NEW YORK (AP) — Making a direct appeal to black voters, Hillary Clinton said Tuesday she would give African-Americans their next ally in the White House and offered a detailed plan to overcome racial disparities ahead of crucial primaries in South Carolina and the Deep South.
Clinton took her presidential campaign to Harlem in New York City, her focus squarely on solidifying support among black voters who twice backed her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and will be vital in upcoming contests against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The former secretary of state suggested black voters would find her proposals more far-reaching than Sanders’ warnings about economic inequality and the power of Wall Street. She said the recent water crisis in Flint, Michigan, underscored the complex and intersecting challenges facing black communities.
“It’s not enough for your economic plan to be, ‘Break up the banks,'” Clinton said. “You also need a serious plan to create jobs especially in places where unemployment remains stubbornly high.”
Both Clinton and Sanders are making specific appeals to black voters after Sanders won a 22-point victory in last week’s New Hampshire’ primary, creating a potential opening with black voters for the self-described “democratic socialist.” The Democratic candidates are vying for support in Saturday’s Nevada caucuses and then facing off in South Carolina on Feb. 27 and a series of March 1 “Super Tuesday” contests that include Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Sanders has pushed back against Clinton’s contention that he is only a “single-issue” candidate and campaigned Tuesday in South Carolina, holding a prayer breakfast with black ministers and appearing with Erica Garner, whose father, Eric Garner, died from a police chokehold in New York City in 2014.
Sanders pledged to reduce income inequality and break up big financial institutions, but also stressed criminal justice reform and voting rights and reflected on the country’s racial history. “It is clear to everybody that we still have a long, long way to go,” he said.
