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Color Of Change PAC Endorses Joe Biden for President

Rashad Robinson, spokesperson for Color Of Change PAC, issued the following statement to endorse Joe Biden for president. 

We often say that this is the most monumental and consequential election of our times, but that description does not fully capture the stakes this year. Trump’s failed response to the pandemic, alignment with white supremacist groups, and assault on democracy will only grow worse if he wins on November 3 — meaning more attacks on Black people. We do not take this step lightly and we recognize our people’s abilities to make informed decisions. But this moment requires we allow there to be no equivocation. We must elect Joe Biden as president.

Donald Trump is going to try to steal this election and we must cut through his fabricated chaos. We urge voters to make a plan today to vote, whether by mail or in-person, because Trump and his racist, conservative allies are trying to take away Black votes in every way imaginable. This election will depend on Black voters more than ever and that’s why it’s crucial that we all make a plan to vote.

Vice President Biden and Senator Kamala Harris have not only put forth policies that share a vision of equity and justice, but they have also shown the ability to listen and grow — all qualities foreign to Trump. In response to the pandemic, we have seen Biden listen to the concerns of Black people and issue proposals to address our community’s needs for housing, stable jobs, and access to unemployment benefits. Biden has also responded to the rallying cries from the backbone of the Democratic party, Black women, and selected Harris as his running mate.

We unequivocally support Joe Biden for president, even though we believe he has work to do. We are still looking to Biden to respond to the demands our communities are making across the country to end mass incarceration and police brutality, and to reinvest in our communities. By contrast, Trump is using the police murders of Black people to stoke his white nationalist supporters. He is not only urging more violence against us, he is constantly thinking of new ways to assault our humanity.

Up through Election Day and into his presidency, we will demand that Biden and his representatives listen to the concerns of Black communities and incorporate their voices into policy decisions that impact them. Biden has demonstrated that he is willing to engage with our communities, listen to our concerns, and respond with policies that incorporate our voices and needs. Electing Biden is a crucial piece of civic engagement and power-building for Black people. To make the change our communities demand, we must elect people who we can hold accountable while working to push corporations, politicians and the media to address our communities’ needs and concerns.

With fewer than 50 days until the election, Trump and the Republican Party are using the pandemic as an excuse to supercharge their attacks on Black people and the election process. Amidst the early months of the pandemic, they suppressed voters in Wisconsin and Georgia during the primaries, when they closed almost all of the polling places in Black areas but left the polls in white areas open, and forced Black voters to make a choice between their health and their right to vote. Trump has been explicit that he wants to cut funding to the U.S. Postal Service to limit the ability of Black voters and other Democratic voters to vote by mail.

We know that if it does not go in his favor, Trump will contest the results of this election and will not accept defeat easily or quickly. Neither Biden nor our movement should acquiesce. We will organize employees of the wealthy corporations that have supported and enabled Trump, forcing their board members and executives to understand just how dangerous it would be to their profits and stock prices to allow Trump to cheat his way to a second term. Biden must be prepared to stand with working people and communities of color at this moment and not back down to the corporate forces who value tax loopholes over the lives of Americans. Trump cannot steal a second term without the support of his corporate cronies, and we have the power to deny him that support.

Trump is a massive threat to our democracy and to Black lives. There is no more time to wait. Everyone must make a plan to vote in November. We must elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and continue to push our leaders until justice is real.

Rashad Robinson is available for interviews upon request.

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Color Of Change PAC is a Political Action Committee focused on building independent Black political power, amplifying Black voices, electing candidates who share our values, and holding them accountable to our communities. For more information on Color Of Change PAC, visit votingwhileblack.com.

Paid Pol. Adv. paid for by ColorOfChange PAC,
1714 Franklin St., Oakland, CA 94612, independently of and not authorized by any federal, state, or local candidate or candidate’s committee.