Biden Aide feels heat from all sides in the White House’s vow of equality

Photographer: Erin Scott / Bloomberg

While President Joe Biden sought to address racial inequalities across the U.S., he turned to former Congressman Cedric Richmond to help keep a promise to end discriminatory practices ranging from housing to suffrage – a task which is complicated by the risk of alienating Republicans whose support is needed over important legislative priorities.

Richmond, a Louisiana lawmaker who led the Black Caucasus Congress during the Trump administration, heads Biden’s Office of Public Involvement. There he is the peer to outsiders and activists ready to hold the president accountable for his promise to address the deep-seated racial divisions in the country.

Along with his promise to fight inequality in all policies, Biden has strived to heal the political rifts of the country and to work the way to restore Washington’s citizenship. But many Republicans have rejected the president’s call to address racial differences – and even the idea that institutionalized racism exists – to negotiate a potentially persistent conflict for Richmond.

“We are listening to everyone and we will take input, but that does not mean we are going to harm our values,” Richmond said in an interview. ‘I will only give one old Afrikaans proverb as a way of thinking about it: if two elephants fight, only the grass suffers. And that’s why we want to make sure that the people are not the grass – that you have endless battles and that they never get help. ‘

Biden has resigned his presidency to crack down on the coronavirus pandemic and boost the US economy after the crisis inflicted an excessive blow on minorities.

But apart from immediate relief, civil rights groups are demanding structural changes that will help address economic inequalities and rights in the future. This includes the adoption of a new law on the right to vote to extend access to the ballot, even as Republican lawmakers try to introduce measures that will tighten the rules for voting – actions that will affect minority groups disproportionately, he said. their lawyers.

“It is important that President Biden identifies racism as one of the crises he must tackle, along with Covid, along with the climate crisis and the economy,” said Judith Browne Dianis, executive director of the Advancement Project National Office, a civil rights activist. , said. group. “And our job, as outsiders, is to make sure they really live up to their commitment.”

As the main channel between Biden and liberal groups outside the country to undo former President Donald Trump’s policies and promote a progressive agenda, Richmond will handle issues ranging from unequal health care to police brutality. Dianis said other important administrative figures on these issues include Catherine Lhamon, who is in charge of racial justice and equity in the Home Policy Council; Kristen Clarke, Biden’s nominated candidate as Assistant Attorney General for the Division of Civil Rights; and Vanita Gupta, his nominee as co-attorney general.

‘I may be what my father called a pastor, a master of nothing. In baseball terminology, it’s more of a handyman, ‘said Richmond, a former ballerina who helped the Democrats Republicans dominate in their annual charity contest.

‘Transformational president’

Biden, Richmond says, ‘repeatedly said during the campaign that he wanted to be a very transformative president, and that he wanted to empower groups that were generally not empowered. And he wants his legacy to be that of the most empowering president ever to rule. ”

In his first weeks in office, Biden made significant moves and issued guidelines to repeal Trump’s ban on diversity training for federal workers, prevent discrimination in housing, and end the use of private prisons. The president inflicted his pandemic response with measures to address the virus’ excessive toll on black and colored Americans, and outlined plans to invest $ 150 billion in small businesses in minorities and increase spending on historic black colleges and universities.

Read more: Biden is focused on housing, private prisons in first movements

Richmond said these early steps are an important sign to the public that Biden’s promise to work on equity is serious.

“It’s a big deal. This means that we throughout the government are looking for and paying attention to sincerity. So it means advertising, acquisition, it means education, ”Richmond said in an interview. “But even within our Covid package and Covid response, so far we have done so through a lens of racial equity.”

Richmond, 47, studied at Morehouse College, a Historically Black College and University of Atlanta, before acquiring his rights at Tulane University in New Orleans.

He was first elected to the House of Louisiana when he was 26 years old, and served 11 years before being elected to the U.S. House in 2010. chairman the Congressional Black Caucus from 2017 to 2019 – a period marked by deep racial strife as Trump’s divisive rhetoric helped fuel a revival of white supremacism.

Under Richmond’s leadership, the caucus produced 125 pages reports to Trump to his “what have you got to lose?” presented during the 2016 campaign for black voters. The report was entitled: ‘We have a lot to lose: solutions for black families in the 21st century.’

The group is the champion of many of the issues on Biden’s agenda, such as reforming criminal law, eliminating health inequalities and addressing the wealth gap. But Richmond can also help Biden get across the aisle; as a lawmaker, he cultivated relationships with key Republicans, including Louis Scalise of Louisiana, the second-ranked member of the GOP in the House, whom Richmond calls a “good friend.”

Voting rights battle

Republicans have already indicated that an uphill battle awaits Biden’s race initiatives.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to allow a vote on the suffrage bill when his party controlled the chamber under Trump. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton has challenged Biden’s plan to end systemic housing discrimination and promote home ownership in color communities.

“Is it ever appropriate for the government to treat people differently based on their race?” Cotton asked Marcia Fudge, Biden’s nominated candidate for secretary of housing and urban development, during a confirmation hearing.

And Republican Senator Rand Paul said Biden’s inaugural speech, which focused heavily on inequality, boils down to an allegation that Republicans are racist.

But Joe Trippi, a Democratic strategist, said Biden and Richmond could potentially gain a “surprising” Republican vote on some equity measures. He said, for example, that the former Alabama senator, Doug Jones, for whom he previously worked, was sponsoring legislation with Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican in Texas, on the revival of cold issues from the civil rights era.

In Richmond, Biden has a keen politician who can handle the challenge, said James Clyburn, the third-ranking Democrat in the House.