The Washington Post - 20.08.2019

A4 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, AUGUST 20 , 2019

BY JULIE ZAUZMER

concord, n.h. — Over the past
two years, a series of racist inci-
dents has shaken New Hamp-
shire, a state that’s nearly 95 per-
cent white.
A biracial 8-year-old was
pushed off a picnic table with a
rope around his neck in Clare-
mont, an assault authorities are
investigating as a hate crime.
Teens sang “Let’s kill all the
blacks” during a high school his-
tory class in Dover. A burned Con-
federate flag was stuffed in a black
family’s mailbox in Goffstown.
Coupled with the election of
President Trump, these have
sparked a new focus on racial
justice among the state’s white
liberals. These voters are pepper-
ing the Democratic presidential
hopefuls who visit this key early
state with questions about repa-
rations, racial justice and white
supremacy.
That’s a major shift from the
past, says Gibson’s Bookstore
owner Michael Herrmann.
Herrmann’s quaint shop in
Concord has served as a pit stop
for politicos for years. South
Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg,
Sen. Kamala D. Harris (Calif.),
Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.), Beto
O’Rourke and Julián Castro, all
Democratic presidential hope-
fuls, have stopped by in the past
few months.
And white voters have asked
them about their stance on repa-
rations.
When candidates visited in
2016, reparations never came up,
Herrmann said. Now, it’s part of
the conversation. “It’s taken seri-
ously in a way it wasn’t just four
years ago,” he said.
Nearly all the 2020 candidates
support a commission to study
the issue. Most have also said they
support investing in black com-
munities, though few contenders
have laid out exactly what a repa-
rations system might look like.
Herrmann believes that pro-
vocative but popular books on
race, and the fervent grass-roots

energy that inspired liberals after Trump’s election, have shifted the conversation in New Hampshire. He points in particular to a 2014 Atlantic article by Ta-Nehisi Coates, which laid out an argument for reparations. “Before I read the article, I didn’t see how the heck it could work,” Herrmann said. “After I read it, I said, ‘Well, he convinced me.’ ” Black activists say they have seen a growing interest in racial issues among white residents. “We do have in New Hampshire a unique challenge,” said James McKim. A black son of civil rights activists, McKim was born in Charleston, S.C. He moved to New Hampshire to attend Dartmouth College and never left. For most of the past two decades, he has grown accustomed to being the only black face in the room. His activism includes par- ticipating in the Granite State Organizing Project, which chal- lenges visiting candidates to dis-

cuss justice issues, and leading state and national anti-racism ef- forts of the Episcopal Church. McKim says he’s seen a shift in

the conversation among his white colleagues. “It used to be that the argument was: ‘We don’t have to deal with

racism, because we don’t have that issue here. We don’t have diversity here,’ ” McKim said. Since Trump’s election, that has changed. “There have been very visible, dramatic incidences of racism that have really brought the sub- ject to the attention of people,” he said. “People in authoritative po- sitions are making this divisive language the norm. [Democrats] are feeling like they have to speak up and do something about it.” White liberal voters have begun debating the issue among themselves as well. On a recent Sunday, a group sat across two tables at a coffee shop in Ports- mouth. Since Trump’s election, they’ve gathered nearly every weekend to host “Civil Rights Sunday,” an hour-long protest, and talk afterward. Noor Shoop, a member of the group, argued that the U.S. gov- ernment should give money to the descendants of slaves. “You need to give them a leg up. At some point, maybe while everyone is walking, you should put them on a train and get them forward,” she said. Others see the situation differ- ently. “I just think the practical impli- cations of something like a national reparations system would be impossible,” said Rich Gilston, a retired doctor. He would rather see more money for AmeriCorps, a national volunteer program, an idea he heard from Buttigieg on a presidential campaign stop in New Hampshire. Buttigieg’s “Douglass Plan” of- fers a set of proposals for address- ing racial inequality, including federal hiring of minority con- tractors and funds for historically black colleges. Other candidates have plans as well. Booker, who has attacked former vice president Joe Biden’s record on criminal justice as dam- aging to African American communities, has promised to reduce incarceration and violence. Biden has campaigned on his own plan

