Rep. Al Green (no, not the grits-faced, “Love and Happiness” Al Green—the congressman from Texas with the receding perm line in the front and Shirley Temple curls in the back Al Green) released a joint statement Monday with a former staffer that basically said, “We cool.”

Deep in the heart of Texas, it can still be sketchy for black folks. Ask Sandra Bland. Or James Byrd Jr. Or the scores of others who lost their lives in acts of racial terror in the Lone Star State.