As elected officials hoisted the Black American Heritage Flag over the State House on Monday, Gov. Maura Healey decried “attacks on progress” while Rep. Bud Williams vowed that diversity, equity, and inclusion will continue to be watchwords in Massachusetts.
The Black American Heritage Flag, which features a sword and wreath against a black and red backdrop, dates back to the Civil Rights movement. It has been flown at the state capitol in recent years under the auspices of the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus.
Williams, who chaired the caucus last term, told the crowd on the Beacon Street sidewalk that “Black history is the history of this country.”
Neither pol focused on President Donald Trump by name, but comments at the flag-raising ceremony were geared toward the climate of the last two weeks since Trump returned to the Oval Office.
“We continue to see, unfortunately, attacks on progress,” Healey said. “Attacks on concepts like diversity, equity, and inclusion. Attacks on fundamental values and freedoms like liberty and opportunity for all. And attacks undermine who we are as Americans and threaten our way of being, a way of being that has continued to work to move us forward as a society, as a country, for centuries now.”
Trump has focused on excising so-called DEI initiatives from the federal government, but Williams said that is not the Massachusetts way.
“We know, in Massachusetts, DEI is going to continue to be enforced. We’re going to push forward,” the Springfield Democrat said.
Marking the start of Black History Month, Williams touched on the stories of notable Black figures before saying that some calls to return to an earlier era in American history translate to a reversal of Black progress.
“When we say that to folks in the Black and the Brown community, we know what that means. I shouldn’t be standing here as a state representative,” he said. “[Rep.] Chris Worrell shouldn’t be standing here. [Secretary Jon] Santiago shouldn’t be standing here. We should be doing what — sweeping the streets, and shoveling the snow, and waiting on tables. Well, let me tell you. We’re here. We’re going to stay here. In the words of some of my ancestors, ain’t nobody gonna turn us around.”
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