Biden: We know the America we want to be

Now we need to deliver on rooting out racism

From the moment I launched my campaign, I have said that we are in the battle for the soul of this nation. And after two weeks of daily protests, with thousands of people marching for racial justice in the midst of a pandemic, with gatherings in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and in communities of every size, Americans have shown the world exactly where we stand.

We know the nation we want to be. Now we have to deliver on this moment to achieve fundamental changes that address racial inequalities and white supremacy in our country.

President Donald Trump’s hatefilled, conspiracy-laden rhetoric is inflaming the racial divides in our country, but just fixing the way the president talks won’t cut it. We need to root out systemic racism across our laws and institutions, and make sure black Americans have a real shot to get ahead.

For too long, they have lived with a knee on their neck — not only institutional violence but daily injustices like having the police called for sitting in a coffee shop or watching birds in a park.

I support the proposal pending in New York to enhance penalties for making a false 911 call based on race, gender or religion. No one should be subjected to that, ever.

We should also be trying actively to undo the negative effect systemic racism has had on opportunities for black Americans. For example, African American entrepreneurs are rejected for loans at a rate nearly 20 percentage points higher than white entrepreneurs, and when they receive funding, it’s far less. We should prioritize support for mission-driven lenders in lowincome communities and funnel billions in investments into communities that need it. And the Small Business Administration should expand its programs that are most effective at helping launch black-owned businesses.

Trump is undermining progress

For most Americans, home ownership is the key to financial stability and building generational wealth. Today, the gap between African American and white homeownership is larger than it was in the late 1960s. We have to give local officials the tools to combat gentrification, end discriminatory lending, and eliminate zoning laws designed to keep low-income people and people of color out of certain communities.

President Trump has actively undermined progress on all these issues, including suspending the Obama-Biden administration’s rule on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, which required communities to examine housing patterns and address policies that have a discriminatory effect.

We should be working with state, local and tribal school leaders, as well as the presidents of historically black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions to improve teacher diversity, solve the student debt crisis, and invest in these underfunded institutions.

Across the board, from classrooms to courtrooms to the president’s Cabinet, we must make sure our leadership and institutions look like America.

And we must urgently address the abuse of power in police departments. I commend the leaders in the Democratic Party in Congress for proposing vital reforms: banning chokeholds, ensuring prosecutors in police-involved killings are independent, collecting data regarding use of force and violations of standards, and requiring training regarding racial and religious bias and the duty to intervene if an officer is abusing his or her power.

Don’t defund police, back reform

If state and local governments fail to make necessary changes, the Department of Justice must have subpoena power to investigate systemic misconduct by police departments and force these departments to reform.

While I do not believe federal dollars should go to police departments violating people’s rights or turning to violence as the first resort, I do not support defunding police. The better answer is to give departments the resources they need to implement meaningful reforms, and to condition other federal dollars on completing those reforms.

I’ve long been a firm believer in the power of community policing — getting cops out of their cruisers and building relationships with the people and the communities. That’s why I’m proposing an additional $300 million to reinvigorate community policing in our country. Every single police department should have the money it needs to institute real reforms like adopting a national use of force standard, buying body cameras and recruiting more diverse police officers.

And we need to prevent 911 calls in scenarios where police should not be our first responders. That means serious investments in mental health services, drug treatment and prevention programs, and services for people experiencing homelessness. That may also mean having social service providers respond to calls with police officers.

Nothing about this fight will be easy. Institutions resist change. Racism has been a fixture in our society for hundreds of years. It will take leadership at the highest levels of our government — and sustained grassroots pressure from communities who will no longer stand by silently when injustices are inflicted on people of color. Vitally, it will require all of us to examine our own conduct, our deeply ingrained habits and our own thinking.

I’m ready to do that work, starting on Day One. Nothing less is acceptable from an American president.