to lower incarceration rates and eliminate racial disparities in sen- tencing. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) touts plans to protect black citi- zens’ voting rights, increase ma- ternity care for underserved black mothers, create a new position focused on clemency for those in prison and more. O’Rourke made the discussion personal, stating recently that he had learned that he and his wife each had family members who were slaveholders in the 19th century. JerriAnne Boggis, the executive director of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, said she has seen an uptick in interest from white residents who want to learn about race. Her organiza- tion convenes “tea talks” on sub- jects like disenfranchisement or the role of religion in racism. A few years ago, an average talk drew 40 attendees. Recently, 300 people showed up to hear “Black Girl in Maine” blogger Shay Stew- art-Bouley. “People are curious, and they want to know,” said Boggis, who is black. “There is an intellectual inquisition about how we are where we are.” But she cautioned that the interest of white New Hamsphirites shouldn’t be interpreted as will- ingness to take policy action to help black communities. “We’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got a ways to go. Just waking up to the issues is amazing,” said Boggis. “But we have to be able to recognize that it’s going to take some time.” That’s something Dawn Berry, a white retired minister, under- stands. Berry has always considered herself a racial-justice advocate. But since Trump’s election, she’s begun to recognize where she says she’s fallen short. “We’re pretty decent people. We’re not racist. We’re not preju- diced,” she says she used to think. Now, she says: “We didn’t realize we benefit from a system.” [email protected]

A new concern for white liberals in N.H.: Racial justice

ELISE AMENDOLA/ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHERISS MAY/NURPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES TOP: Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren visits New Hampshire last week. White voters have been asking the contenders about racial justice. ABOVE: Ta-Nehisi Coates’s 2014 article about reparations has helped spark interest in the issue.

BY ROBERT COSTA

The looming deadline to quali-
fy for next month’s Democratic
presidential debate has prompted
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to
break into an all-out sprint to
secure a place on the stage in
Houston, from pouring more
than $1 million into television ad-
vertising in recent days to sitting
on Monday for a lengthy Wash-
ington Post Live interview in
which she talked up her strug-
gling candidacy.
Even as her critics increasingly
wonder whether her bid is beyond
repair, Gillibrand insisted that
she is well-positioned to compete
with President Trump in swing
states and at the same time rally
liberals, citing her experience as a
House member representing a
conservative district in Upstate
New York as well as her support
for Medicare-for-all and advocacy
for women.
“Coming from a blue state,
there’s a false debate in the party
right now: Either you have to be
an uber progressive who can in-
spire the base, or you have to be a
moderate who wins those red and
purple areas,” she said. “I believe
you have to do both, and my

candidacy is both.” Gillibrand’s urgency during a relatively sleepy summer stretch in the 2020 contest reflects the mounting pressure on stalled candidates to jump-start their campaigns, particularly as former vice president Joe Biden contin- ues to lead the polls, and other rivals, such as Sen. Elizabeth War- ren (D-Mass.), are gaining signifi- cant traction with early-state voters. As the fall campaign season nears, many veteran Democrats expect the field to narrow as some contenders fail to raise sufficient funds or qualify for debates. For- mer Colorado governor John Hickenlooper (D) dropped out last week, leaving 23 active candidates. But Gillibrand is far from ready to shutter her campaign. She im- plored her supporters on Monday to “send a dollar so that I can make the debate stage” and claimed she is “very” close to earning a spot. To make the next round of debates, the Democratic National Committee requires a candidate to have collected donations from at least 130,000 people and reached 2 percent support in four

qualifying polls by Aug. 28. Those debates will be held Sept. 12 and 13, sponsored by ABC News and the Spanish-language network Univision. “They’re not my rules,” Gilli- brand said. But, she added, “I have to follow them. I have to actually meet these goals — and I believe in the grass roots.” She noted that she is “just over 110,000” individ-

