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Biden Champions Black, Latino Journalists

by richard03192

‘Deepening our Connection With Each Other’
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‘Deepening our Connection With Each Other’

Joe Biden told Black and Latino journalists Thursday that the work they do in “strengthening diversity in our press” is needed more than ever, and that despite attacks on them by President Trump, these journalists have “great credibility in the people you communicate to.” He also said, “it’s long past time we deal with systemic racism in America.”

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee fielded questions from four journalists of color at the joint convention of the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, recorded Wednesday and streamed Thursday at the virtual gathering. The streaming is accessible to the general public. (video)

While other candidates have advocated for newsroom diversity at previous conventions, the environment for journalists was never as toxic and the contrast with the incumbent never as stark.

The subjects of the reporters’ questions ranged from voting rights and the 1994 crime bill to the COVID pandemic, white supremacists and medical benefits for undocumented immigrants. Such topics as Bernie Sanders, the “Green New Deal” and “Medicare for All,” favorites in discussions of Biden’s prospects by many journalists, hardly came up.

The session underscored how much of the media oxygen President Trump has taken up and by contrast, how little attention Biden’s policy positions have received. He answered each question in rapid-fire fashion, even as he sometimes spoke so quickly that he stumbled over his words.    

Biden’s interviewers were CBS correspondent Errol Barnett, NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Alfredo Corchado of The Dallas Morning News and Tia Mitchell, Washington correspondent for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and chair of the NABJ Political Task Force.

The former vice president’s comments about journalists of color came at the end of the nearly hour-long session, when Barnett asked whether Biden had “any closing remarks for the membership of NABJ, NAHJ, people who are watching this interview right now.”

“The fact is, Black and Latino Americans have never been fully included in our democracy or our economy, and it’s a moral failure that seeps into everything,” Joe Biden said.

After thanking NABJ President Dorothy Tucker and NAHJ President Hugo Balta, Biden said, “I want to thank you for all the work you do by strengthening diversity in our press, strengthening quality and capacity of the press, and it’s broadening our perspective, and deepening our connection with each other.

“We need that more now than ever, and we need people who know about it, especially at a time when Black and Latino reporters have been targeted by this president for asking questions, honest questions, and condemned for standing strong and for doing their job. Look, America’s facing a confluence of crises and immeasurable pain. But we’re also facing an incredible opportunity. It’s an opportunity to right a wrong that has festered since our Founding Fathers.

“The fact is, Black and Latino Americans have never been fully included in our democracy or our economy, and it’s a moral failure that seeps into everything. I’ve said it already. In the course of this pandemic, Black and Latino Americans have been three times as likely to get infected and twice as likely to die. Black and Latino Americans are disproportionally out of work, facing evictions, losing hope. Their communities are the first ones to get hit, and the last ones to get any relief. We need an overwhelming response to right that wrong.

“I’m proud of the sweeping plan I put together to Build Back Better, including everyone in the deal. You know, it’s long past time we deal with systemic racism in America, and deliver Black and Latino Americans their full share of the American dream. Every one of us has a role to play in that work.

“So I want to thank you for shining a light on all this, and the work you do, and the stories you communicate, because you have great credibility in the people you communicate to. It matters a great deal. And folks, I know you may not agree but I honest to God think we’ve been delivered to one of those inflection points in American history that hasn’t occurred since the ’30s, where the public has had the blinders taken off, and they’ve looked around and said, ‘Oh my God. I didn’t realize it. I didn’t realize exactly what was going on here,’ and you began to see it happening.”

Biden’s comments were streamed as Newsweek reported, “Roughly 50 percent of white voters would vote to re-elect Republican President Donald Trump if the election were held today, according to a new poll by Hill-HarrisX.” Daniel Villarreal’s story also said, “Biden beat Trump among all other non-politically-affiliated voter demographics.

“Biden’s largest leads over Trump occurred in Black voters by 65 percentage points, Hispanic voters by 22 points, both voters aged 18 to 34 and voters earning under $75,000 a year by 14 points and female voters and Western regional voters by 11 points.”

A vehicle plows into a group of protesters at the “Unite the Right” demonstration in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017. (Credit: Ryan J. Kelly/Daily Progress, Charlottesville)

Corchado raised the issue of white supremacists. “How do you convince white supremacists that minority groups are vital to restoring the soul of America?”

Biden replied, “I don’t convince white supremacists. They’re not going to be convinced. They have to be put in jail when they do things that are inappropriate. White supremacists are not going to be convinced, but the vast, vast, vast majority of people are not white supremacists. . . .

“The reason I’m running is because of Donald Trump’s what he said when those folks came out of the fields in Charlottesville,” referring to Trump’s comment that there were “very fine people on both sides” in the 2017 march in Charlottesville, Va., that included neo-Nazis. “I realized hate doesn’t go away, it just hides. And when a president breathes oxygen under the rocks, he pulls them out. He legitimizes them.”

