COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Congressman and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn urged protesters to keep the faith and stay engaged as protests in the United States look to continue over the death of George Floyd.
The Democrat, who represents the Sixth Congressional District, said Wednesday morning the recent protests over the death of George Floyd take him back to his days protesting for Civil Rights.
“The 11th chapter of Hebrews, ‘Faith,’ the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. Keep the faith. Keep hope. And they may not see it today, but it will pay off. I couldn't see when I sat in those jails back in the 1960s, but it paid off,” Clyburn said.
“John Lewis took a lot of beatings, but it paid off. So, I would say to the young people today, you know what's right and you know what's wrong. Do right, reject wrong, and stay engaged,” Clyburn continued.
The longtime South Carolina Congressman urged protesters to stay on message and work in solidarity to prevent others from misusing the platform.
He especially warned them not to use tactics they know to be wrong, or let their platform be misused.
“It may make you feel good to insult people. But you'll not play their game. I've been telling people all week, if your opponent gets you to play their game on their turf, they win. Violence is not our game, that's their game. Insulting people is not our game, it's their game. Let's not play their game,” Clyburn said.
"We didn't see Charleston burning down or North Charleston, we saw people coming together to do what was necessary to try and overcome that. And, we had a police officer who did the shooting who got 20 years in prison and we saw the gentleman who did the shooting in the church now spending the rest of his life in prison. Now, would that have been the case if people had gone out burning things down, rioting? We didn't do that, so it says to me there's something else in play in all of this," Clyburn said, mentioning Walter Scott and the Emanuel Nine.
His words of advice did not end there, he said their words now need to be action later.
“No matter how good the policy may sound to you, the policy means nothing unless you enact it into law. And it takes electing the right people to enact policy into law. To come up with good sounding policy and not participate in the political process to the extent that you can elect people who will go out and make the policy law, what have you done?” Clyburn asked.
In the meantime, the Congressman told WLTX he planned to continue using his power in Washington to repeal laws he said have led to the deaths of Black men and women.
“I don't care about people owning a gun, I do care about the wrong person owning a gun. And the Charleston Loophole allowed the wrong person to get a gun and nine souls were murdered as a result of it. So, this whole notion you cannot constrain second amendment rights, but you can constrain first amendment rights, there's something wrong with that notion. So, I'm working on that,” Clyburn said, referencing the Emanuel Nine.
He added it's not all he's working to repeal.
“Stand your ground laws, those are the kind of laws that allow for vigilante activity to take place, that's what got Trayvon Martin killed. And that's what got this shooting-- 3 people in 2 trucks tracking down a man and shooting him to death and they're gonna say 'They were standing their ground.' We've got to get rid of these kinds of laws cause these laws have turned this country into a hunting ground,” Clyburn said, referencing the death of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia.
Protests in Columbia and other parts of the country continued on Wednesday.
"Keep your eyes on the prize," Clyburn said.