This position would be responsible for coordinating actions to correct racial disparities across the administration.
The secretary would review federal policy across the board to better understand ways they have increased racial disparities, and propose innovative solutions to reverse them. There’s plenty of precedent for this idea. San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Charlotesville, Va., and Pittsburgh all have an Office of Racial Justice, and are using these offices to propose bold policy solutions that tackle the legacy of systemic racism in America and right the wrongs that stem from slavery and the termination of indigenous people.
Confronting poverty must also be core to Biden’s justice plan. This is even more critical in light of the economic hardships millions of Americans are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. A federal jobs guarantee program, that includes formerly incarcerated individuals, can dramatically improve employment opportunities for millions of Americans. But we know that jobs alone cannot fix America’s poverty crisis, especially as Americans have a hard time accessing affordable and sustainable housing. Putting forward policies that address housing insecurity and poverty simultaneously would ensure that as we shrink our jail and prison population, formerly incarcerated Americans have a reliable home to go back to after release.
Biden must also reimagine public safety; time and time again we have seen firsthand the flaws within law enforcement agencies across the country. Safety is often seen as just the absence of crime, but it’s also defined as the presence of opportunity. The presence of opportunity looks like access to high-quality schools, plenty of parks and public spaces, access to mental health and a strong democracy. Once we start looking at public safety through this new lens, rather than an over-reliance on policing, we need to make budgetary and policy decisions that reflect what truly keeps our communities safe.
https://thehill.com/opinion/crimina...-a-secretary-of-racial-justice-to-the-cabinet
The secretary would review federal policy across the board to better understand ways they have increased racial disparities, and propose innovative solutions to reverse them. There’s plenty of precedent for this idea. San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Charlotesville, Va., and Pittsburgh all have an Office of Racial Justice, and are using these offices to propose bold policy solutions that tackle the legacy of systemic racism in America and right the wrongs that stem from slavery and the termination of indigenous people.
Confronting poverty must also be core to Biden’s justice plan. This is even more critical in light of the economic hardships millions of Americans are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. A federal jobs guarantee program, that includes formerly incarcerated individuals, can dramatically improve employment opportunities for millions of Americans. But we know that jobs alone cannot fix America’s poverty crisis, especially as Americans have a hard time accessing affordable and sustainable housing. Putting forward policies that address housing insecurity and poverty simultaneously would ensure that as we shrink our jail and prison population, formerly incarcerated Americans have a reliable home to go back to after release.
Biden must also reimagine public safety; time and time again we have seen firsthand the flaws within law enforcement agencies across the country. Safety is often seen as just the absence of crime, but it’s also defined as the presence of opportunity. The presence of opportunity looks like access to high-quality schools, plenty of parks and public spaces, access to mental health and a strong democracy. Once we start looking at public safety through this new lens, rather than an over-reliance on policing, we need to make budgetary and policy decisions that reflect what truly keeps our communities safe.
https://thehill.com/opinion/crimina...-a-secretary-of-racial-justice-to-the-cabinet
