Joe Biden Affirms Equality

For months, as in my September 2019 and October 2019 blog posts, I’ve expressed frustration that the Democratic Party candidates for President never affirmed the essential equality of all human beings. It has been my belief that doing so would be both ethical and strategic — a way for a candidate to connect with voters and counter the charge of Democratic Party elitism — a way to affirm values that undergird concern about economics and other justice issues — a way to help establish and clarify a culture that stands over against the dominant culture, and thereby prepare the soil for more effective grassroots movements.

So I was glad to hear Joe Biden, in his victory speech tonight, declare: “This is a battle for the soul of America…. Once again fight for the proposition that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights…. But we’ve never fully lived up to it….I believe with every fiber of my being that all men and women are created equal.”

Now I hope that some or all of the other candidates will do the same.