Kansans have started a Care2 petition urging the resignation of state Rep. Steve Alford, a Republican from Western Ulysses Kansas, after he said that Black people “responded the worst” to marijuana because of their “genetics” and “character makeup.” The petition has gathered over 43,000 supporters, but fewer than 500 of those supporters are from Kansas.
“We know that Kansans deserve better that the ignorance and bigotry that Alford has shown,” write Care2 petition authors Jennifer McPherson, an African-American nurse who works in Wichita, and Christopher Burley, a former Winfield resident. The pair say that although Alford has apologized, he “hasn’t been held accountable in any meaningful way.”
Alford made the remarks at a “Legislative Coffee.” He said Jim Crow-era policies banning drugs were to protect people from the drug use of African Americans.
“What was the reason why they [outlawed drugs like marijuana]?” Alford said, “One of the reasons why, I hate to say it, was that the African-Americans, they were basically users and they basically responded the worst to those drugs just because of their character makeup, their genetics and that.”
Burley and McPherson say the representative’s comments were racist.
“We are parents working to bring our children up in a world where they aren’t considered “lesser” because of the color or their skin,” McPherson and Burley told Care2. “We are cancer survivors and their loved ones who know the therapeutic value of marijuana and other conditions. We are teachers, nurses, small business owners, artists, and more. We are the Kansans who moved away and the ones still making Kansas great in communities across the state. And we know that Kansans deserve better than to be represented by bigotry.”
