2020 Democratic hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts hosted a rally at a historically black college hoping to talk directly with black Atlanta voters. Her rally was disrupted by none other than, black voters who take issue with her plans to eradicate charter schools.
According to ABC News, Warren spoke only a few words before the school choice organization Powerful Parent Network interrupted her in coordinated protest. The protestors stopped Warren’s speech for approximately 10 minutes.
“Our voice, our choice,” the protestors chanted.
Pro-charter school protesters disrupt @ewarren speech at Clark Atlanta. They told reporters they came from all over the country to be here. pic.twitter.com/vEmji0a58R
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) November 22, 2019
At the event, Warren was attempting to connect with black voters. During her speech she stood under a banner that read, “value the work of black women.” She also hired a DJ to play Drake and DMX songs, and had Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., the first black Massachusetts Congresswoman, pumping up Warren and the crowd.
“I’m here to make a commitment. When I am president of the United States, the lessons of black history will not be lost. Those lessons will live in every part of my presidency,” Warren said. “As a white woman, I will never fully understand the discrimination, pain and harm that black Americans have experienced just because of the color of their skin.”
Warren continued by insisting the government create a reparations plan for black Americans.
But, Warren’s plans to get rid of charter schools may be a big reason for her inability to build a coalition of black voters in key swing states like Georgia and South Carolina.
A poll commissioned by Democrats For Education Reform found white Democrats oppose charter schools, while black and Hispanic Democrats are in favor of charter schools. The goal of many charter schools is to close the disparity in education between minorities and non-minorities.
This is a perfect example of Warren pandering to black communities in order to earn votes, but not actually creating policies that reflect the intersectional desires of black people in America.
Sarah Carpenter, the leader of Powerful Parent Network, told ABC that Warren needs to talk to black voters before crafting policy to eradicate charter schools.
“I told [Warren], you gotta talk to real people on the ground,” Carpenter said. “It felt like she attacks our children’s choice, charter schools.”
