Very interesting pitch by Buttigieg to move away from old questions like busing to a discussion about "what should we do going forward?" I'm aware Mayor Pete is struggling to gain traction with black voters but hopefully this should help - yes, I know the stated concerns about the police shooting and demolition of crumbling homes in primarily black neighborhoods, but it remains an open question about whether leaving the collapsing houses standing or allowing the police chief to stay on would have been better outcomes. Just for context, an estimated 14% of the homes in South Bend were vacant or abandoned when Buttigieg became mayor in 2012, is allowing that status quo to persist a good thing for the black community?
Back to the main point, the scope of the plan and cost shouldn't scare off anyone, and the tone and reasoning he uses should resonate with most white voters too.
https://www.npr.org/2019/07/11/740279980/buttigieg-proposes-broad-plan-to-counter-racial-inequality
Buttigieg Proposes Broad Plan To Counter Racial Inequality
South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg got a really big boost to his campaign recently, announcing
a staggering $24.8 million fundraising haul over the past three months.
But that hasn't changed one of the toughest realities his candidacy faces: support among black voters that
barely registers in the polls.
Countering skeptics who doubt he can win crucial African American voters in the 2020 Democratic primary, Buttigieg rolled out the details of his plan to combat systemic racial inequality, named for legendary abolitionist Frederick Douglass, on NPR's
Morning Edition.
"If you're a white candidate, it is twice as important for you to be talking about racial inequity and not just describing the problem — which is fashionable in politics — but actually talking about what we're going to do about it and describing the outcomes we're trying to solve for," Buttigieg told NPR.
His "Douglass Plan" aims to establish a $10 billion fund for black entrepreneurs over five years, invest $25 billion in historically black colleges, legalize marijuana, expunge past drug convictions, reduce the prison population by half and pass a new Voting Rights Act to further empower the federal government to ensure voting access.
His campaign says it is equal in scale to the Marshall Plan, which used the equivalent of approximately $100 billion at current value to rebuild Europe after World War II. Buttigieg says the program would be enacted alongside potential direct reparations for slavery, not in place of it.
The two-term mayor also supports a constitutional amendment to abolish the death penalty, and intends to expand the Supreme Court and eradicate the Electoral College.
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