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A slew of democratic candidates hoping to challenge President Donald Trump for the White House spelled out their views on racial justice Friday at Al Sharpton's National Action Network convention in New York City.
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Nearly all of the 15-plus Democrats who have launched presidential campaigns showed up to the civil rights organization's annual conference this week.
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Most of the 2020 contenders, often prompted by Sharpton himself, also affirmed their support for a bill introduced in Congress that would create a commission to study reparations for African-Americans.
A slew of democratic candidates hoping to challenge President Donald Trump for the White House spelled out their views on racial justice Friday in progressive campaign pitches to crowds at Al Sharpton's National Action Network convention.
Nearly all of the 15-plus Democrats who have launched campaigns in the 2020 election showed up to the civil rights organization's annual conference this week in a Sheraton hotel ballroom in Manhattan's Times Square.
Eight of those candidates gave speeches on Friday – including Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who had just announced his campaign a day earlier – touching on a range of issues including taxes, child care and climate change .
But the predominant themes of their remarks mirrored the NAN's own stated priorities , particularly reforming the criminal justice system with the past and current impacts of racism in America at top of mind.
And most of the 2020 contenders, often prompted by Sharpton himself, also affirmed their support for a bill introduced in Congress that would create a commission to study reparations for African-Americans.
"When I am elected president, I will sign that bill," Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., told Sharpton to raucous applause from the convention hall crowd.
Harris also pledged to double the size of the civil rights division of the Justice Department: "Justice means recognizing domestic terrorism, including white nationalist extremism," which Harris said "should be considered a national security priority."
Bernie Sanders, the Independent senator from Vermont and self-described democratic socialist who is running as a Democrat in 2020, called to repair the "racial wealth gap," establish a single-payer health care system for all Americans, make public colleges and universities tuition-free and force large corporations to "start paying their fair share."
He also appeared to spend significantly more time than the other candidates attacking Trump. "We have a president," Sanders said, "who is a racist, who is a sexist, who is a homophobe, who is a xenophobe, and who is a religious bigot."