Source: The Washington Post / Getty
On Thursday, the Center for Urban and Racial Equity (CURE) released its 2020 Racial Justice Presidential Scorecard. The scorecard is described by the group as the “first of its kind” and it analyzes presidential candidates‘ policy proposals through a racial equity lens across essential areas such as education, criminal justice reform, health care, voting rights, reparations, environmental justice, immigration, indigenous rights and policies to close the racial wealth gap.
The scorecard also takes into consideration the candidates’ past and current rhetoric and language around racial justice issues that mean a lot to communities of color. The criteria for scoring included support for specific policies to further racial justice, the amount of detail provided for their policy strategies, and language used in debates and public events to lay out issues impacting Black and brown voters. The scorecard went through a rigorous external review process to make sure the scoring of the candidates were fair and on topic with issues of importance to communities of color.
Elizabeth Warren ranked the highest out of the Democratic candidates with a score of 91 out of 100 or an A-. The CURE site explains that Warren’s various policies include “a proposed $50 billion in aid to HBCUs.” The site continues, “She wants to increase teacher pay and work with HBCUs, non-profit minority serving institutions, and Bureau of Indian Education grantees to increase teacher diversity. She wants to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act. Warren has a set of executive actions to ‘boost wages for women of color and open up new pathways to the leadership positions they deserve.’”
Cory Booker came in as a close second with a 90 out of 100. The site explained:
“Booker has introduced legislation to legalize marijuana at the federal level, provided leadership on ending the bail system, and in 2019 introduced the New Pathways Act into Congress which seeks to remove barriers to reentry for formerly incarcerated individuals. Senator Booker introduced HR 40, the senate bill to study reparations. His American Opportunity Accounts Act or ‘Baby Bonds’ plan, would dramatically reduce the racial wealth gap among young adults.”
Next on the list was Julián Castro with a 87/100, then Bernie Sanders with a 85/100, followed by Pete Buttigieg who has a 83.5/100. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who is constantly leading the polls, came in with an F raking with a 57/100. The site explained:
“Former Vice President Biden has proposed strong plans for students of color, including student loan forgiveness and making community colleges tuition-free. His education plan would create universal pre-k, support teacher diversity, and ‘invest in our schools to eliminate the funding gap between white and non-white districts, and rich and poor districts.’ However, his plans for HBCUs and other non-profit minority serving institutions are a bit vague. Biden has not yet endorsed HR 40 or articulated support for reparations. Vice President Biden’s criminal justice platform states that he intends on decriminalizing marijuana, however, he supports reclassifying it from a Schedule I to Schedule II drug, which advocates argue is insufficient for addressing the federal-state conflicts in marijuana laws.”
You can check out more on how candidates ranked and why at www.racialjustice2020.org. Visitors will have access to updates scorecards, background documents, graphics and more as the 2020 presidential elections continue.
And just in case you were wondering, a certain Mr. Donald J. Trump came in with a 4.75/100 rating; or in other words ,a failing grade.
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