Democrats reckoned with racial injustice and its role in the past in supplementing it was a central theme in the party’s presidency. But on Wednesday night, the party went on as a whole, with a full recognition of racism and its consequences for society, which even four years ago would have been unthinkable at a party convention.
The speed with which Democrats have embraced the movement against racial injustice has been extraordinary.
In the 2016 Democratic primary, candidate Martin O’Malley responded to Black Lives Matter protesters by declaring that “all life matters,” now considered by many Democrats to be a racist tone-deaf slogan, at best. (O’Malley apologized later). Activists had to push and support Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders with the words “Black lives matter.” (That she did eventually.)
Four years later, Harris speaks explicitly and repeatedly about race. The video editing she introduced to the nation focused on her immigrant background, her presence at a historic Black college and her membership in the oldest Black sorority, as well as the response by young women of color to her candidacy.
“There is no vaccine for racism,” Harris said.
‘While this virus affects us all, let’s be honest, it’s not an equal chancellor. “Blacks, Latinos, and indigenous people suffer and die disproportionately,” Harris said. ‘This is not a coincidence. It is the effect of structural racism. ”
Structural racism, Harris continues, leads to injustice in reproductive and maternal health. In the excessive use of force by police. And in our broader criminal justice system. ”
Emmy Ruiz, a former senior aide to the Harris and Hillary Clinton campaigns, said Democrats have become more comfortable with race in part because of the president.
“Trump has shed a bright light on issues that have persisted since the inception of our country,” she said. “Democrats are meeting this moment. Not just with our historic ticket, but with the policies we propose. ”
Alencia Johnson, a former senior campaign assistant for Warren, said Harris’ ability to step in at the moment with her experience as a black woman “is giving many people hope and confidence that we can move the party a little further into a progressive outer space. ”
“In front of [Harris] to strengthen the legacy of historical Black organizations and universities, coupled with the legacy of the hard work that Black women have done that has given us so far, has been extremely powerful, ”said Johnson, himself a member of a Black Greek letter organization . “And to be honest, what only Kamala Harris is uniquely positioned to do as a Black woman.”
Former President Barack Obama also acknowledged the vicious wounds of racism in his speech.
“If anyone had the right to believe that this democracy did not work, and could not work,” Obama said, then it is “our ancestors.”
“Instead of giving up, they came together and said somehow, we will make this work. We will bring those words to life in our founding documents, “Obama added. “Americans of all races are taking part in declaring, in the face of injustice and brutality at the hands of the state, that Black cause lives, no more, but no less, so that no child in this country feels the continuing sting of racism. ”
Cornell Belcher, a pollster for Obama’s campaigns, said the new tone for Democrats makes political sense because the racial justice movement is more popular than even the Democratic Party. “BLM is now mainstream politics,” he said. After the assassination of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and subsequent protests, Belcher said, “BLM has a higher … rating nationally and in the field battles in polls … than Trump and all the establishment Democrats except for Obama.”
Still, at least one leading Black Lives Matter organizer thought Harris and Democrats could have gone further. “[Harris] mentioned George Floyd and Brianna Taylor, but did not actually say Black Lives Matter, ”said Melina Abdullah, head of BLM’s chapter in Los Angeles.
“I was in the streets earlier today and everyone who was there was out there to challenge the system and many of them are very critical of the Democratic Party,” said Abdullah, who took issue with a line in Harris’ speech which she saw as binding the protests to get out of the vote.
Since the Republican Party dressed up in the aftermath of the civil rights movement in the South, Democrats have been cautious in talking about race in part out of fear of alienating more foreign voters. Even in 2016, when Clinton acknowledged “systemic racism” in her convention address, she linked it with a salute to police officers. Their convention included both the Mothers of the Movement – one of whom said, “Hillary Clinton is not afraid to say ‘Black Life Case'” – as well as a moment of silence for police officers killed in the line of duty.
After her defeat, Clinton questioned whether some of her focus on structural racism cost her votes, even because she felt she was doing the right thing. “I do not know if my advocacy for the heavy African-American community of Flint alienated foreign white voters in other parts of Michigan, but it certainly does not seem to help,” she wrote in “What Happened.”
However, the combination of Democrats’ reaction to Donald Trump’s presidency, the most diverse presidential field in history and years more of activism, made race not to be ignored in the 2020 campaign. All candidates felt compelled to racial speaking, not only to appeal to voters of color, but to make inroads with white liberals who have dramatically shifted their view in recent years.
Biden was a bit of an outlier in the primary, as he had not only incorporated as much of the language of social justice into his campaign as other candidates, but he also managed to enthrone them with voters of color. Even the dramatic shifts in public opinion in recent months seem to put an end to any continued caution about discussing race.
“I remember when President Obama gave his speech, saying that if I had a son, he would look like Trayvon Martin, and how world-class that was at the time,” Johnson said. But to hear Harris and others say the names of Floyd and other Black men and women killed by police said she is “almost an earthquake.”
“At this point, the party literally has no option to ignore this move,” Johnson said.