Biden announced a plan last month “to spend tens of billions of dollars to help people of color overcome inequities in the economy,” as Maura Ewing and Sean Sullivan reported July 28 for the Washington Post.

Though Barnett noted that Biden apologized for his role in the 1994 crime bill, which created the “three-strikes” law and expanded the list of crimes punishable by death, Biden defended his vote for the bill, noting that “The bill at the time it was passed, was overwhelmingly passed with every major Black mayor in America.

“The Black Caucus supported it and violent crime against African Americans fell by 57 percent. It had things in it that I did not like at all, like three strikes and you’re out, which I argued against. It also had some very good things in it. Assault weapons ban, drug courts. It made sure that we were in a position where we were going to focus on dealing with rehabilitation. One third of it went to prevention, one third to rehabilitation. All of those things, they in fact made sense. . . .”

Biden also told Corchado that “every executive order this president has issued relating to the border and relating to dealing with the Hispanic community is going to be pulled back” and that he would “send to the United States Congress a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented folks. . . .

“And they’re going to be put on a path to citizenship. We’re going to invest in economic mobility, invest in wealth inside Latino communities, especially Latino businesses and ensuring Latinos have access to credit and capital by providing Latino businesses access to participate in federal contracts and critical assistance programs, ensuring economic relief reaches Latino businesses.” These are not new positions, he said.

Garcia-Navarro asked about temporary protected status, an immigration policy that allows people from 10 specific countries affected by disasters to live and work in the United States. Biden supports such status for Venezuelans, while Trump allies have blocked it in the Senate.

Biden declared,  “Anybody who can prove that they are in jeopardy to go back to their country and the reason they came in the first place, they should be able to stay in the United States of America until the circumstance changes in their country.” He also answered “yes” when Garcia-Navarro asked about “status given to Venezuelans while Cubans are being deported” and wondered, “Will you be engaged with Cuba?”

As for asylum seekers, Biden said, “There’s ways to monitor without putting them in jail, number one, but we have to make sure that we build up the infrastructure to be able to accommodate Trump’s cruel and humane border policies, ripping children from their mother’s arms and Trump’s migrant protection protocols, Remain in Mexico program. All of this is going to take time, not a long time, but it’s going to take … you have to be prepared so we don’t create another crisis. . . .”  

The Democrat said asylum seekers who are on the Mexican side of the border in camps would be “allowed to come and do their claims inside the United States,” and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, would be reined in.

Biden also said he would go to the United Nations to hold China accountable for its treatment of the Uighurs, held in concentration camps; let the Justice Department decide whether to prosecute Trump after his presidency; and challenge in court states that attempt to curb voting rights, challenges made by the Obama administration.

Trump was also invited to participate, Tucker and Balta said in a statement. “However, the White House has yet to accept or decline that invitation.

“While we are disappointed that President Donald Trump has not acknowledged our invitation to participate, we hope he will come to understand the importance of addressing and engaging with the voices and documentarians of the communities that represent the future of America.”

The virtual convention continues until Saturday, with about 3,713 people registered and 3,119 interviews scheduled in the online career fair, according to Drew Berry, NABJ executive director.

The Walt Disney Co. plugged its upcoming movie “Soul,” starring Jamie Foxx. (Credit: Disney/Pixar) (video)

Thursday’s workshops ranged from “Why SEO is Important for Every Content Creator” to “The Color of COVID-19: What to Know About Diverse Communities’ Financial Pain & How to Cope,” moderated by Soledad O’Brien, and “When Racism and Objectivity Collide— What Does Objectivity Really Mean?”

Wednesday’s opening reception was given over to an extensive presentation by Disney, much of it animated, which included a plug for the upcoming movie “Soul,” disc jockeys playing for the virtual audience, and announcements about the Disney Dreamers Academy for high school students, now in its 13th year. The academy features “career shadowing externships based on their dream professions so they can receive personal insight and advice from mentors.”

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“As a veteran reporter, I turn to Richard Prince’s Journal-isms all the time for the latest information on people of color in our business. There is no spin, no slant, just the facts to keep us informed. I also appreciate that he holds journalists and media companies accountable . . . . Keep up the good work. #NoSpinAllowed” (Courtesy Rebecca Aguilar)

— Rebecca Aguilar, freelance reporter; diversity committee chair, Society of Professional Journalists; former vice president, National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Support Journal-isms here or here

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Richard Prince’s Journal-isms originates from Washington. It began in print before most of us knew what the internet was, and it would like to be referred to as a “column.” Any views expressed in the column are those of the person or organization quoted and not those of any other entity. Send tips, comments and concerns to Richard Prince at journal-isms-owner@yahoogroups.com

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