Day: May 6, 2019

This year Miss USA, Miss America, and Miss teen USA were all African American women. This is considered a breakthrough because this is the first time in history that all three titles have been held by black women. I believe that this is such an important accomplishment because growing up as a person of color most of the time the only models or beauty icons that we see in the media are white. One of the winners, Cheslie Kryst, wore her natural hair in the competition as a way to send a message to women of color to accept their natural beauty and to break away from the common stereotypes that have been put on women of color.

As well as being the winner of Miss USA, Kryst is also a certified lawyer who went to Wake Forest for her law degree. She uses her degree to do pro bono work for those who have been unjustly sentenced. Kryst is making her own way in the world and defying social ideologies that have placed on women of color for so long. There has been a history of black culture not being accepted in America, and as we grow as a country so do our views and I believe that this a step in the right direction for America.

Source: https://www.thecut.com/2019/05/this-year-americas-pageant-winners-are-all-black-women.html

With the growing number of Democrats joining the 2020 Presidential race, there is one candidate that truly stands out: Former Vice-President Joe Biden. This will be the third time that Joe Biden has run for presidency, but this time he is on a mission. Biden has been trying to rack up as much support from Black Caucus lawmakers, who he hopes will further assist him in getting the African American vote. So far, the former vice-president has gained support from three Black lawmakers, one in particular is Representative Donald McEachin from Virginia. McEachin stated that Joe Biden would need to do more than try to seek support from Congressional Black Caucus members , he also must “ …be out there with people, meeting folks and reminding them who he is. If he does that, which I know he will do, I’m absolutely confident he will be the next president.” But this isn’t the first time that we have seen a White politician seek the support of minorities.

In class, we learned about how politicians like John F. Kennedy, who created policies to help people of color (ex: affirmative action). Yet as Thomas Surge pointed out in Affirmative Action from Below , those holding the power in society knew that the policies were “weak”, difficult to enforce and lead to forms of resistance such as reverse discrimination. As the presidential race continues, it will be interesting to see the types of promises that Biden will make for minorities and people of color during his campaign and how he plans to tackle current issues within today’s society once he becomes president. Or will he straddle the fence and make legislation that appears to help minorities, but only work for those in power?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/05/03/2020-candidates-courting-congressional-black-caucus-members/3645701002/