Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton penned an op-ed in Ebony magazine explaining how she would combat racism and address economic, social and education issues for African-American communities on Friday morning.
The op-ed was published prior to her appearance at the South Carolina Democratic Party forum, in a state with a significant African-American voting population.
“[M]ore than half a century after Rosa Parks sat and Dr. King marched and John Lewis bled, race still plays too big a part in determining who gets ahead in America — and who gets left behind,” Clinton wrote.
In the op-ed in the African-American publication, Clinton contested that “reversing the legacy of racism and underinvestment will require directing more federal resources to those who need them most.” She said Rep. Jim Clyburn’s “10-20-30” concept is appealing, in which 10 percent of funds are directed at communities where at least 20 percent of the population has been living below the poverty line for 30 years or more.
Clinton explained that in the United States today, African-Americans are more likely to go to prison, earn less, be denied mortgages, die from asthma and live in poverty. In order to combat that, the former secretary of state offered “policies that will help overcome the enduring impacts of racism” on her platform such as universal pre-school, refinancing student loans, reforming the criminal justice system and automatic voter registration.
Clinton has locked up 80 percent of the African-American vote in South Carolina, according to a recent CNN poll. A significant number, but much less than Barack Obama’s appeal to the same community in 2008 and 2012, which could hurt her in a general election.
