6 Times Cory Booker Represented For Black & Brown People At The Democratic Debate
Of the two dozen plus men and women vying for the premier spot as the Democratic nominee for the 2020 presidential election, twenty on them headed south to Miami, Florida for the first primary debate. On the stage: Elizabeth Warren, Beto O’Rouke, Julián Castro, Tulsi Gabbar, Amy Klobuchar, Bill de Blasio, Jay Inslee, Tim Ryan, John Delaney and Cory Booker civilly battled for speaking time to get their message across to millions of Americans who would be hearing some of them —and their positions— for the first time. These hopefuls had a lot to get off their chest and leading the pack talking to black and brown voters was Senator Cory Booker. The former Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, first African- American U.S. Senator from the state and above all, the only black man to qualify for this first primary thoroughly impressed, zeroing in on black and brown issues in many of his 60 answers and 30-second follow-up responses. Missed the debate? Here are six times Cory Booker represented for black and brown people, communities and issues at the first primary for the 2020 presidential election.
ON THE ECONOMY
"I live in a low-income black and brown community. I see every single day that this economy is not working for average Americans. The indicators that are being used from GDP to Wall Street's ranking is not helping people in my community. It is about time that we have an economy that works for everybody, not just the wealthiest in our nation."
ON HEALTH CARE
“In communities like mine, It’s and education issue. Kids that don’t have health care aren’t going to succeed in school. It’s an issue for jobs and employment because people who do not have good health care do not succeed at work. it’s even a retirement issue because in my community African Americans have a lower life expectancy because of poor health care. Where I stand is very clear, health care is not just a human right, it should be an American right and i believe the best way to get there is Medicare For All.
ON IMMIGRATION
“On day one, I would make sure that we end the ICE policies and the customs and border policies that are violating human rights. When people come to this country, they do not leave their human rights at the border? Number two, I will make sure that we reinstate DACA, that we reinstate pathways to citizenship for DACA recipients and to make sure that people that are here on temporary protective status can stay and remain here.” He continued, “Folks should understand that the separation from children and families doesn’t just go on at our border. It happens in our communities as ICE are ripping away parents from their American children and spouses and are creating fear in cities all across this country where parents are afraid to drop their kids off at school or go to work.”
ON GUN CONTROL
“I hear gun shoots in my neighborhood. I hope I’m the only one on this panel here who’s had seven people shot in their neighborhood just last week. Someone I knew, Shahad Smith was killed with an assault riffle at the top of my block last year. For millions of Americans, this is not a policy issue, this is an urgency and for those not directly affected, they’e tired of living in a country where their kids go to school to learn about reading, writing, arithmetic and, how to deal with an active shooter in their school. This is something that I’m tired of. I’m tired of hearing people all they have to offer is thoughts and prayers. In my faith people say faith without work is dead. We will find way. The reason we have a problem right now is we let the corporate gun lobby frame this debate. It’s time to have bold actions and a bold agenda. I will get that done as President of the United States because this is not about policy, this is personal.”
ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
“When i got to the United States Senate as an African American man in an African American dominated community I knew one of the biggest issues was criminal justice reform. From police accountability to dealing with the fact that with have a nation with more African Americans under criminal supervision than all the slaves in 1850. When I got to the senate people told me we could not get comprehensive criminal justice done? As my colleagues in the Senate know, I fought on that bill from the day I got to the senate, built coalitions across the aisle, and today we passed the First Step Act.”
ON LGBTQIA+ RIGHTS
“We do not talk enough about Trans-Americans, especially African American Trans-Americans and the incredibly high rate of murder right now. We don’t enough about how many children, about 30% of LGBTQIA+ kid who do not go to school because of fear. It’s not enough to be on the equality act, I’m an original co-sponsor. We need to have a President that will fight to protect LGBTQIA+ Americans every single day.”