Black Candidates for President and Our Communities
Looking at the Black American candidates running for President, I see the following.
Senator Kamala Harris quote: “I believe that health care should be a right, but the reality is that it is still a privilege in this country. We need that to change.”
Senator Harris has faced criticism due to her history as a prosecutor, but more important than that to me is that she has released a criminal justice reform plan that includes several goals: legalize marijuana, abolish mandatory minimum sentences, end the death penalty and solitary confinement, stop private prisons, get rid of cash bail, and leverage the president’s clemency powers to reduce the number of people in federal prison.
Senator Cory Booker quote: “I believe that we can build a country where no one is forgotten, no one is left behind … where we see the faces of our leaders on television and feel pride, not shame.”
I’ve been a fan of Cory Booker for a long time. He also has stated positions that would address some of the positive points in Kamala Harris’ criminal justice reform plan. Cory would also “expunge records, and restore justice to individuals and communities that have been devastated by the War on Drugs.”
Mayor Wayne Messam: “Washington is not working for the American people, and these big issues need fresh eyes and bold ideas from someone closer to the people.”
I really like Wayne Messam’s spirit, his experience as mayor of Miarmar, and his experience working nationally with other mayors on climate change. I also found that some of his positions are in line with Kamala Harris’ criminal justice reform plan. Wayne plans to cancel the more than $1.5 trillion in student debt owed by 44 million Americans, which is huge.
My perspective on the big picture for Black Americans is that the most leveraged positive outcome would mean lining up the candidates stated positions with the issues having the most leveraged impact in our communities. Those issues are:
- The War on Young Black Men
We saw in the post on marriage in the Black community that the historical statistics on the breakup of the family lined up with the historical statistics on life before and after the start of the War on Drugs, i.e. the War on Young Black Men, and that the breakup of the family is the reason for the disastrous state of so many of our communities, i.e. crime, violence, drugs, loss of hope.
- The War on Peoples’ Pay Checks
We saw in the post on marriage in the Black community that there is a huge correlation between stability in the family and wealth and salaries. Again, the War on Young Black Men is causing leveraged negative impact in our communities because it’s killing peoples pay checks and lowering rates of employment.
- The War on People: Crime
We saw in the post on marriage in the Black community that there is a huge correlation between stability in the family and Lower incidence of domestic violence, and lower rates of crime. Again, the War on Young Black Men is causing leveraged negative impact in our communities because it’s causing family environments that lead to more Crime and more Violence.
There are, of course many other issues of importance in the Black Community. My view, though, is that the biggest issues are the issues causing the biggest problems for the largest group of people suffering the most.
For me the focus on reparations is a misdirection. If you award all black people $300,000 each, but continue the War on Young Black Men, in the long run you’ll take all that money back and the largest group of people suffering the most will still be suffering the same way. I believe you have to look at the level to which each candidate has addressed this one issue. Those of us living with much less impact from this issue are very fortunate, and likely will continue to be so.
From what I see, yes one of these Black candidates for President is the most focused of all in stopping this War on Young Black Men, and that would have the biggest leveraged impact on our communities. All of us need to google and check each candidate’s position from this perspective and discuss with our family and friends. And vote!
References:
https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-2020-democratic-presidential-candidates-2019-story.html
https://twitter.com/CoryBooker
https://www.politico.com/2020-election/candidates-views-on-the-issues/wayne-messam/
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/us/politics/2020-presidential-candidates.html
https://people.com/politics/2020-presidential-candidates-so-far/
With Senator Kamala Harris and Mayor Wayne Messam both dropping from the race, I see the candidate likely to do most to address the factors in the War on our Communities is, not surprisingly, Cory Booker.
We need to support the candidates, and attend to the War in parallel. Talking with family, friends, and those we meet about the War and the promoting the solutions in place, as well as discussing solutions still needed.
We need to support our businesses, attend to our schools, support fair treatment of our professionals, and support general progressive consciousness in our communities.