Originally posted on Black Millennials:
Black Lives Matter activists demand a DNC debate centering racial justice issues. Sign our Color of Change petition. It’s abundantly clear that a Democratic presidential debate solely focusing on racial justice issues is needed. The candidates can barely say “Black Lives Matter” without cringing, are mincing their words to appeal to those low-income centrist white voters residing in crucial swing states, and can hardly articulate a cohesive pro-Black platform that captures the state of emergency that Black lives currently exist in. The undertaking to perform in a racial justice debate is a daunting one. For the last few decades, the Democratic Establishment regarded the Black vote as a given. But now, as resurgent radicalism is reshaping the national pro-Black politic, Black voters are more aware that the Democratic Establishment colludes with the very systems and institutions that cripple, undermine, target, and brutalize Black bodies. From welfare reform, to tough crime laws and neoliberalism, the Democratic Party has aided in locking us in the socioeconomic underclass. And that’s exactly why this debate needs to…