The Biden-Harris plan to advance racial equity
From the Biden-Harris Transition Website: https://buildbackbetter.com/priorities/racial-equity/.
The moment has come for our nation to deal with systemic racism. To deal with the growing economic inequality in our nation. And to deal with the denial of the promise of this nation — to so many.
As part of his commitment to uplifting Black and Brown communities, Biden will also work to build an economy where every American enjoys a fair return for their work, and an equal chance to get ahead. An economy more vibrant and more powerful precisely because everybody will be included in the deal. An economy where Black, Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), and Native American workers and families are finally welcomed as full participants.
Today, multiple overlapping crises reinforce how far we have to go to deliver on that vision. The pandemic has shone a bright light on racial disparities in health and health care — as Black and Brown Americans have suffered and died from the coronavirus at rates far higher than white Americans. The economic crisis has hit Black and Brown communities especially hard, with Black, Latino, and Native American unemployment at higher levels, and businesses owned by Black, Latino, and Asian American people closing down at alarming rates. We are also seeing a national reckoning on racial justice and the tragic human costs of systemic racism in the murders of Black men, women, and children.
President-elect Biden believes we cannot build back better without a major mobilization of effort and resources to address these challenges and to advance racial equity across the American economy. That is why racial equity is a distinct pillar of the Build Back Better plan. President-elect Biden is removing barriers to participation in our economy, expanding access to opportunity, and fully enforcing the policies and laws that we already have on the books — and the pledges Biden and Harris made as the Democratic ticket.
Specifically, the Biden-Harris administration will:
“ECONOMIC AND RACIAL INEQUITIES HAVE SHAPED US FOR GENERATIONS. BUT I GIVE YOU MY WORD: [AS] PRESIDENT, I WILL MARSHAL THE INGENUITY AND GOOD WILL OF THIS NATION TO TURN DIVISION INTO UNITY AND BRING US TOGETHER.”
JOE BIDEN, OCTOBER 6, 2020
The battle for the soul of this nation has been a constant push-and-pull for more than 240 years. A tug of war between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh reality that racism has long torn us apart.
President-elect Joe Biden is working to strengthen America’s commitment to justice, and reform our criminal justice system. As the former District Attorney of San Francisco and Attorney General of California, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has spent her entire career fighting for justice for the people, and equal justice under law.
The Biden-Harris administration will work with Congress to pass police reform legislation including:
We can and must reduce the number of people incarcerated in this country while also reducing crime. Our criminal justice system cannot be just unless we root out the racial, gender, and income-based disparities in the system. The system must be focused on redemption and rehabilitation. The Biden-Harris administration will take bold action to reduce our prison population, create a more just society, and make our communities safer, by: