The ‘presumptive’ philosophy student who was booed at the congressional hearing on reparations for speaking out against the bill to study slavery is also a SoundCloud rapper whose 2017 mixtape was called ‘My D**k Works Fine!’
Coleman Hughes, a Columbia University student and writer for Quillette, was quickly identified by his stage name – Coldman – after he claimed on Wednesday that a bill to study reparations was a ‘moral and political mistake’.
Social media users quickly harped on the student’s hip-hop career after The Black List founder, Franklin Leonard, shared the link and joked that Hughes ‘pulled a “Merriam Websters defines reparations as” in an attempt to argue against reparations in front of Congress…’
Leonard added: ‘Now I can’t stop thinking about Mitch McConnell dancing around his Senate office to a song called My D**k Works Fine. Thanks A LOT.’
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Coleman Hughes, a Columbia University student and writer for Quillette, was quickly identified by stage name ‘Coldman’ after his remarks on Wednesday
!['My D**k Works Fine'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/20/21/15055072-7164595-image-a-5_1561064219498.jpg)
!['I am a p***y'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/20/21/15055068-7164595-image-m-4_1561064214820.jpg)
Coldman came out with an album in 2017 called ‘My D**k Works Fine’ and also has an EP called ‘I am a p***y’
‘Of course, like Beyonce’s “Lemonade” to Jay Z, he’s left the door open for an ex’s follow-up “No, It Doesn’t”,’ said Bret Woolbright.
Another stated: ‘I wonder if Laura Ingraham will tell him to “Shut up and just make music.” ??
Lyrics from ‘My D**k Works Fine,’ are quite explicit and could be seen as controversial.
![Social media users quickly harped on the student's hip-hop career after The Black List founder, Franklin Leonard, shared the link](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/20/21/15055084-7164595-image-m-12_1561064368009.jpg)
Social media users quickly harped on the student’s hip-hop career after The Black List founder, Franklin Leonard, shared the link
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/20/21/15055448-7164595-image-a-6_1561064234660.jpg)
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‘I try to turn it right but I never loosen the knob,’ he says in the Intro of the album. ‘I try to stick it through but my life is not a kebab.’
In his song ‘I Can’t Fart Around You,’ Hughes raps about how he can’t ‘s**t’ without taking his iPhone.
For the music video of his song ‘Fake’, Coldman runs around New York City in his underwear and at one point raps that ‘Jesus Christ is a f***ot.’
!['Of course, like Beyonce's "Lemonade" to Jay Z, he's left the door open for an ex's follow-up "No, It Doesn't",' said Bret Woolbright](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/20/21/15055082-7164595-image-a-11_1561064332025.jpg)
‘Of course, like Beyonce’s “Lemonade” to Jay Z, he’s left the door open for an ex’s follow-up “No, It Doesn’t”,’ said Bret Woolbright
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/20/21/15055074-7164595-image-a-10_1561064322229.jpg)
![For the music video of his song 'Fake,' Coldman runs around New York City in his underwear and at one point raps that 'Jesus Christ is a f***ot'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/20/21/15055458-7164595-image-a-9_1561064292844.jpg)
For the music video of his song ‘Fake,’ Coldman runs around New York City in his underwear and at one point raps that ‘Jesus Christ is a f***ot’
The writer also has an EP called ‘I am a p***y.’
Hughes quickly became a talking point after he was one of the few dissenting voices at the ‘H.R. 40 and the Path to Restorative Justice’ hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties on Wednesday.
H.R. 40 is a bill which would seek to form a commission that would study reparations and how to successfully implement them for African American.
![Hughes was one of the few dissenting voices at the 'H.R. 40 and the Path to Restorative Justice' hearing](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/20/15/15037064-7162797-image-a-9_1561039813006.jpg)
Hughes was one of the few dissenting voices at the ‘H.R. 40 and the Path to Restorative Justice’ hearing
In his opening remarks, Hughes declared that his statements weren’t meant to ‘minimize the horror and brutality of slavery and Jim Crow’ and added that the ‘failure to pay reparations directly to freed slaves after the Civil War to be one of the greatest injustices ever perpetrated by the U.S. government’.
The college student then condemns the bill for focusing too much on ‘our desire to fix the past’ and spending too much on language like ‘slavery’ and not on today’s topic like ‘incarceration’ or ‘homicide’ as it pertains to young black men.
But the crowd then began booing Hughes as he mentioned that the House of Representatives and the Senate already ‘formally apologized for slavery and Jim Crow (in 2008 and 2009)’.
‘Black people don’t need another apology. We need safer neighborhoods and better schools,’ he added. ‘We need a less punitive criminal justice system. We need affordable health care. And none of these things can be achieved through reparations for slavery.’
![Audience members booed Hughes as he described how reparations would divide the country even further](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/20/15/15037056-7162797-image-a-11_1561039823714.jpg)
Audience members booed Hughes as he described how reparations would divide the country even further
Hughes acknowledged that his testimony would rub folks the wrong way, with many perceiving him to be a Republican when he as ‘only ever voted for Democrats.’ He accepted that Republicans and the other half of the country would take issue with him ‘distancing’ himself from there.
