Ben Jealous for Maryland
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Race relations appear to be at their worst point in decades
69% of Americans say race relations are bad.
Here on Democracy now, DemocracyNow.org
The youngest person to ever head the NAACP
Is entering the race for Governor in Maryland
Ben Jealous is know for leading the NAACP's successful campaign
to abolish Maryland's death penalty.
Good evening, my name is Benjamin Todd Jealous
I'm a civil rights organizer
and a son of two teachers
whose marriage was against the law fifty years ago.
The other candidates are a little bit jealous right now
Alright Benjamin Jealous, the winner
Maryland governor's race
and it is an excellent night for progressives.
Maybe the best night.
We have an opportunity here to help the voters see
that we actually agree on a lot
and to go get it done and that's why
I intend to be the next governor from the state,
One of the mistakes we make is that
we don't talk about the way everybody suffers.
So we'll talk about the homicide rate of black men under 30
but we don't talk about the suicide rate of white men over 55.
We'll talk about the fact that we have the most incarcerated black
and brown people on the planet, without mentioning
we also have the most incarcerated white people on the planet
and what they all have in common is that
about 90% of them couldn't afford their own lawyer.
In the first speech of his campaign Ben Jealous
called for holding police accountable.
We will cut the murder rate
We will lock up the shooters
and we will restore trust
by both better training officers, but also holding officers who kill unarmed civilians
fully accountable.
How we won is the way that we will win again
We traveled to every corner of the state
and we listened to people early on
and then from that point on we talked to people
about what it would actually take to solve the problems
facing their families in real time.
I about fell out of my chair when I read in the
times this weekend, that (governor) Hogan
was out there calling me names.
Then it occurred to me, him calling me a
"Far left socialist' is what the tea party called president Obama"
It's what Barry Goldwater called Martin Luther King.