“There Is No Democracy Without Racial Justice”

Contact: Jeff Chang, [email protected]

Early this morning, Donald Trump declared victory in the 2020 presidential election, even as millions of votes in many states had not been counted. He further threatened to go to the Supreme Court to stop the legitimate counting of the vote. This unprecedented move is nothing short of anti-democratic gaslighting, casts unnecessary doubt on the democratic process, and edges the nation closer to a potential constitutional crisis. 

Race Forward stands against Trump’s false declaration and authoritarian threat, which follows an election which saw historic turnout rates among Black communities, Indigenous communities, and other communities of color. These attacks are meant to disenfranchise legally cast votes in states such as North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, and Pennsylvania, all states where voters of color have played a central role in the election.

“Race Forward rejects President’s Trump’s efforts to delegitimize the electoral process, and suppress the vote of Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color. We must respect the expression of the will of the people, as long as it takes,” said Glenn Harris, president of Race Forward, a nearly four-decade old national racial justice organization. “There is no democracy without racial justice.”

The 2020 elections have seen unprecedented efforts to disenfranchise voters of color. Such anti-democratic efforts have included lawsuits to prevent counting of ballots in communities of color, as well as physical forms of voter suppression and intimidation. Every voter has a right to vote safely and without threat,  interference, or coercion. The proper role of authorities, including the Office of the President, is to protect the vote, not to disenfranchise the vote.

These efforts follow Donald Trump’s broad attacks on racial justice movements. On September 22, President Trump signed Executive Order 13950, which bans racial justice work in federal government agencies, with government contractors, and through federal grants and funding. This act was a culmination of a broad range of race-baiting actions. 

Harris said, “From the Muslim ban to immigrant policies that fostered family separation to encouraging violence against peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstrators, Trump’s attacks on democracy mark an escalation on his attacks on our communities and our call for a just, multiracial democratic society.”

He added, “We will continue to stand side-by-side with advocates, organizers, activists, artists, culture-bearers, and local government leaders to fight Trump’s attacks on racial justice and protect the most vulnerable among us. Together we say, ‘Count every vote.’”

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