Will Biden Continue to Fail Justice Interests of Black Voters?

With legislative efforts on criminal justice languishing in Congress and little public engagement by the White House, President Biden is facing mounting pressure from civil rights groups to enact new criminal justice policies or risk losing Black voters, a critical voting bloc in the run-up to the midterm election, reports the Los Angeles Times. GOP candidates are already hammering Democrats for fostering lawlessness, while prominent Black activists and media personalities are pressing Biden and Harris to follow through on campaign pledges. For many Black voters, legislation to overhaul police practices is just as important as federal voting protections, said Aimy Steele, leader of the New North Carolina Project, which works to increase outreach and organization among voters of color. However, while dramatically vocal on voting rights, the president has not made a comparable effort to advance a criminal justice overhaul since the George Floyd Policing Act died in the Senate in 2021 after negotiations between Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Tim Scott, broke down. In addition, criminal justice is not part of Vice President Kamala Harris’ public portfolio, a conspicuous absence given her experience as a prosecutor and California’s attorney general. Democrats are now facing the complicated political task of continuing to demonstrate support for some publicly popular accountability measures without appearing oblivious to the nationwide increase in violent crime.