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Republican Senator James Lankford, Oklahoma, wrote a letter on Thursday apologizing to black voters for failing to realize how his efforts to challenge the election results would be viewed.
In a letter to “My friends from North Tulsa,” the senator said he deeply regretted his “blindness” to how his electoral challenges might be viewed by the black community – as a “direct attack on their right. of vote ”.
Last month, Lankford announced he would be part of a sense-led effort. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., To vote against the Electoral College results and request a 10-day audit to assess voter fraud. .
He gave up competing after rioters stormed the Capitol last week.
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“I never intended to deprive a voter or a state,” the senator wrote. “I intended to resolve all outstanding issues before the inauguration on January 20.”
“But my action to ask for more information about the elections sparked a wave of suspicion among many of my friends, especially among black communities in the state,” he said, adding that he was. completely blinded “by the answer.
“What I didn’t know was that the whole national conversation about states like Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan was seen as casting doubt on the validity of votes from predominantly black communities like Atlanta, Philadelphia. and Detroit, ”he wrote.
“After decades of fighting for the right to vote, many black friends in Oklahoma saw this as a direct attack on their right to vote, to make their vote count, and even the belief that their vote made it illegitimate. election in our country “, he continued. .
Lankford noted the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, noting areas for improvement since the tragedy but noting that “investment opportunities and gaps remain.”
Between May 31 and June 1, 1921, mobs of armed white residents attacked the Black Tulsans and their businesses in the district of Greenwood, which at the time was the wealthiest black community in the country. The death toll is unclear, but historians believe as many as 300 were murdered.
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“There is also too little cultural understanding between people of different races in communities in Oklahoma, which reminded me of last week,” Lanford said.
Several black leaders in Tulsa have called for Lankford’s expulsion or removal from the 1921 Race Massacre Centennial Committee because of his efforts to challenge the election results this week. Lankford said at the time that after speaking with black leaders he came to understand why his efforts could be seen as a denial of the right to vote for black voters.
“I was shocked [when Black friends] said to me, “It was about preventing African Americans from voting. My comment about them was, “It never crossed my mind. Why should I do it? Why would I think that? “He told Tulsa World.
“I have had time to visit them and listen to them, and I understand where they are coming from,” Lankford said.
“Some people grabbed me and said, ‘Let me describe it to you that way’ – and they absolutely agreed – ‘You hear the president say that Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania are problems We hear the president say, Atlanta, Detroit and Philadelphia are problems.
“And I said, ‘You are absolutely right. I hear what you are saying now.'”
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“I can assure you that my intention to give a voice to Oklahomans who had questions was never also an intention to lower the voice of a black American. I should have recognized how what I said and what that I did could be interpreted by many of you, “he concludes in his letter.” I deeply regret my blindness to this perception, and for that I am sorry. “
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