Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris warned Tuesday (October 16, 2024) that Republican Donald Trump will try to “institutionalize” disproportionate police tactics that affect black people nationwide as she vowed to push for legislation to address discriminatory law enforcement practices. .
During a one-hour radio town hall hosted by Charlamagne tha God, host “The Breakfast Club“show, Ms. Harris added that she will be able to decriminalize marijuana, which accounts for the arrests that also disproportionately impact Black people, and she admits that racial disparities and bias exist in everyday life for Black people – in home ownership, health, economy. prosperity and even choose.
Also Read: Biden says Harris will clear his own path as President, perspective will be fresh and new
While Ms. Harris worked to energize Black people, Trump focused on women when he faced an all-female audience during a Fox News town hall in the battleground of Georgia. The former President sidestepped questions about the erosion of abortion rights under his watch, leaning instead into the nation’s culture war by vowing to ban male athletes from competing in women’s sports.
Trump also stood by his new description of his political opponents as the “enemy within” – rhetoric that has fueled authoritarian regimes.
With just 21 days to go before the final election of the 2024 presidential season, Harris and Trump are battling to strengthen key constituencies in a tight election. Harris, who will become the nation’s first female president, hopes to expand her party’s advantage among female voters, while Trump has shown little sign of progress among blacks, who have overwhelmingly supported Democrats in the past.
Small shifts among any group can swing an election.
Mrs. Harris told Charlamagne that despite the continued racial bias, no one has passed to sit out the election.
“We shouldn’t sit back and say, OK, I’m not going to vote because everything hasn’t been resolved,'” she said. “It’s a margin-of-error race. win. I’ll win, but it’s hard.
The Vice President took questions that listeners called in, but also from a series of people who joined the studio, including Pastor Solomon Kinloch Jr., pastor of the Detroit Triumph Church.
When asked about reparations, or potential government payments to descendants of enslaved people, Harris said it “should be looked into, there’s no question about it.” It’s a position he’s taken before, but Trump’s campaign immediately followed through, saying the Vice President was “open” to payments that could cost billions.
Trump called for a return to “proven crime-fighting methods, including stop-and-frisk and break-in window policing.” The tactic, implemented by the New York City Police Department, involves stopping, questioning, and sometimes harassing people deemed “reasonably suspicious.” This did not affect Blacks and Hispanics, and in 2013, the policy was found to violate the US Constitution.
Harris said part of the challenge is that the Trump campaign is “trying to scare people because they don’t know they don’t have anything. Ask Donald Trump what his plans are for Black America. Ask him.” Trump did not respond to Ms. Harris’s criticism Tuesday, focusing only on cultural issues that resonate with various groups of voters.
He pledged to ban “men in women’s sports,” a reference to transgender women who are allowed to compete with women in some cases. The issue emerged as the main focus of Trump’s shutdown message, though there were several examples across the country.
When the host pressed Trump on how to implement the ban, Trump said: “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen. Earlier, Harris stopped at a Black-owned art gallery, joined by actors Don Cheadle, Delroy Lindo and Detroit native Cornelius Smith Jr., for a conversation with Black people focused on entrepreneurship.
After taping the interview, Harris addressed the nearby viewing party, telling hundreds of cheering supporters that Detroit is a city of people “who have grit, who have passion, and who have optimism and ambition and put that hard work into practice.”
He said it “makes Detroit a first-class city in the United States now and always will.” His comments came after Trump insulted Detroit while campaigning here last week and hinted again when he said Tuesday in Chicago that the city was “just horrible.”
Mrs. Harris this week also announced a series of new proposals called the “Opportunity Agenda for Black People,” which are intended to give economic advantages to black people – including providing forgivable business loans of up to $20,000 to entrepreneurs and creating more apprenticeships. The plan will also support the study of sickle cell and other diseases that are more common in black people.
The focus on black men was sharpened last week when former President Barack Obama campaigned for Harris in Pittsburgh and said he wanted to speak “some truth” to black male voters, suggesting some “just don’t feel comfortable having a woman as president.”
The Vice President’s campaign said that they do not believe that blacks will back down to support Trump, especially after supporting Democrat Joe Biden, with Harris as his running mate, in 2020. He is more concerned about the measurable percentage of black males. choose not to choose at all.
Published – 16 October 2024 08:24 IST
