Our State of Mind, Racial and Social injustice series part II

By Robin Martin

Racial and Social injustice series part II – NAACP the current state of Black America, an interview with former Vice President Joe Biden.

Last week the interview with Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, focused on racial injustice in America. This week, OSOM continues with the NAACP virtual town hall interview on the current state of Black America. Ed Gordon, journalist, author is the host and interviewer.

Gordon – You believe you will be able to push this through (Obama 21st century police reform plan)? Heaven forbid the numbers in the Senate don’t change, this is going to be a very uphill battle for you?

Biden – “Two things, first I agree with you. Second we must elect a Democratic Senate. Based on the polling data… the prospect… we could pick up six seats in the Senate. If we don’t win back the Senate, with Trump gone, his ability to retaliate against Republicans is diminished, and my Republican friends will find the courage to do what I know many of them think they should do.”

Biden went on to say that he was criticized for saying he would go to states like North Carolina.

“You may remember I was criticized for campaigning in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Texas where the presidential candidate is not expected to win. When the national party does not come in to help the local party it makes it harder for the state to elect a democratic senator or governor. This requires building the bench, making sure the national party allocates the monies to elect a democratic senator… this is really important… so we have the votes to do what we know we have to do.”

Gordon – “Give me a sense of your most radical thinking of what you would like to see in police reform?”

Biden – “Specifically, every charge against a police officer, like there have been against the police officer that killed George Floyd, could be a matter of public record sent to the Justice Department and it is on record. We have the ability to determine who the bad cops are and demand action against them. The law I wrote in… pattern and practice, our administration… we are able to go in a police department and determine whether or not the pattern and practice they are taking, from training their police to the actions of those police, violates patterns and practices that exist, should exist, to have basic civil rights and civil liberties being honored. It gives much more power. It’s about transparency, it is about exposing what’s happening. You see chiefs of police out there separating themselves from the police union, from what happened…when George Floyd and Breonna (Taylor) and others. So what you see is we need to do more than reform, there must be systematic change, economic justice as well.

Look, first and foremost we must make sure cops are held accountable like everybody else. There are good newsmen and lousy newsmen, there’s good cops, there bad cops, good senators and bad senators. Look, every institution has troubles policing itself, we have to have an objective way to look at what is happening in those departments and make those records public.”

Gordon – “Because you were a principal in writing the 1994 crime bill, young people believe you would not be able to steer your way past traditional policing, part of you still has that sense of what policing was, that would be a hard line, what do you tell them?”

Biden – “I would tell them it is not accurate, number one. Number two I’d tell them take a look at what’s going now…”

Gordon – “Mr. Biden I must go back to the first part of the question…”

Biden – “There is no polling that says that.” (Strongly disagreed with Gordon)

Gordon – “I received emails from three young people.”

Biden – “They should be skeptical. Young people don’t think I am in the right place, there is not polling or voting data to sustain that. All I can say is show me, watch me, watch what I do. Judge me on what I do, what I say and to whom I say it. So I am not making myself out to be some kind of hero, some kind of savior, just basic common decency. It’s just about treating people with dignity. Everybody deserves to be treated with dignity, that is how I was raised.”

Gordon – “What do you tell white folks in terms of dealing with a subject, they have, quite frankly never really dealt with justly?”

Biden – “They have to change. It simply is not right. It’s not fair, the Constitution says all men and women are created equal, the question is are they treated equally? They are not treated equally. White supremacy is an inherit problem, a significant problem and we have an obligation not only because it is the morally right thing to do, it is the decent thing to do, because it is in everybody’s interest that it be done. How is the country not made better when African-American students get a good education, a college education, or certificate or junior college, just like white kids. Why is that not everybody’s Interest? It is overwhelmingly in our best interest. It is about time we climb out of our sense of superiority. We are not. If you really want to make things better for your children then you must get engaged.”

At the end, Biden vowed to put a Black woman in the court, guessing the Supreme Court, to address the systemic racism in the judiciary. The court has to reflect what the country looks like. The court is being stacked with conservatives (Mitch McConnell) who do not believe there is a thing such as the ninth amendment and so cut back on rights of citizens.

An interrelated topic of reform are the fundamentals of the prison system. Biden recommends that the American prison system should be changed to a rehabilitation system.

“No one should be going to jail for drug abuse. There should be drug courts, no more building prisons, build rehabilitation centers. It makes no since not to give a person an opportunity to come back to a life better than the one they left. It should be a system of reform from punishment to a system of rehabilitation.”

Biden noted that after a person serves their time and released, they are prohibited from accessing any government services. He promises anyone released after serving their time, will be able to apply for Pell grants, public housing, and college scholarships.

African American History

1953 – President Dwight Eisenhower established the Government Compliance Committee to supervise anti-discrimination regulations in government contracts. The United States Government enacted laws to guarantee equal employment opportunity to all employees, so that they receive fair and equitable treatment. The order directs that all qualified candidates seeking employment on government contracts or subcontracts will not be discriminated against due to their race, creed, color, or national origin

1994 – The (controversial) Crime Bill was being drafted by the Clinton Administration

Ms. Martin is an educator, freelance journalist and 2008 Monmouth University Dr. King Unsung Hero recipient. Send emails to

ourstateofmindgap@gmail.com