VP Kamala Harris to host Alabama Rep. Givan following racial tirade against Republican colleague

State Rep. Juandalynn Givan (D-Birmingham) will join Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington D.C. later this week “to recognize the impact of Black women shaping democracy in their communities and across the country.”

According to The Birmingham Times, Rep. Givan will “lead a group of leaders” at the Vice President’s residence.

Earlier this year, Givan was widely rebuked for tormenting a Black state legislator from the floor of the House of Representatives, using lyrics from a song by rapper Jay-Z to make allusions about her colleague’s racial loyalty.

Rep. Kenneth Paschal (R-Pelham) was on the receiving end. He is the singular Black Republican official in the Alabama Legislature.

While Givan did not use the N-word toward Paschal explicitly, it is said 63 times during the song, and became the focus of her attack.

“You want me to sing it?”, Givan asked Pascal from the microphone.

“Don’t matter how you come in here, no matter how you leave, you still one. When you sit down, you still one … That’s the story of OJ,” Givan said.

“Still one. Still one. Still one.”

Official calls for her apology were made immediately after. However, Givan has not publicly apologized to Rep. Pascal or the House chamber.

Givan’s episode during this year’s legislative session was not the first occasion the Birmingham lawmaker courted controversy along racial and religious lines.

In 2021, Givan provoked a heated debate surrounding a resolution supporting Israel. Givan vocally questioned the legislature’s solidarity.

“What in the slam-chiggity is this?” she said at that time, suggesting only the Republican Party would support the idea.

She lashed out at colleagues over, “the foolishness and foolery that goes on in this chamber,” saying “the sensitive things that you people — and yes, I am saying you people — do in the name of whatever agenda that you are trying to push.”

Givan later said she was not “anti-Semitic in any way.”

Also during the 2021 session, Givan lobbed charges of racism against all lawmakers who opposed her bill to allow local entities to remove confederate monuments.

It was comments she made to the media following the vote that brought the most trouble for Givan.

“I was surprised at some of the actions that they took,” Givan said in 2021, “But of course, here again, we are in the state of Alabama. And there is still much to be done with regards to the issues of the Confederacy.”

She called Republican lawmakers who voted against her bill out by name, saying they were “the most racist people in the United States of America.”

In 2019, Givan unleashed on then-Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon, repeatedly shouting obscenities.

About her upcoming trip to Washington with Vice President Kamala Harris, Givan said, “We are honored to host this reception alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and Higher Heights for America, to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of Black women elected executives, legislators, and those serving in judicial capacities.”

Grayson Everett is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @Grayson270