By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
Oxford — On Monday, state representative Josh Schriver, R-Oxford, was removed from his committee assignment and had his staff reassigned because of a post he shared on social media. Schriver is the representative for Michigan’s 66th House District which contains Bruce and Washington townships in Macomb County and Addison, Brandon, Oakland, and Oxford townships in Oakland County.
The post Schriver shared on Feb. 6 on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, was an image of the map of the world showing a majority of black human figures with white human figures in smaller portions in areas such as the U.S., Europe and Australia, and it was captioned “The great replacement!”
The “Great Replacement,” a white supremacist conspiracy theory, is the idea that a world-wide conspiracy exists to reduce the white population and replace them with other races.
Following the post, House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, announced the decision on Monday to remove Schriver from the House Natural Resources, Environment, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Committee, as well as reassigning his staff. Schriver will still be able to vote on the House floor.
“I will not allow the Michigan House of Representatives to be a forum for the proliferation of racist, hateful and bigoted speech,” said Tate. “The House of Representatives is the people’s house, and all Michiganders should look upon this body and take pride in how we conduct ourselves. It is also a workplace, and I have a responsibility to make sure the employees of the house feel safe and secure.”
On Feb. 14, Schriver, who was elected to the House in 2022 responded with a written statement on his House of Representatives letterhead to a request from The Citizen to comment on the post on X and his removal from committee assignments.
“Hate is sinful,” stated Schriver. “Hating others because of race is sinful and stupid. God is truly the creator of all humans and all races. Our true value is rooted in the price Jesus paid on the Cross when he died for our sins. The undying love I have for every human of every race flows from God’s boundless love for every human of every race.”
Schriver’s statement continued, “Today, there is an intentional effort to divide and damage our families and communities to make us offended, distracted and disoriented. We live in the product of the United Nations report on Replacement Migration issued March 17, 2000, a racist plan to replace whites with non-whites through illegal immigration to irreversibly warp America’s demographics, voting citizens, and national identity to keep power in the hands of a Godless regime. Day-to-day, we fight in our workplaces and schools to stop racist anti-white schemes and racist programs like DEI and CRT. As the people’s representative, I will keep fighting.
“It is never racist to assess statistical trends and causes of why Whites have declined to 12% of the world’s population and fell from 90% to 60% of the U.S. population in the last 60 years. It was racist if (sic) other Representatives to draft and vote for Michigan’s 2023 budget, which allocated specific money to ONLY be granted to non-White business owners. Nonetheless, all bigoted individuals who supported this budget should be free to speak without being politically punished by our elected officials.
“No one should be hated because of their ancestry or skin color,” Schriver’s statement continued. “That has remained and will always remain a true belief of mine. Painting me as something I am not – a bigot – will not work. Americans want solutions, not these played out politically correct games.”
Schriver’s characterization of the United Nations report on Replacement as “a racist plan to replace whites with non-whites through illegal immigration” is false. The report “analyzes international migration that a country would need to offset population decline, offset declines in the working-age population, and maintain current ratios of workers to the over-65 population,” according to Population Reference Bureau, a private, nonprofit organization focused on conducting and using demographic data analysis to inform the public about the population, health, and the environment and to engage researchers, policy makers, and advocates with evidence on these issues.
A Warren native, Schriver graduated from De La Salle Collegiate High School, then attended Michigan State University, earning his bachelor’s degree in 2015. He later earned his Master of Science in psychology.
House Republicans have spoken out against Schriver, including Rep. David Martin, R-Davison, of House district 48, which includes Atlas and Groveland townships.
“Hateful speech like that is misguided and wrong, and not reflective of the views in our community,” said Martin. “I’m focused on the issues that my community cares about, and it is my hope that all of my colleagues will do the same.”
State Rep. Donni Steele, R-Orion Township, released the following statement Feb. 9 regarding the social media post by Schriver. “All people have a moral obligation to speak out against hate whenever it rears its ugly head – this is one of those times. As elected officials, we are the voice for our communities. We are held to a higher standard and must answer to all comments we make, including any and all social media posts. Hateful rhetoric goes against everything I believe and distracts from the positive work we’re trying to accomplish for the people of Michigan.”
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued a statement on Feb. 9 condemning Schriver’s shared X post, including the following, “Every Michigander is defined by their love for their families, communities, and shared dreams for their children. That’s what makes us strong. The abhorrent rhetoric pushed by a member of the Michigan House of Representatives goes against our state and national values.”
On Wednesday, a resolution to condemn the use of racist language by lawmakers passed the Michigan House of Representatives Wednesday, a direct result of Schriver’s social media post.
The resolution specifically denounced “racist, xenophobic, white supremacist, anti-Semitic, and Islamophobic language by members of [the House].”