diaspora Initiative of the Colorado Democratic Party,\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor him to downplay the indisputable, historical fact that enslaved Black people were treated as less a person\u2019s worth both in law and in practice is offensive and beneath the dignity of our state legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n
Halisi Vinson, executive director of the Colorado Democratic Party, said Hanks was trying to \u201cwhitesplain the historical experience of Black people in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that Representative Hanks thought it would be appropriate to make a \u2018joke\u2019 about lynching \u2015 especially at a time when we\u2019re seeing a rise of racially motivated assaults on people of color across our country \u2015 is utterly despicable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Representatives of the Colorado GOP and House Minority Leader Hugh McKean (R) did not immediately respond to HuffPost\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n