Liberal groups slam Biden’s response to police protest movement, warning he risks losing support from black voters
More than 50 liberal groups signed a letter Monday to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden criticizing his response to the emerging protest movement against police brutality, warning that failing to embrace a more aggressive agenda risks alienating the African American voters he needs to win the election.
The letter pointed to Biden’s recent promise to add $300 million for community policing programs, a plan that activists say would undermine their efforts to push for systemic changes, such as defunding police forces.
“It is a slap in the face to black folks,” said LaTosha Brown, the head of Black Voters Matter, an Atlanta-based civil rights group that signed on to the letter. “We’re in the middle of the largest uprising and protests against policing and unfair and unjust policing, and the biggest supporters to your campaign have been black people, and you come out and say you’re going to reward the police? What message does that send?”
The letter, which Brown said was first organized by several black-led groups, warned Biden that he needs to move more forcefully to remedy what they see as the ugly legacy of policies he pushed, such as the 1994 crime bill he helped write that put more police on the streets and, critics say, fueled mass incarceration of African Americans. [Continue reading…]