US lawmakers wear kente cloth to protest Trump’s vulgar comment on Africa

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Members of Congressional Black Caucus wear black clothing and Kente cloth in protest ahead of a State of the Union address in the chamber of the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC, on January 30, 2018. (Photo: MARK WILSON, AFP/Getty Images)

As President Trump claimed credit for lower unemployment among African Americans, cameras at Tuesday’s State of the Union cut to members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The members, dressed in West African kente cloth to protest Trump after reports he called some African nations “shithole countries,” sat stone-faced and unmoved.

“Unemployment claims have hit a 45-year low,” Trump said. “And something I’m very proud of: African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded.”

As much of the room erupted, the lawmakers, seen below on CBS’ broadcast, raised not a hand. Some looked up or glanced downward.

Whether Trump deserves credit for black unemployment numbers is debatable, as the caucus’s Twitter account pointed out on Tuesday. Yet Trump has touted the figure often lately, even using it as a barb against rapper Jay-Z online.

Kente cloth is known as nwentoma (meaning woven cloth) in Akan language, and is a type of silk,cotton, or rayon fabric made of interwoven cloth strips which is native to the Akan/Ashanti ethnic group of Southern Ghana.

Read: Akufo-Addo snaps at Trump: Ghana not a shithole

Source: 3news.com | USA Today