In November 2021, the West Virginia Democratic Party (WVDP) Board of Appeals (BOA) held a grievance hearing against the leaders of the newly formed WVDP Affirmative Action Committee (AAC) filed by the Chairs of the Indigenous Caucus. The BOA found that AAC leaders wrongfully denied subcommittee membership to Indigenous and Black members.
The AAC continually invited Virginia-based Harold Ickes, once called Bill Clinton’s Garbage Man by the New York Times, to help draft the Affirmative Action Plan. Leaders also had out-of-state political activist Lawrence Taylor chair meetings of the AAC. Because the BOA also found that no person shall take part in a meeting unless they are a member of the Democratic subdivision in which they participate, the actions taken by the AAC at these meetings are invalid and illegal.
WVDP leadership has also engaged in racial discrimination against Indigenous Caucus members. Indigenous People were referred to as lost souls wandering the wilderness by a member of the Executive Committee when the chairs asked for assistance to address discrimination. New Vice-Chair of the WVDP Mike Pushkin told the Indigenous Caucus Chairs he didn’t know and didn’t care about or issue because he had House and Senate victories to secure.
For these reasons, the Indigenous Caucus Chairs call on WVDP Chair Belinda Biafore and new Vice Chair Mike Pushkin to resign immediately. We also call for an independent investigation into the corruption and racial discrimination of the Democratic Party apparatus that allowed this egregious violation of our civil rights to occur in the first place.
Seth and Mari Sturm
WVDP Indigenous Caucus Co-Chairs
For more on Biafore and the Affirmative Action Committees, see “DNC Credentials Committee Rejects Challenge To Biafore And Other WV Leaders” at wvdn.com/17937, “Affirmative Action Committee members call on WV Democratic Leader Biafore to resign” at wvdn.com/17503, and “Greenbrier Democrats Express Opinion Of ‘No Confidence’ In State Party Chair,” at wvdn.com/17583.
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