He said: ‘That’s how suspicious we’ve become of one another. That’s how divided we are as a nation.’
Hughes continued: ‘If we were to pay reparations today, we would only divide the country further, making it harder to build the political coalitions required to solve the problems facing black people today.
‘We would insult many black Americans by putting a price on the suffering of their ancestors; and we would turn the relationship between black Americans and white Americans from a coalition into a transaction—from a union between citizens into a lawsuit between plaintiffs and defendants.’
The writer then offers that the only black Americans who should get reparations are those who ‘actually grew up under Jim Crow and were directly harmed by second-class citizenship.’
Jim Crow laws were overturned in 1965, just 54 years ago.
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/20/15/15037060-7162797-image-a-2_1561041245662.jpg)
While not in favor of reparations, Hughes did say he believed that folks who were impacted by Jim Crow should receive them. Jim Crow laws were overturned in 1965, just 54 years ago
![Subcommittee Chairman Steve Cohen resorted to banging his gavel as the spectators continued booing Hughes, telling them to 'Chill, chill, chill, chill!' 'He was presumptive, but he still has a right to speak,' Cohen added](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/20/16/15042248-7162797-image-a-28_1561046262919.jpg)
Subcommittee Chairman Steve Cohen resorted to banging his gavel as the spectators continued booing Hughes, telling them to ‘Chill, chill, chill, chill!’ ‘He was presumptive, but he still has a right to speak,’ Cohen added
Hughes continued calling payments to all descendants of slaves a ‘mistake.’
‘Reparations, by definition, are only given to victims. So the moment you give me reparations, you’ve made me into a victim without my consent,’ he said.
‘Not just that: you’ve made one-third of black Americans—who consistently poll against reparations—into victims without their consent, and black Americans have fought too long for the right to define themselves to be spoken for in such a condescending manner.’
Reparations, by definition, are only given to victims. So the moment you give me reparations, you’ve made me into a victim without my consent – Coleman Hughes
As the booing continued, Hughes concluded with: ‘The question is not what America owes me by virtue of my ancestry, the question is what all Americans owe each other by virtue of being citizens of the same nation..
‘And the obligation of citizenship is not transactional. It’s not contingent on ancestry. It never expires, and it can’t be paid off. For all these reasons, bill HR 40 is a moral and political mistake.’
Subcommittee Chairman Steve Cohen resorted to banging his gavel as the spectators continued booing Hughes, telling them to ‘Chill, chill, chill, chill!’
‘He was presumptive, but he still has a right to speak,’ Cohen added.
On Twitter, the criticism continued with many blasting Hughes for being misinformed and hypocritical in his stance of not supporting reparations but then wanting them for those effected by Jim Crow.
![On Twitter, the criticism continued with many blasting Hughes for being misinformed and hypocritical in his stance of not supporting reparations but then wanting them for those effected by Jim Crow](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/20/15/15037066-7162797-image-a-13_1561039876503.jpg)
On Twitter, the criticism continued with many blasting Hughes for being misinformed and hypocritical in his stance of not supporting reparations but then wanting them for those effected by Jim Crow
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!['Coleman Hughes is a little Uncle Ruckus'ish....,' said Yesha Callahan, a writer for Essence, alluding to a character from the American animated sitcom The Boondocks](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/20/15/15037074-7162797-image-a-14_1561039883684.jpg)
‘Coleman Hughes is a little Uncle Ruckus’ish….,’ said Yesha Callahan, a writer for Essence, alluding to a character from the American animated sitcom The Boondocks
‘Coleman Hughes your personal experience & Ivy League education aren’t the norm for most African Americans,’ one user stated. ‘You’re more than welcome to decline reparations but you can’t make that call for the majority of African Americans who live under the burden of the legacy of slavery.’
‘Coleman Hughes is a little Uncle Ruckus’ish….,’ said Yesha Callahan, a writer for Essence, alluding to a character from the American animated sitcom The Boondocks.
Vann R Newkirk II added: ‘The wildest thing about Coleman Hughes’s testimony is that…as it turns out, he’s in favor of reparations.
‘Now that I have time to think about it, endorsing “reparations for people who were alive during Jim Crow” is not an anti-reparations stance! And it kinda destroys all his other arguments against reparations!’
‘It’s okay, just for today, to call Coleman Hughes a coon,’ asserted comedian Rae Sanni. ‘He’s arguing against reparations on Juneteenth. He’s Cooneman Hughes til midnight Pacific Standard time.’
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Christoph Mergenson stated: ‘Fun fact for Coleman Hughes: We can address reparations for slavery, Jim Crow, and its ongoing effects, AND accomplish things like criminal justice reform and better health care, though understanding that might not sit well with his conservative patrons. #Juneteenth #HR40’
‘Coleman Hughes is what happens to parents who so badly want the best for their child, that they move to the suburbs; private schools; and often pull them away from other kids of color,’ declared Ty Campbell. ‘I know plenty of these kids who are now adults.’
Another user said: ‘Worth noting that one of the arguments made by Coleman Hughes in his congressional testimony against reparations—that an already rich descendant of slaves would unjustly benefit—is similar to one of the arguments deployed against student loan forgiveness.’