This piece was originally published in the July 30, 2020 edition of CAP Action’s daily newsletter, the Progress Report. Subscribe to the Progress Report here.
Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash
“A founding father of that fuller, fairer, better America.” — President Barack Obama describing the late civil rights hero and Congressman John Lewis at his funeral today in Atlanta.
Other countries are back to some semblance of normal life.
Businesses are open. Kids are back in school. Economies are starting to recover.
Meanwhile, more than 150,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus — and there’s no end in sight.
Trump’s chaos has a deadly price. Share this video on Twitter and Facebook to get the facts out:
IN THE NEWS
- While America laid John Lewis to rest in Atlanta today, Trump floated the idea of delaying the presidential election set for November — a decision he both cannot and should not make. In a tweet, he repeated his lies about voting by mail as a supposed justification of this. As we’ve seen throughout Trump’s tenure in office, this ridiculous episode serves as a reminder that our country and our democracy are only as strong, moral, and righteous as the people we elect to lead them.
- As they often do, Trump’s Republican allies in the Senate did their best to brush off his disturbing suggestion of rescheduling a major national election. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) said she was “not answering any questions” about the situation, while Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) called the tweet “clever.” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who has notably voted multiple times in recent weeks to block Juneteenth from becoming a federal holiday, also could not be bothered to comment.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- Trump has spent his week issuing criticisms of fair housing policies intended to combat the longstanding problem of racist housing discrimination. In a series of racist tweets, he attacked an Obama administration rule designed to combat housing segregation, suggesting that residents of America’s suburbs would be “bothered” by low-income housing developments and repealing the policy would lower crime rates. “Our President is now a proud, vocal segregationist,” said Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT).
- A new poll shows that Americans increasingly support creating a commission to study reparations. From 2019 to 2020, support for H.R. 40, the legislation which would create such a commission, has grown from 31% to 50%. Closing the racial wealth gap won’t be easy, but it’s clear that the public is increasingly supportive of doing so. Across the country, Americans increasingly believe in the need to give Black people long overdue equity and to repair systemic injustices. Read this piece from CAP’s Danyelle Solomon on what needs to be done to right 400 years of undervaluing Black Americans’ work and lives.
WHAT WE’RE READING
Got plans for happy hour tomorrow? We do. Join Stacey Abrams and Cory Booker for a virtual discussion on where progressive priorities lie during the pandemic.