ual donors as of this week. Although Gillibrand has built a national profile since being ap- pointed to the Senate in 2009, most notably for her legislative work on sexual harassment and sexual assault issues, she has found it difficult to stand out in the crowded Democratic race. On Monday, Gillibrand continued to take on Biden, calling her-

self more protectionist on trade than the former vice president and once again questioning whether Biden supports working women. At the last debate, she challenged Biden about an op-ed he wrote in 1981 with the headline “Congress Is Subsidizing Deterio- ration of Family.” “I want to know why he be- lieved they were somehow deteri- orating the family,” Gillibrand said, underscoring the critique she made onstage in Detroit. Biden has responded by calling Gillibrand’s remarks disingenu- ous and said he has long supported women in his family as they have worked and raised children. Gillibrand’s own past state- ments, and her onetime “A” rating from the National Rifle Associa- tion, have revived as she has trav- eled to Iowa and New Hampshire. Gillibrand now is a fierce critic of the NRA and has called for Con- gress to pass a ban on assault weapons and launch a national program to buy back guns. “I’ve always been against gun violence and gun death and I’ve always been against children los- ing their lives. That is who I am, and it’s always been that way,” Gillibrand said, when asked about her private views on guns even as she supported the NRA and opposed gun control as a House member.

“I have the humility to recognize when I’m wrong, which many elected leaders do not, espe- cially President Trump,” she said. Turning to one of her signature issues — sexual harassment — Gillibrand defended her call for Minnesota Democrat Al Franken to resign from the Senate in 2017 amid allegations of sexual mis- conduct, saying she would make the same decision today. Earlier this summer, the New Yorker magazine published a piece in which Franken said he “absolutely” regrets stepping down before he was able to take part in a hearing by the Senate Ethics Committee. Gillibrand was the first of the nearly three dozen senators to demand Franken’s resignation. Gillibrand declined to say Mon- day whether she would oppose a Franken political comeback but did say she believes there is “always room for redemption.” “We’re a country that believes in second chances,” she said. “We believe in someone who has humility, who comes forward to say they’re sorry and they have paid consequences and want to re- emerge — that’s always there for everyone.” [email protected]

Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.

BY ANNIE LINSKEY AND HOLLY BAILEY

sioux city, iowa — Sen. Eliza-
beth Warren opened her remarks
at a Native American presidential
forum Monday with a more
straightforward version of the
apology she has offered in the past
for identifying as a Native Ameri-
can for two decades while she was
a law professor.
“I want to say this, like anyone
who’s been honest with them-
selves, I know that I have made
mistakes,” Warren (D-Mass.) said.
“I am sorry for harm that I have
caused. I have listened, and I have
learned a lot, and I am grateful for
the many conversations that we’ve
had together.”
The comments marked War-
ren’s latest effort to navigate what
has been a politically fraught sub-
ject dating back to her first run for
Senate in 2012 and one that is likely
to be used against her by Republi-
cans if she wins the Democratic
presidential nomination. In the
Senate race, her Republican oppo-
nent criticized her for identifying
as a Native American during her
law career.
Warren has said she did so be-
cause of family stories that she had
Cherokee and Delaware ancestry,

but critics accused her of lying to advance her prospects, even though there has been no evidence she benefited professionally. Presi- dent Trump has seized on the controversy, regularly referring to Warren with an incendiary slur — Pocahontas”— and vowing even more intense attacks. “Like, Elizabeth Warren — I did the Pocahontas thing,” Trump said at a rally in New Hampshire on Thursday. “I hit her really hard, and it looked like she was down and out, but that was too long ago. I should’ve waited. But don’t worry, we will revive it.” That has raised concerns among some Democrats about Warren’s ability to take on Trump at a time when electability is emerging as a decisive factor for many voters still traumatized by the outcome of the 2016 election. One Iowa Democratic activist, who spoke on the condition of ano- nymity to speak more candidly, said while she “loves Warren,” the “Pocahontas thing” had given her pause because of the playbook that Trump ran against Hillary Clinton in 2016. “He’s just going to be uglier and more ruthless and more bully- ing this time,” the activist said. “And as good as she is, it makes me nervous that she’s an easier target.”

