Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris sits down for an iHeart Radio conversation with Charlamagne tha God, host of the Breakfast Club, in Detroit, Michigan, on October 15, 2024. | Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Vice President Kamala Harris’ current media blitz continued Tuesday when she participated in a town hall event while being interviewed by radio personality Charlamagne Tha God in Detroit.
The interview touched on several aspects of Harris’ campaign that have already been well-established, like the vice president’s role in shaping the nation’s immigration policy. However, the conversation also included a discussion of some of Harris’ proposed presidential policies that have not been widely covered in the media, including the topic of reparations.
Keep reading to learn more about Vice President Kamala Harris’ stance on reparations as well as other key takeaways from the radio town hall interview Tuesday night in Detroit.
Reparations
Harris said she would be open to the idea of U.S. paying reparations for slavery, but she never said she endorsed the idea of it actually happening. Instead, she said she wasn’t against exploring the possibilities of it becoming a reality.
“On the point of reparations, it has to be studied,” Harris told Charlamagne. “There’s no question about that. And I’ve been very clear about that position.”
It was seemingly the first time Harris had addressed the topic of reparations as a presidential candidate during this election cycle.
Four years ago, when Harris first ran for president, she said she would sign a bill to explore reparations if she became president a few months after telling NPR that reparations “means different things to different people.”
Plans for Black America
Harris has been clear with her outreach to Back voters, including Monday when she released a plan specifically for Black males, both of whom she spoke to directly during the town hall. The vice president drew on the Biden-Harris administration’s gains for Back America, a trend she suggested would continue if she is elected president.
“We have brought down Black unemployment … to one of the lowest levels in history, but I’m very clear the community is not going to stand up and applaud just because everybody has a job,” Harris told the audience. “That should be a baseline. My agenda is about tapping into the ambitions and the aspirations, knowing that folks want to have an opportunity.”
Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris enters the room for an iHeart Radio conversation with Charlamagne tha God, host of the Breakfast Club, in Detroit, Michigan, on October 15, 2024. | Source: The Washington Post / Getty
On keeping her eye on the prize
When asked why she doesn’t respond to conservatives who push the false narrative that Harris was the “border czar” overseeing the nation’s immigration policy, the Democratic nominee explained.
“If I respond to every name he called me, I wouldn’t be focused on the things that actually help the American people,” Harris said matter of factly. “And that’s my focus.”
Trump’s plan for Black America
When Charlamage asked about Donald Trump’s plan for Black America, Harris pointed to Project 2025, an ambitious agenda laid out by MAGA loyalists that NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson previously described to NewsOne as “an effort to completely redesign the role of government to shut Black people out and put us in a position as the disposable, cheap laborer.”
Harris emphasized how part of Project 2025 is to allow police departments to conduct “stop and frisk” detentions that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled are unconstitutional.
On the Black church
As Republicans and other detractors push false narratives about Harris’ racial heritage and identity, she shared an anecdote on Tuesday night lending further credence to her experience as a Black woman in America.
Detroit pastor Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. participated in the interview and broached the topic of criticism of Harris’ alleged lack of engagement with the Black church.
Harris pushed back on that claim, saying it “is coming from the Trump team,” which she said is “full of misinformation.”
She then reminded people that she “grew up in the Black church … attending 23rd Avenue Church of God in Oakland, California,” and pledged that as president she “will always work closely with the church.”
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