Naacp president joined a conversation on the 2020 Election Results in africanamerican voters. Including how the Organization Work to increase voter turnout. Hosted by the Meridian International center, this is about 50 minutes. Good morning from washington d. C. Thank you for joining us today. The president and ceo of Meridian International center. We thank you for joining us this Motor Program this morning to naacp president derek johnson. As you all know meridian is a nonpartisan institution that is been focused on diplomacy, leadership and really convening leaders who may provide insight into some of the challenges we have today. As you know we have been going through a series of looking into the pandemic. We hope the good news of recent hours is something we can use going forward. But even if that takes place there is a huge amount of work to be done just the significant has been our focus on diversity equity and inclusion. Looking at Racial Injustice in the United States and around the world. So we can help come through this pandemic and look at how we look at the future and look at the real challenges we have had historically in our country. This park is being live streamed, it is on the record. And we are delighted to have politicos own chorizo welts who will be joining us to moderate todays panel. She has extensive background in journalism. Welcome teresa. She is with politico for several months and before that it was stateline covering state issues in the area of Human Services and welfare has worked for the tribune and a number of other publications. Shes part of a team that was awarded the kennedy price for journalism in chicago and investigation into murdered children there. She has dedicated her life to inquiry on injustice ash authors for the complexity of race. Teresa thank you for joining us today. We know that you and johnson will have a better conversation. We want to thank all of our partners for joining us today. Her teresa over to you. Think youre really happy to be here. Looking forward too having a really robust conversation with mr. Johnson. So why dont we just get right back into it . Mr. Johnson, can you talk a little bit about how the naacp was founded . And what were some of the historical issues resulted in being founded in what theyre trying to combat of the time many, many, many years ago. For small good morning teresa. Thank you meridian for the opportunity. The naacp is 111 years old. We were established in the backdrop of several years after reconstruction. Many called it redemption. The first time weve seen an upsurge in racial hate crimes. Potentially in the south. The spread across the country. Theres a group of africanamericans who decided to meet in canada to talk about how to address the race question. And many others they joined. The following year there is a race right in springfield, illinois over theres a group of whites who recognized the issue of mob violence and racial violence were not addressed we could never be the democracy we should be. They left the Previous Year to meet with them in new york. And out of that meeting was the establishment of the National Association for colored people. As a result of that meeting, we took on our mission. An Advocacy Mission to impact the formation of Public Policy. Not service. Understanding that is through Public Policy that change can happen. That racial hatred is more about structure than it is about individual behavior. Structure can influence individual behavior or at least put guardrails in place. The first Major Campaign we took on was antilynching red legislation. Given the federal Government Authority to enter a local jurisdiction to investigate, prosecute and convict individuals involved. Because there are far too many jurisdictions across the country to local Law Enforcement agencies who were involved. In these public lynchings. The Second Campaign we took on i will stop after this, a campaign in response to a movie called birth of a nation. Recognizing the images projected on the screen will really influence how individuals are treated. This was significant because this movie touted the virtues of a rachel and jenn racial hate terrorist group. Clue collects. It was disheartening to see the movie screen in the white house in 1915. But as a result the fledgling Small Organization became a national organization. So much so by the 1930s are more members of the clan in spacelike michigan indiana and space states like georgia and alabama. Can you talk a little bit about how the naacp is structured . I know theres a Legal Defense fund. Their chapters around the countrys could you break it down to understand how it works . The naacp, we are structured for local units. Branches are College Chapters are Youth Councils across the country and 47 states with over 2200 of those units from hawaii all the way to connecticut from alaska down to florida. Those are the volunteers that make up the association. They are the advocacy points. We established a Legal Department, was also professor a law professor at Harvard University and some students came on board to be a part of that Legal Department. That was inclusive of several others. 1955 part of the Legal Department split off and establish the Legal Defense fund. Now it is a separate entity from the naacp. Week coordinate and collaborate a lot. Naacp still has a direct Legal Department. We are all working towards the same outcome, equity and opportunity in the united state states. But the Legal Defense fund focus on advocacy across the country from local states to federal level. We are in this moment right now for this massive racial reckoning. The black lives Matter Movement has been accumulating support of the past few years. And racial protests have been in the public eye more than ever in the wake of the wrongful death of george floyd. So why in your view has 2020 been a Tipping Point your towards suddenly everyone is front and center for everyone. Why now . What were the forces the issues under the surface and above the surface for years. Is that the pandemic . What is going on in your view . So back in my it could be many factors. One, anyone with a smart phone and a social media platform can be a reporter. It allows for democratization of media like weve ever seen before. Two, it is been really intense with racial messaging, so much so that the environment has become very toxic. The spent great breakdown and civility. Theyre able to communicate an aggressive problem and become a National Issue in terms of using the tool of rates to advance political outcomes. You overlay that with the restlessness that people are feeling economically. The russell says people are feeling as a result of being quarantine and coping. The individual depiction of a black man being murdered in broad daylight in the street with witnesses. And theres no consideration for his life. And people responding in what has been really unique this year unlike any other year that i am aware of, are the response of communities produce a young, old, white, female, all behind a rallying cry. Son about an organization, its a factual statement that black lives matter. That under our constitution we had rights. Equal protection of the law should be afforded to all of us. That is a social contract the people begin to question pair are we truly living up to the social contract that all men and women are created equal . And if we are how do we enforce that . How do we remove the stain of our legacy of this nation from the lynching that the public square. The murder of a black mail in broad daylight by those who were sworn to uphold and protect. I think all of these things have create a response like we have not seen to get to this country i believe. One of the other things is racism in the u. S. Was considered the most important problem or one of many important problems for 71 of voters. 