Democratic presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that “as a white person, I have to talk about it [racism] more, and say that, we are not a post-racial society” and that “there’s also a lot of sexism still” during a town hall on MSNBC on Monday.
Hillary said, “We are still facing and struggling with systemic racism. It’s true in employment, and promotion, and other job opportunities. It’s true in education. It’s true in healthcare. It’s true in the criminal justice system. That’s why I talk about breaking down all the barriers. We have economic barriers to be sure, but we have very entrenched barriers of discrimination. So, here are some things that I think we have to do, number one, we have to talk about it more, and, as a white person, I have to talk about it more, and say that, we are not a post-racial society. We still struggle with racism, and it is not only wrong, but it is holding us back.”
She added, “We have to use the bully pulpit, which I intend to use, to speak out about systemic racism, every chance I get to talk to organizations like the American Bar Association, in your case as a lawyer, to speak up and say, we still have work to do. When I was a young lawyer, I chaired the Commission on Women in the Profession, because there’s also a lot of sexism still, and even though we came up with a lot of good recommendations, we still haven’t fully implemented them, and people still are not being treated fairly based on gender, based on race. So, I want to enforce the laws. I want to make it clear that this is unacceptable. I want to speak out about it, and then I want to call people into the White House, because one of the great powers of the president is to be the convener in chief, bring people in, and say, you’ve got do more, and here are ideas that we have, that have worked, and you have to try to implement those.”
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