Biden will restore civility, honor to our government

By Ashley Burrell
The Morning Call

As part of the Obama administration, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. It was an honor to serve alongside diplomats who helped keep our nation safe. Vice President Biden has repeatedly taken that oath over his decades of public service and always honored it. He understands the current moment demands action and has called on us to heal our nation together; to truly make economic opportunity, justice and policing work equally for people of all colors. As vice president, Joe Biden worked to set guidelines that deal directly with the central problems of policing, economic opportunity and justice in the U.S. today. We need to elect him to push that progress forward. We need to restore civility and honor for the sake of maintaining our democracy.

I grew up in East Stroudsburg and received my master’s degree in political science from East Stroudsburg University. I now live in Northern Virginia, just a few miles away from the District of Columbia where on June 1, peaceful American protesters were forced from a park near the White House with tear gas and rubber bullets. Everyone with whom I have spoken is heartbroken by George Floyd’s death while in the hands of Minneapolis police officers and are supportive of the protests. People of all colors say, we need to get rid of racist cops who are not suitable for police work.

It has been said in so many ways by so many world leaders that the only thing required for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing. Yet, here we are, faced with a dilemma about what we do next. Will this American generation fail? Prior generations did; failing to integrate descendants of former slaves as full equals. Or will we take action and demand equal treatment for all under the law?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Congressman John Lewis, members of “The Big Six,” shorthand for some of the most influential leaders of the Civil Rights movement, recognized the centrality of all colors, creeds, religions and origins being included in the fight for civil rights for Black Americans. In a powerful speech, Congressman Lewis declared, “We all recognize the fact that if any radical social, political and economic changes are to take place in our society, the people, the masses, must bring them about.”

Is it up to Black people and other people of color to solve a 400-year legacy of chattel slavery, systemic oppression, segregation, cultural stereotypes and mass incarceration? No. Black Americans did not create this system. Honesty demands that we all admit that all Americans must face their responsibility; for real, lasting change, we all need to work together.

George Floyd’s brother, Terrence, implored us all to vote. And he is right. Voting, while often made extraordinarily and unfairly difficult for Black Americans, is a straightforward first step for all Americans who support change.

Our nation, and Pennsylvania especially, has a stark choice this November. When the U.S. Supreme Court delivered two major rulings in June, I realized the tides are turning. We need a leader who will remain steadfast and move forward on this momentum.

The court ruled on June 18 that the Trump administration cannot carry out its plan to shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has allowed nearly 800,000 young people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as minors to avoid deportation.

On June 15, the court made a landmark decision holding that federal law prohibits employment discrimination against LGBTQ workers. The court’s decision confirms that transgender people and lesbians, gay men and bisexual people are entitled to the same protection and fair treatment afforded all workers under law. The court still has several high-profile decisions to release this term, including three on the limits of presidential power.

These latest victories — and the ongoing racial justice protests and push on the legislative front toward a needed upheaval in law — have a lot in common. These successes in court, and the challenges still ahead, offer important lessons on how to achieve change in public opinion and in the courts. Now is the time for leadership that will usher in a civil rights legislation for the 21st century.

Vice President Biden has decried the “open wound” and “original sin” of racism in America. He has the experience and the character to help us close this chapter of hate and division. If we elect him, the next time he raises his right hand to take the oath to our Constitution, he can help usher in the new dawn of healing and real reform we so desperately need.