January 1, Texas House Speaker bans the word ‘racism’ amid voting bill kerfuffle

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) banned the word “racism” in the chamber after tensions flared while debating the notorious voting rights bill.

“While we may have strong disagreements on the legislation and policy that will be debated, our rules require that we conduct ourselves in a civil manner and treat our colleagues with respect,” Phelan said.

“We can talk about racial impacts with this legislation without accusing members of this body of being racist,” the Speaker added.

Democrats argued against Phelan’s ban. They said the bill is racist, not the individual Republicans in the room.

Last month, a group of Democrats broke quorum and left the state in an effort to block the measure. Enough returned to resume the debate.

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Texas state House Speaker bans the word ‘racism’ amid voting bill debate