Given that Joy Reid's MSNBC show has as a focus matters of concern to African-Americans, the absence on yesterday's show of the merest word about Joe Biden's "you ain't black" was glaring. But Reid more than made up for it today, as there were extended discussions on the subject.
Of particular interest was Reid's conversation with Charlamagne Tha God, whose podcast interview with Biden elicited the now notorious "you ain't black."
Charlamagne -- whose actual name is Lenard McKelvey -- began by saying "I know" that the Democrat party takes black voters for granted. As such, he said that he doesn't really care about the "lip service," while allowing that Biden's apology for his gaffe was "cool, but the best apology is actually a black agenda."
But what is apparently of real interest to Charlamagne is Biden's position on reparations:
"In his black agenda of Lift Every Voice, he committed to studying reparations. And I just wanted to ask him, what does reparations for black people look like to him? And what is he prepared to do based on that study?"
And indeed, Biden's official campaign website does contain this lonely line: "As Biden has said in this campaign, a Biden Administration will support a study of reparations."
Translation: a President Biden would implement reparations right around the time he breaks the Jeopardy record for consecutive wins.
Charlamagne made his demands. “They’ve got to make some real policy commitments to black people,” he continued. “We’ve got to stop acting like the fact that blacks are overrepresented in America when it comes to welfare, poverty, unemployment, homelessness, drug addiction, crime, coronavirus—that’s no accident. The whole function of systemic racism is to marginalize black people.”
Bonus Coverage
1. Joy Reid asked whether Biden should say "I'm down to do the black," i.e., that he is picking a black woman running mate. Yes! What would be hilarious than hearing Funky Joe say "I'm down to do the black?"
2. Michael Harriott, a writer for The Root, a liberal, black-oriented website, admitted: "Let's be honest: we know Joe Biden is going to say a lot more stupid things during the course of this campaign." Now that's some serious confidence in one's candidate!
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
AM Joy
5/24/20
10:15 am EDTJOY REID: Do you think there is a risk that not just Joe Biden, but the Democratic party in general, just takes for granted that, well, the black people are with us. So we don't really have to give them anything else, they're going to vote for us regardless. Look, they voted for Joe Biden in overwhelming numbers six in ten black voters, particularly in Southern states, they all voted for Joe Biden, we don't need to offer anything more. Do you worry that that is the attitude that Democrats are taking toward the black community?
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: I mean, I know that's the attitude. That's why I don't even care about the words and the lip service. And the apology is cool, but the best apology is actually a black agenda.
. . .
I wanted to ask him about reparations. Because, you know, in his black agenda of Lift Every Voice, he committed to studying reparations. And I just wanted to ask him, what does reparations for black people look like to him? And what is he prepared to do based on that study?
