Pentagon sees no role in poll crisis
Black voters will be decisive in shaping next week’s results Biden is relying on strong turnout among the Black voters Trump is focusing most of his effort to his core base of White voters More than 81 million Americans have already cast ballots
Politics aside, there is one outcome of the 2020 US presidential election that could bring some relief to Pentagon planners: a clear-cut victory. By either candidate.
In the months preceding the election on Tuesday, US military officials have been forced to contemplate the possible fallout from a contested election.
A contested vote could stir the kind of wild speculation that forced America’s top general to assure lawmakers the military would have no role in settling any election dispute between President Donald Trump and his challenger Joe Biden.
A decisive result could allay such concerns by lowering the risk of a prolonged political crisis, say current and former officials as well as experts.
“The best thing for us (the military), would be a landslide one way or another,” said a US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, voicing a sentiment shared by multiple officials.
As one of America’s most respected institutions, the US military has had trouble staying on the political sidelines during a turbulent year.
The president, who boasts about his broad support within military, has declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he decides results are fraudulent and has proposed mobilising troops under the Insurrection Act. For his part, Biden has suggested the military would
ensure a peaceful transfer of power if Trump refuses to leave office after the election.
US Army General Mark Milley has been clear about the military staying out if there is a contested ballot. “If there is, it’ll be handled appropriately by the courts and by the US Congress. There’s no role for the US military in determining the outcome of a US election. Zero. There is no role there,” he said. —
Every day feels like a raw wound for Omari Barksdale. His sister, Laneeka Barksdale, died of Covid-19 in late March in Detroit — and since then, so have more than 226,000 Americans. Many were Black Americans whose communities were disproportionately devastated by the virus.
Omari Barksdale, a Black man, watched with alarm as the toll of the country’s racial injustice mounted. People of colour bore the brunt of pandemic-related job losses.
Police shot and killed Breonna
Taylor inside her Kentucky home, and a Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into George Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes as Floyd gasped, “I can’t breathe,” in his final moments.
The convergence of the pandemic, joblessness and police brutality has forced the US to confront its centuries-old legacy of systemic racism this year. And for Barksdale and many Black Americans, it’s turned next week’s presidential election into a referendum on the future of race relations, an opportunity to take steps toward healing or the potential of a deeper divide.
“It feels like half of me was taken away,” said Barksdale, who, in the weeks after his sister’s death, began leading a team of volunteers canvassing Michigan voters. “For many years, we’ve had this commentary about how far we’ve come, but if you look at the landscape and dynamics right now of America, we’re back in the ‘50s and ‘60s. The reasons for protesting are the same now as they were then: for the protection of Black lives, the opportunity for Black lives, and the understanding and value of Black lives.”
Black voters will be decisive in shaping next week’s results. Democrat Joe Biden is relying on strong turnout among Black voters in cities such as Detroit, Philadelphia and Milwaukee to tip critical swing states in his direction. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, is focusing most of his effort on last-minute appeals to his core base of white voters.
As of Thursday, more than 81 million votes had been cast in the 2020 general election, with Black voters making up almost 9% of that total. In North Carolina, a battleground state seeing high turnout across the board, 60% of Black registered voters have already cast a ballot.
“The soul of the nation is at risk,” longtime civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton said in an interview. “Another four years of Trump would completely set us back and the advancements that we’ve made towards equal rights, human rights and civil rights. It would take us 20 or 30 years, a generation, to get back what he would cement.”
The election-year reckoning is the culmination of centuries of inequity and racism that far predates Trump’s political career. But Trump has pulled at the nation’s racial divide throughout his presidency.
He blamed “both sides” for 2017 violence between white supremacists and anti-racism protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, and wondered why the US was admitting so many immigrants from the countries like African nations. He said four Democratic congresswomen of colour should go back to the “broken and crime infested” countries they came from, ignoring the fact that all of the women are American citizens and three were born in the U.S.
Trump was criticiaed in September for his initial refusal to outright condemn a far-right fascist group during a debate with Biden.
“Donald Trump is an unabashed racist who not only revels in his ability to mock, scorn and create harm, he denies any culpability for the consequences,” said Stacey Abrams, a voting rights activist and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate.
“I fear for our communities if he retains the seat of the presidency for four more years. I also have a deep worry that his continued occupation of that seat would result in those who intend us harm who will feel that they have carte blanche to do so,” said Abrams, who is Black. “My deep hope is that the demographic changes in our country, coupled with the consciences of white Americans who understand that he is wrong, they will actually do what’s right.”
Trump points to criminal justice reform, opportunity zones and funding for historically Black colleges and universities as examples of what he’s done for Black Americans, but many critics argue his claims are exaggerated or undermined by his comments.
After a summer of nationwide unrest that led to millions marching in the streets of America, Trump has billed himself as a leader who will restore “law and order” — an attempt to appeal to white grievances and allay white suburban fears.
Just this week, Trump’s presidential adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner said the president wants to help Black people in America, but they have to “want to be successful” for his policies to work, a comment that recalled racist stereotypes of Black Americans.
“What we see is when racism goes unchecked and becomes institutionalised publicly and becomes a part of our administration,” said Jessica Byrd, who leads the Movement for Black Lives’ Electoral Justice Project and The Frontline, a multiracial coalition effort to galvanize voters. “We’ve seen firsthand the way that a vocal minority can become an extremist power building faction.”
Biden has his own vulnerabilities on race. He has apologised for the poor treatment of Anita Hill when she testified before his Senate committee in 1991 to accuse then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. He’s also expressed regret about provisions of a 1994 crime bill he supported that has been blamed for incarcerating a generation of Black men.
But he’s put Black voters at the centre of his 2020 campaign. His presidential hopes were rescued in February when Black voters in South Carolina rallied around him, powering him through Super Tuesday wins and helping deliver the Democratic nomination.
Unlike Trump, he has acknowledged systemic racism and has pledged to address it.
“Donald Trump fails to condemn White supremacy, doesn’t believe that systemic racism is a problem, and won’t say that Black lives matter,” Biden said on Tuesday in Atlanta. “We know Black lives matter.”
“November 3 will be a referendum on Black lives, it will be a referendum on structural change, and will be a referendum on whether, when we are experiencing all of this chaos, are we going to look to one another for solutions and embrace one another or are we going to look towards one another with fear and suspicion?” said Maurice Mitchell, the national director of Working Families Party, who is also a leader of The Frontline. “The movement, now the largest social movement in our country’s history, will be the story of 2020, whatever the outcome.” —
Another 4 years of Trump would set us back and the advancements that we’ve made towards equal rights... and civil rights. It would take us 20 or 30 years... to get back what he would cement.” Rev. Al Sharpton, civil rights leader Donald Trump is an unabashed racist who not only revels in his ability to mock, scorn and create harm, he denies any culpability for the consequences. ” Stacey Abrams, a voting rights activist They (Democrats) will allow you nothing. We’re never going to lock down again.... We’re open for business. You know, the bottom line is you get better.” Donald Trump, US President Donald Trump fails to condemn White supremacy, doesn’t believe that systemic racism is a problem, and won’t say that Black lives matter.” Joe Biden, Democratic candidate Nov. 3 will be a referendum on Black lives, it will be a referendum on structural change.” Maurice Mitchell, director of Working Families Party