Hillary Clinton took the podium at Columbia University and said the words that thousands of Americans think everyday, “We have to come to terms with some hard truths about race and justice in America.” She opened up the can of worms that is racial tension in America in attempts to allow people of all colors to realize that something just isn’t right in America. Is it the current climate of racial injustice that caused Hilary to speak out or is she siding with minorities as a part of her covert operation to get the “Black vote”. Find out after the jump.
Hillary fearlessly dived into America’s issues head-on at Columbia University; if she’s planning on being President it’s safe to say she’ll make a habit of doing so. Blatant racism in America was the main subject of her speech as she used Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Walter Scott and Freddie Gray as her case studies.
She individually addressed each victim and touched on how police brutality played a factor in their demise.
“For yet again a family of a young Black man is grieving a loss of a life cut short. Yet again the streets of an American city are marred with violence. By shattered glass and shouts of anger and shows of force…From Ferguson to Staten Island to Baltimore the patterns have become unmistakable and undeniable.”
Starting out with Walter Scott she tells the unadulterated truth about how an innocent man who was avoiding police in fear of going to jail for the fourth time for failed child support payments that he didn’t have the means to pay was shot in the back by an police officer. Followed by the heartbreaking story of Tamir Rice, a 12 year old unarmed boy shot in a park by a police officer. She localized the issue by then speaking about Eric Garner who was chocked to death by authorities for selling cigarettes. Lastly, she gave the most recent example, Freddie Gray; “his spine nearly severed while in police custody.” There is no way to call these frequent occurrences rarities. Cases such as these are simply happening too often and Hillary was there to let us know she see’s it too.
Standing up for issues that are prevalent in minority communities has been a tactic almost synonyms will Bill Clinton, making him a crowd favorite among African American communities. Hillary is following suit. She addresses the issues that Black men face everyday and how they don’t coincide with her vision of an equal America. She says it’s wrong that Black men get stopped by police more often than white men, get sentenced longer prison terms and charged with crimes they didn’t commit. An estimated 1.5 million Black men are “missing” due to incarceration and premature death, Hillary stated. She also noted that 1/3 Black men face the prospect of prison in their lifetime. It’s staggering statistics like those that catch the attention of the public who have preconceived notions that the current climate in Baltimore is “just another Black riot”.
These instances and statistics are obviously wrong but it’s going to take more positive action and less talking.
Check out the speech below
Source: Columbia University
