As a young, black man it might come to your surprise when I tell you that I’m with Hillary Clinton. While many critiques of Clinton in progressive spaces ring true, it is undeniable that she is our best presidential candidate for a multitude of reasons.
Our country is at a tipping point (and has been for quite some time) when it comes to racial justice. We cannot continue to live in a reality in which we ignore the covert and overt racial discrimination that is all around us.
I refuse to vote for anyone that isn’t talking about racial justice. Just this month, we’ve seen the murder of multiple black men at the hands of the police, and injustice that shouldn’t be occurring at all – let aloneevery 25 hours. Here in St. Louis, a mere 14-year old boy was shot by the police last week.
In the days following these killings, there was radio silence from the Trump campaign. He has put forth no plan or commentary regarding race in America, aside from begrudging crime in the black community and shaming poor people of color. Contrarily, Hillary Clinton has amulti-platform page about racial justice on her campaign site.
I’m also not here for a reality that includes the top wealthiest citizens getting richer while our middle class continues to disappear and our working class suffers. Trump’stax plan would actually reduce taxes for him and his fellow high-income friends. That is if he even pays them, because by all accounts he has skirted contributing to our economy via taxes for 18 years.
Meanwhile, the Clintons have released their taxes dating back to the 1980s. Ms. Clinton has put forth a tax plan that taxes the wealthiest Americans fairly higher and redistributes livelihood into our economy.
As a former fast food worker and union organizer, fair wages are equally important to me. Mr. Trump supports raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour, which is not nearly enough for working Missouri families to live on. In a state where 15 percent of residents live under the federal poverty line, it is unacceptable to vote for a presidential candidate not thinking about these vulnerable populations.
Contrarily, Ms. Clinton has supported raising the federal minimum wage to $12 an hour, with additional support for high hourly wages in individual states, and other policies that benefit working families like paid family and medical leave. While this is still hard for working families to survive on, Hillary Clinton certainly seems to have working people’s interests as more of a priority, and we will keep pushing her to the $15 and union rights that our movement has been calling for.
As it just so happens, Missouri is a swing state with close polling between these two front runners. There is far too much at stake in this election to not cast your vote for Clinton as a Missourian with values of equality and justice. I would much rather spend the next four years holding a candidate with room to grow accountable to my values, rather than elect a bigot into office who shares none of them.
Rasheen Aldridge was the youngest member of the Ferguson Commission appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon and was a Ferguson protestor.
