Kente scarves worn by Democrats were historically worn by rich African slave owners

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On June 8, Democratic members of Congress wearing kente cloths and face masks knelt in Emancipation Hall to memorialize Black lives lost to police brutality. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., read the names of unarmed Black people who’ve recently been killed by police.
"We were there for eight minutes and 46 seconds on our knees," she told reporters afterward . "My members will attest, it's a very long time. It's a very long time."
The group then introduced the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, aimed at changing policing after a series of Black individuals killed by police officers led to weeks of protest in the U.S. and overseas.

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In the days since, social media users have pointed out the cloth’s historical ties to the slave trade in order to criticize the legislators’ garment choice.
“Yesterday the Democrats wore kente scarfs and knelt down for their photo op. So check this out, Kente cloth was worn by the Ashanti. It's made of silk so the affluent wore it. The Ashanti were also known as slave owners and traders. Huh?” Dave Brandon posted on Facebook June 9. “This makes me wonder why they chose to wear this particular tribe's garb.”

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Today kente cloth is recognized as the most well-known African textile. In the United States, kente patterns are popularly worn as graduation stoles by Black students.

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“Kente is comparable to an evening gown or tuxedo in Western cultures. When kente is proudly worn or used on ceremonial occasions, it brings honor and prestige to the proceedings,” the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art explains in an online exhibit.

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N’Diyea rejected the idea kente signifies slave traders and stressed how it's become a symbol of pride for African Americans over the last 50 years.
“When Africans were kidnapped and brought to this country they were told they didn’t have a history, they didn’t have a tradition,” N’Diyea said. "During the 1970s through at least the early 2000s kente cloth [became] regarded as a symbol of pride in African American identity and heritage."

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