Delaware African American leaders defend Biden

[Peacetrain]

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/454379-delaware-african-american-leaders-defend-biden-joe-has-been-our-champion


Two black leaders in Delaware came to former Vice President Joe Biden’s defense, writing an op-ed casting the White House hopeful as a champion for civil rights amid heightened scrutiny over his decades-long tenure representing the state in the Senate.

Richard “Mouse” Smith, the former president of the Delaware NAACP, and Sam Latham, the former president of the Delaware AFL-CIO and the first African American to hold the position, wrote in an op-ed in Blavity Tuesday that Biden has “been our champion” on civil rights and is a reliable ally in the fight against racism.

“For decades Joe has been at the forefront of advancing and safeguarding equal rights and combating institutional racism,” Smith and Latham wrote. “Now, as he campaigns for the presidency, he’s continuing to champion progressive policies in health care, education, criminal justice, climate change, and more, that all speak directly to the needs of black and brown people.”


Edit to Add:... I found out today that VP Biden was a life guard in his youth, and while looking that up.. found this story.. looked at Richard Smith former NAACP President in Delaware, was a life guard with him.. they have been known each other most their lives.. just goes to show, even if we think we know people there is always something new to learn..

[bluewater]

1. Richard "Mouse" Smith is an impressive person. This is an A+ endorsement.

The Mouse that Roars: Local NAACP President Fights Loudly Against Injustice
Richard Smith is the first to admit that, at times, he steps on people’s toes, which doesn’t always sit well with the people attached to those toes. But Smith’s response to the criticism is blunt and bold and typical of him: If you don’t want your toes stepped on, move them.

Smith is president of the Delaware branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a position he’s held for the past three years. It’s become a highly visible position because Smith has made it that way, and he’s made it that way for a reason.
“I’ve probably been in the newspaper more than any black man in the last 20 years. It seems like I’m in the paper every three days,” Smith says with a laugh. “But if you want to make positive change in the world, you can’t worry about what people think about you or the way you do business. I’m in the paper because that’s the best way to put the focus where we need to put it, on the people who need our help. I’m not in the paper to feed my ego, like I know some people think. But I quit worrying about that a long time ago. My job is to give a voice to people who don’t have one, no matter who they are.”

Smith laughs again. “And when you have a voice like mine, it tends to be heard.”

According to some leaders of the African-American community in Delaware and beyond, speaking loudly is necessary in this day and age, when so much of the community’s attention is focused on its often rocky relationship with law enforcement and local government. Richard “Mouse’’ Smith was elected president not to make friends, but to influence people.

“I’ll tell you this: Mouse has moved the NAACP in Delaware to a different level, and that’s a good thing,’’ says state representative Charles Potter Jr. of Wilmington. “I think he’s done an outstanding job. People say he’s controversial, but he brings attention to the issues that need attention, and that’s something that was lacking. He’s a good agitator who knows how to get attention, and that’s something we need. He’s using all the tools he has.”

One of Smith’s priorities is to make sure that law enforcement and government officials are held accountable for their actions in the African-American community. That was evident in two recent Wilmington police shootings of two black men. The first came in January 2015, when officers shot 24-year-old Marvin Jones after a traffic stop on Vandever Avenue, which left Jones paralyzed from the waist down. Initial police reports said Jones, a convicted felon, had a handgun and fired it. A later report said that, though Jones did have the gun, he did not fire.

The next highly publicized case came in September on Tulip Street in Wilmington, when police shot and killed 28-year-old Jeremy McDole. McDole was in a wheelchair and, according to witnesses, threatening to shoot himself with a handgun. Officers said McDole made gestures that indicated he had a gun. Investigators reported that when McDole made a motion for the alleged gun, despite repeated warnings to show his hands, officers fired several times.

Smith made the newspaper afterward because he refused to believe the police reports on face value.
“I don’t know what happened, but I do know that I don’t trust the police to investigate themselves,’’ Smith says. “That’s what’s important to me and the NAACP, having an impartial special prosecutor conduct the investigations so there is no doubt. All we’re doing in those cases and other cases is asking for fair and impartial justice, and we’re just not getting it.”

http://www.delawaretoday.com/Delaware-Today/March-2016/The-Mouse-that-Roars-Local-NAACP-President-Fights-Loudly-Against-Injustice/

[Peacetrain]

2. As I was saying in my little add on... I just found out today that VP Biden had been a lifeguard

I think when he was in highschool.. and so they have known each other since those days they life guarded together.. and if there is anyone who is going to know his heart.. it would be him

[bluewater]

3. This is a great endorsement. Biden should be proud to have it.

Thanks for the OP.

[Skya Rhen]

4. K&R

[Cha]

5. Thank You, Peacetrain.. sorry I didn't

see this sooner.. I just gave its 5th and on to the Greatest where it Belongs!

[Cha]

6. Yeah, and Cory Booker isn't going to change that

with his little tweet.

For decades Joe has been at the forefront of advancing and safeguarding equal rights and combating institutional racism,” Smith and Latham wrote. “Now, as he campaigns for the presidency, he’s continuing to champion progressive policies in health care, education, criminal justice, climate change, and more, that all speak directly to the needs of black and brown people.”

Mahalo, "Richard “Mouse” Smith, the former president of the Delaware NAACP, and Sam Latham, the former president of the Delaware AFL-CIO and the first African American to hold the position.."!!

[Scurrilous]

7. K&R

[oasis]

8. I trust their knowledge on Joe's history w/AA community. nt

[highplainsdem]

9. K&R! Thanks, Peacetrain!

[crazytown]

10. None - NONE - of the sniping at VP Biden

is going to make a cowpat of difference in the GE. We are heading into the most 'racially charged' (racist) GE in living memory. What is going to drive turnout amongst African American voters is the White Supremacist monster standing for re-election, not debates about last century voting records.

[Cha]

11. Thank You, crazytown.. well

said!

[Cha]

12. KICK!

[Princetonian]

13. Kamala Harris, are you listening????

Doubt it. She reminds me of Gillibrand.