Last fall, Warren angered many in the Native American communi- ty months before announcing her presidential bid when she released a DNA test that she said proved she had a distant Native American an- cestor. The test, aimed at rebutting attacks from Trump and other critics, upset leaders of tribal nations who set their own affiliation rules based on culture and proven heritage, not DNA. Warren apologized months later, but that version was more legal- istic. “I am sorry for furthering confusion on tribal sovereignty and tribal citizenship and harm that resulted,” Warren said in a February interview with The Washington Post. But activists complained that apology didn’t go far enough and pointed to the continued existence of videos on Warren’s campaign website that defended her claims on ancestry and her DNA test. On Monday, the campaign removed two videos — one set in Norman, Okla., where Warren discussed her family heritage with her older brothers, including a story of how her father’s family looked down on her mother because of her family’s Native American ancestry. Also removed was a memo by geneticist Carlos Bustamante, who analyzed

the results of the DNA test she took. Organizers of the multicandi- date forum pointed to an estimat- ed 1 million Native Americans in key voting states such as Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin who if activated could make the difference for the Democratic nominee in reclaiming the White House. Warren used her appearance Monday to try to pivot toward policy — she recently released a lengthy proposal about how she would try to help close health, in- come and wealth disparities in Na- tive American communities. The bulk of her appearance focused on parts of that plan, which would provide tribal leaders with far more influence than they now have over federal policy that af- fects their land. But the appearance also showed how Warren has been able to build relationships among native activists. She was introduced by Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), one of the first two Native American women to be elected to Congress and a lawmak- er who has worked with Warren on part of her proposal. Haaland called it the “boldest” plan yet to “address the promises that have

been broken and the need in our communities.” “Some media folks have asked me whether the president’s criti- cisms of her regarding her ances- tral background will hamper her ability to convey a clear campaign message,” said Haaland, who has endorsed Warren. “I say that every time they asked about Elizabeth’s family instead of the issues of vital importance to Indian country, they feed the president’s racism.” As Haaland spoke, Warren was backstage, where she met privately with tribal leaders and apologized for how she had handled questions about her ancestry. As she did later onstage, Warren told the group she wanted to be viewed as a partner to indigenous people. “She really won us over,” said Frank White, chairman of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. Aaron A. Payment, chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chip- pewa Indians, said he and Warren had spoken about her ancestry on “a very personal level.” “I urged you to tell your story, and I appreciate that you did,” Pay- ment said. David Cornsilk, managing edi- tor of the Cherokee Observer and a genealogist who has been critical of Warren’s ancestry claims, said some key tribal leaders and activists have thawed on the senator in recent months. He said she had earned “street cred” for at least

trying to win support among Na- tive Americans. “A lot of people are now to the point where Indian country has suffered a lot of abuses from the administration, so they’re looking for a friend,” said Cornsilk. “And she’s made enough noise that she’s looking like a friend.” Still, there are mixed opinions among Democrats more broadly on whether Warren has weathered the controversy or if it could still prove to be a serious vulnerability in her presidential bid. She has not faced extensive questions from voters on the issue, and in interviews, many Demo- crats fixated on the idea of electability say they are more worried that Warren’s policies are too far to the left or that a female candidate cannot defeat Trump in a country that has never elected a female president. “No one has raised any concerns with me about her past claims of Native American ancestry,” said Peter Leo, chairman of the Carroll County Democratic Party in west- ern Iowa. “To the extent any local Dems still have concerns about Warren as the nominee, they are what I have begun to call ‘voter as pundit’ concerns. We should nomi- nate a moderate... the safest choice.... It doesn’t really have to do with her at all.” [email protected] [email protected]

Warren apologizes to Native Americans for ‘harm’

Gillibrand sprints to make the next debate stage

ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) talked up her struggling presidential candidacy in a Washington Post Live interview.

The Washington Post - 20.08.2019

Get our desktop app

Company

Features

Documentation

Resources