I love the smell of presidential candidate announcements in the morning and Friday did not disappoint, let me be the first to tell you. In the wee hours of the first official day of February, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker announced that he is running in the Democratic primary with hopes of landing a seat in the big chair. As the former mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Booker, 49, has spent much of his career fighting to thwart criminal injustices in our societal framework as well as work to reduce the racial/economic disparities which plague our nation.
In his official announcement video, Booker said:
“We are better when we help each other. I believe that we can build a country where no one is forgotten, no one is left behind; where parents can put food on the table; where there are good paying jobs with good benefits invert neighborhood; where our criminal justice system keeps us safe, instead of juggling more children into cages and coffins…”
–Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)
No matter what box you check when asked about your political preference, you have to admit the impact of Booker’s words, especially the last line. The criminal justice system in the United States, while originally set up to ‘protect and serve,’ has evolved to become a collection of fear-mongering racists who walk the streets, glock in hand, causing every person of color to think twice before looking an officer of the law directly in the eye.
There’s something to be said about our country’s unwillingness to admit that we allow systemic racism to continue. If one out of every three African-American men will end up incarcerated, while White neo-Nazis have the freedom to express their right to “peacefully assemble,” major adjustments need to be made. It is for this reason, among many others, that I am such a fan of election seasons because we get to understand a wide array of perspectives across candidates who seek to run our nation.
Though this is purely speculative, I firmly believe that if time travel were possible, and we decided to send a representative from the present to share news of the future with our founding fathers, they might not take the news seriously. I think the fact, alone, that slavery has since been outlawed would send Washington, Adams, and Jefferson into the 18th century equivalent of cardiac arrest.
Several weeks ago, Sen. Kamala Harris, announced in a television interview that she will run for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential election. The former California Attorney General turned Junior Senator made her plans public on Martin Luther King Day, a holiday that many associates with federal offices being closed, but others know as a day to reflect on a man who was assassinated for advocating for the civil rights of all living people.
As African-Americans, Harris and Booker represent something much greater than two left-leaning presidential candidates; they are the change we need to see in this world. For far too long, we have subjugated people of the color through systemic legislation meant to keep those in power where they are, and dissuade the majority from having a say. It’s not a coincidence that the people kept down by these laws have historically been African-American.
As much as it pains me to say this, no one should vote for Sen. Harris or Sen. Booker solely on the basis of their skin color. Believe it or not, you are wasting your vote if you don’t do your homework and understand how candidates feel about different issues, and if elected, what they will do to correct these injustices.
“On the issue of climate change: Every parent wants to know that their child can drink clean water and breathe clean air. And that same parent wants to know that they’re able to bring home enough money with one job to pay their bills and pay their rent and put food on the table, instead of having to work two or three jobs. Every person wants to know that there will be a criminal justice system that is fair to all people, regardless of their race.”
-Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA)
It’s morally repugnant and disgusting that people of color walk American in streets in fear of being persecuted, profiled, arrested, and unfortunately shot. As an informed citizen of this country, though I will be participating in the upcoming election, it matters more to me that a candidate does everything in her power to make every American feel protected under the law, not live in fear of those who enforce it.
