Power

Clinton: ‘Black Women Deserve More Than a Seat at the Table’

Hillary Clinton called for criminal justice reforms to create a system “that actually delivers justice, and a future where everyone has respect for the law and is respected by the law."

Clinton discussed the difficulties, such as lack of equal pay, that Black women face when they “leave the house every morning, put on that game face that we all practice, and enter a society that consistently challenges your worth." Mark Wilson/Getty Images

In a Friday speech before the Black Women’s Agenda Symposium in Washington, D.C., Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton thanked Black women for helping her win her party’s nomination.

Clinton also pointed to some of the policies she presumably saw as important to Black women, including expanded access to child care, universal pre-K, and “urban reinvestment and restructuring.”

She called for criminal justice reforms to create a system “that actually delivers justice, and a future where everyone has respect for the law and is respected by the law,” and to protect “civil rights and women’s rights, LGBT rights, worker’s rights and, of course, voting rights.” 

Clinton, praising the Black Women’s Agenda, Inc.’s initiative to register and mobilize voters, said it was important to “make sure we get as many people registered and then to the polls as we possibly can.” 

Judith Browne Dianis, executive director of the civil-rights focused Advancement Project, told Rewire that the issues Clinton discussed “definitely spoke to issues that Black women and mothers care about.” 

“They are important because they’re the things people will turn out in November to address. Black women care about their families,” Dianis said. “Black women care about their children. They care about criminal justice issues. We are the holders of our families and our communities, and so she definitely hit on many of those issues that are deeply concerning to Black women.”

The nature of many speeches like this don’t allow political candidates to get into specifics, Dianis said. For example, though Clinton brought up criminal justice reform, she didn’t get into detail about how she would address policing and police brutality. 

“Black women need to hear about how the next president is going to deal with the daily harassment and the number of killings that we have seen at the hands of police officers,” Dianis said.

“Unfortunately, there has been a lot of comforting of police officers” during this election season, “and not a clear vision for how we are going to ensure that police culture and practices change so that Black people feel safe in their communities from those who have badges and guns,” Dianis continued.

The 39th annual symposium was hosted by the Black Women’s Agenda, Inc., a group that works on “advancing, securing, and protecting the rights of” Black women who are disproportionately impacted by lack of economic and educational opportunities. This year’s event was slated to focus on the organization’s “initiative on caregiving for Black women and their families to address aging challenges.”

“I’m thrilled to be associated with you. I’m also thrilled to be back on the campaign trail,” Clinton told the crowd, referring to her brief break from campaigning while she recovered from pneumonia that fueled a series of conspiracy theories about the candidate’s health.

“The good news is, my pneumonia finally got some Republicans interested in women’s health,” she joked, going on to note that working while sick was something she and other women have come to do every day.

Clinton discussed the difficulties, such as lack of equal pay, that Black women face when they “leave the house every morning, put on that game face that we all practice, and enter a society that consistently challenges your worth.”

Despite these difficulties, and their lack of representation in “the history books,” Black women continue to be “the change makers, the path breakers, and the ground shakers,” Clinton said. “And, you are proof that yes, indeed, Black girl magic is real.”

The former secretary of state called for Black women to have greater influence in the country, telling the symposium that “Black women deserve more than a seat at the table. It’s past time you had a fair chance to run the meeting.” 

“And let’s be clear: I would not be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States were it not for Black women like all of you who made noise at the polls this year in support of our campaign,” Clinton said, thanking the room for the work many supporters had done to help her win the Democratic Party’s nomination.