The 2020 election offered stark, competing visions for American race relations and politics. President Donald Trump cast himself to suburban white voters as their protecter against anarchy, riots and racial integration of their neighborhoods. He embraced Confederate symbols as American heritage, and encouraged and authorized violence against Black Lives Matter protesters.
He also constructed a false polarity in which fighting systemic racism was deemed unpatriotic and un-American. Joe Biden, despite his lengthy record of supporting tough criminal policies, made racial equity a central tenet of his campaign. He spoke forthrightly about racial disparities, especially a staggering racial wealth gap between median white and Black American households.
He showed empathy for Black victims of police shootings. He proposed specific policies to promote racial equity and lift up Black communities in rebuilding the nation from the ashes of Covid-19. That Biden won—with nearly 80 million votes, a record—along with Kamala Harris as the first Black, South Asian American and female vice president, suggests real possibilities for a multiracial democracy that values Black lives and brings all people along. And the Democratic Party’s success in national politics is now very much tied to the work of Black Americans in advancing and exercising […]
Add a comment
