Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is addressing concerns about her criminal justice record following ongoing allegations of being bias toward minorities.
During an interview on CNN’s “Outfront” on Tuesday, Harris was asked about civil rights activist Tay Anderson’s disapproval of her possibly becoming Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s running mate.
Due to the series of events that have transpired over the last three weeks, the Denver school board member also criticized Harris’ criminal justice record saying, “Nominating someone who’s put black people in jail doesn’t make sense at this moment.”
https://twitter.com/TayAndersonCO/status/1270904788243398657
Host Erin Burnett asked Harris, “What’s your response? Is he misreading your record?”
Harris fired back and said that Anderson did, in fact, misread her criminal justice record.
“Yes — I mean, absolutely,” Harris said, adding, “Listen, we need right now — and this is why I am leading with Senator Booker and other members and all members of the Congressional Black Caucus what we need to do to reform the system.”
See Harris’ remarks below:
"We have to ban chokeholds… it is a bad practice and it has to end," says Senator @KamalaHarris.
— Erin Burnett OutFront (@OutFrontCNN) June 17, 2020
"These are the very specific things that we know and actually a lot of best police practices acknowledge that these reforms are needed."https://t.co/8j7Lyrc0L5 pic.twitter.com/AJRLgApEgW
Harris went on to defend her professional record and stressed the need to change the current systems in place.
“I know the system from the inside out,” Harris said.
She continued:
“I’m a child of parents who marched in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, and I strongly believe if we are going to change these systems, there has to be the kind of brilliant activism that we’ve seen from the outside, like Black Lives Matter and the leadership there, combined with what we need to do on the outside to actually upend these systems in a way that we make change to get closer to the ideal we have of equal justice under the law. And it takes everybody to be a part of that process and that movement.”
Harris also reiterated the main focal point of the overall goal: requiring “accountability” and “consequence” for those who break the law.
“It’s not about conversations. It’s literally about requiring accountability and consequence of the system and those in the system who break the rules and break the law,” Harris said.
The California senator’s remarks come as Anderson expressed concern if Harris is chosen as Biden’s running mate pick based solely on her appearance.
Following a protest in Denver, Anderson echoed his concerns in the tweet that reads, “I think that he needs to figure out somebody that’s not just there because they’re a black woman because they check a box.”