Presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ VP pick established a George Floyd Remembrance Day in Minnesota
12th August 2024 · 0 Comments
By Hazel Trice Edney
Contributing Writer’
(TriceEdneyWire.com) — Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States, has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice-presidential running mate, now establishing the full ticket to run against former President Donald Trump and Sen. J. D. Vance (R-Ohio) in the Nov. 5 election.
Harris and Walz, president of the Democratic Governors Association, appeared together in the coveted battleground commonwealth of Pennsylvania last Tuesday before a blitz through other swing states.
Democrats will then head for a Chicago convention August 19-22, where she will become the official nominee of the Democratic Party; also becoming the first Black woman and first Indian American to win the presidential nomination of a major political party. She is the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father.
This, no doubt, will begin a hard-fought race against Trump and Vance, both of whom have proven to be candidates willing to say just about anything – including attack Harris’ race and gender – with hopes to win far right voters. However, those tactics could easily backfire, given Walz’ background.
Harris’ choice of Walz, elected governor of Minnesota in 2018, will no doubt resonate with Black and progressive voters across the nation largely due to his sensitivity to certain issues. On May 25 this year. Walz issued a proclamation, declaring a George Floyd Remembrance Day.
“George Floyd’s murder ignited a global movement, accentuating the systemic racism that Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color have endured for centuries,” Walz stated in the proclamation. “We must continue to do everything in our power to deconstruct systemic racism and inequities in our state ….”
Until now, Walz, a former high school social studies teacher, has been relatively unknown on a national stage. Recently his description of Trump-Vance as “weird” has caught hold on social media and beyond. Having run in a largely Republican district, Walz spent six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before being elected Minnesota governor in 2018, largely due to votes from the suburbs of Minneapolis, according to the New York Times. He was re-elected in 2022.
Walz, 60, has led on other issues important to the Black community, including a $15-an-hour minimum wage, the organizing of unions, and workers’ rights.
The Walz selection was applauded by former President Barack Obama, said to have advised Harris as she decided between the vice-presidential candidates.
The entry of Vice President Harris, a graduate of Howard University, an HBCU, into the race since President Joe Biden decided not to run has infused powerful new life and excitement into the race, initially between Biden and Trump. The choice of her vice presidential running mate was her first major decision.
“By selecting Tim Walz to be her vice president from a pool of outstanding Democrats, Kamala Harris has chosen an ideal partner – and made it clear exactly what she stands for,” said a statement from Barack and Michelle Obama. “Governor Walz doesn’t just have the experience to be vice president, he has the values and the integrity to make us proud. As governor, Tim helped families and businesses recover from the pandemic, established paid family leave, guaranteed the right to an abortion, and put common sense gun safety measures in place to keep communities safe. But Tim’s signature is his ability to talk like a human being and treat everyone with decency and respect – not all that surprising considering the fact that he served in the National Guard for 24 years and worked as a high school social studies teacher and football coach before being elected to Congress. Like Vice President Harris, Governor Walz believes that government works to serve us. Not just some of us, but all of us. That’s what makes him an outstanding governor, and that’s what will make him an even better vice president, ready on day one. Michelle and I couldn’t be happier for Tim and Gwen, their family, and our country.”
The murder of George Floyd by now convicted and imprisoned former police officer Derek Chauvin at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic quickly became an iconic symbol of long standing injustices by police in the Black community. In the Black community, much vetting will now take place of Tim Walz. But he is already getting wide applause that might help Harris’ election which will not happen without vast Black support.
“Gov. Walz shows what our communities can look like when we lead with empathy. He is a labor champion who will take pro-worker values with him to the White House. Together with Kamala Harris, they will defend our freedoms – to care for our families, to have a voice on the job, to thrive. We look forward mobilizing the full strength of our union to ensure that this dynamic ticket wins on November 5,” said Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), in a statement.
Tim Walz personifies what public service is all about: Doing for others and never leaving anyone behind. He learned these values while serving in the National Guard, and he lived them as a teacher and football coach in Mankato, Minnesota. He has always been the first to lend a helping hand in his community, and today, this is how he governs – empowering worker voices and defending those who have made public service a career. As governor, he took on billion-dollar corporations to ban private prisons in Minnesota, keeping profit motives out of the justice system while protecting the jobs of AFSCME corrections officers. He went on to pass legislation guaranteeing free breakfast and lunch for young students statewide, giving AFSCME school employees the tools they need to keep kids energized and ready to learn. Walz did all this for Minnesota’s communities while getting state workers a historic contract with across-the-board raises.”
This article originally published in the August 12, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
