Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris has rebuked President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr’s recent remarks denying that there is systemic racism in the US justice system.
“Well, you know, you just keep getting back to the opposite subject. We should talk about the kind of violence we’ve seen in Portland and here and other places,” Trump said when asked about systemic racism during his visit to Kenosha, Wisconsin, last week.
Barr echoed his sentiments. “I think we have to be a little careful about throwing the idea of racism around,” he said. “I don’t think it is as common as people suggest.”
That same week, Trump said Sunday that the Department of Education is examining the use of the New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project in schools.
The project presents a programme of American history beginning with the year the first enslaved people were brought to the continent’s shores by Europeans. The Pulitzer Center released a school curriculum based on the project.
Of course, Trump hates it.
“Department of Education is looking at this,” Trump said. “If so, they will not be funded!”
But Harris, a former prosecutor, says it is clear that there is more than one justice system.
“We do have two systems of justice” for Black and White Americans, Harris said. “I don’t think that most reasonable people who are paying attention to the facts would dispute that there are racial disparities and a system that has engaged in racism in terms of how the laws have been enforced,” she added. “It does us no good to deny that. Let’s just deal with it. Let’s be honest. These might be difficult conversations for some, but they’re not difficult conversations for leaders, not for real leaders.”