21 of the voters cited racial inequality is the issue that mattered the most in deciding how they voted for president. And that is a secondhighest ranking issue after the economy. So how does the naacp intend to build on this moment . And work towards producing racial inequality . And how what does that look lik like . We talk a lot about racial inequities and writing those wrongs. But what would that look like . Public policies and federal public policies. Many of the programs that were created to benefit all had a blind spot. They created inequity. Take Social Security. Once it was established for the legislative work and having inception in the Social Security law. Individuals who were domestic or Agricultural Workers were exempt from the program. Africanamericans were agriculture and Domestic Worker workers. There were decades where you had individuals who were unable to fully benefit, pay into a benefit from the Social Security program. And he worked hard every day. Absolutely, 80 of agricultural worker at the time were africanamericans. You look at the creation of federal Home Mortgage program. Perhaps the most Successful Program and creating wealth in this country because for the first time people can go to the bank and qualify for Home Mortgage and build equity. There was a decision and the creation of the law that local baker and developers could determine who would qualify and who would not. Locking out africanamericans for decades result in our inability to homeownership although we work really hard and we have no protection. Then you have the scenario was School Zoning and the whole school integration. In 1954 covid 1955 brown board of education you cannot discriminate against children or society based on race. We found is is in the Mortgage Program that School Districts are being created outside of urban cores or outside of pockets where committees are being constructed. And they had restricted covenants in certain areas therefore with the so today we look at at the reality of when a child is born the zip code would determine the likelihood of a different quality of life. The child can literally live across the street from another. Be into separate environments based on their zip code because the quality of the School District is different. The quality of the services are different. The redlining or the lack of services from the private sector is lacking. You think about detroit, michigan. As a board lie between the city of detroit and the city of dearborn. The same housing but the cost to own a home in one area compared to the other, literally across the street it is a different reality. And dearborn they are paying Property Three times less in home insurance. Three to four times less in car insurance. You go right across the street. Property taxes, home value. And there is no quality difference in the housing stock. Theres no environmental difference in terms of the shaping of the zip code. And yet you see two different realities. They take a different prospect in life. It is unfortunate that we have allowed our Public Policy to continue to foster these inequities over decades. Subjects with that in mind, the president elect biden has committed to Racial Equity being one of his priorities in this forthcoming administration. So in your view, what is the single most meaningful policy the executive branch can liver on this front that no other priority ministration has. Given the very divided congress we have in the very divided state of politics in america. I think the most important things you just i was the last thing you said the very divided congress. Because if the leader of the senate is consistent with the statement he made in 2008 and he continues that type of approach to governing. Described her audience with that statement was. So back in 2008 former president barack obama was elected. He said the single most important thing was to do all he could to ensure that barack obama failed. That his goal is to stop progress. And he did that effectively unfortunately. Thats where their vacancies on the federal courts. That of so difficult to get people confirmed. When you are in the majority in the senate you cant impede or stop any forward thinking progress. So it is hard to save the single most thing not only is it divided, there is an intentionality not to allow anything to move with a value proposition. Advocates of value proposition. Because this country is looking at the worst debt we have seen in history. They spend more money than we have ever seen. And the whole concept of being fiscally responsible went out the door over the last four years. And so i can hear clearly that is going to be fiscally responsible when it comes to programs and opportunities that benefit the whole. Im be clear, many of the opportunities that we pursue for African Americans is not only for africanamericans. It is for everybody. Talk about that a little bit and how plays out. If you have a tax policy scheme that ensures those who have more support because the support they provide actually make infrastructure thats required for us to function. It opens up opportunities to properly Fund Education and better with zip code the child lives in. You can make sure you have a domestic workforce of programs to construct bridges and roads that can employ more people. That we can take a serious look at the student debt loan crisis because student debt loan crisis is as bad as the housing crisis in 2008. We have not had that bubble. And on top of that many individuals who were impacted because of the student loan crisis was a result of pro forprofit colleges who should not have existed forget individuals who served in the military. Individuals who pursued obvious to better themselves in life were promised to greece that are not marketable. And yet they are strapped with debts. We have to address that. The federal government owns this debt. How do we address that so we can stimulate the economy . If you give households that 300 or 5 a month they are paying on their student loan and you free them up, that is more money to the economy to grow the economy. Think henry ford had the best comment ive heard. He had to pay his workers a livable wage so they could buy a car in the company can be successful. We have to do more for people so they can be a part of the Economic System so we can all do better. Those are policies that are race neutral. Or have a positive impact on the africanamerican community. Not to mention the question on housing, there are so many things. There are so many inequities that need to be addressed. I want to pivot a little bit and ask about this past election. What actions of the naacp include for voter turnout and letter barriers in voting . This been incredibly difficult hurdles to surmount in order to vote for black americans. s far as voter turnout we did not advocate for any specific Political Party or candidate. Our job, in particular my job when i walked into this position years ago was to have a datadriven program to identify African Americans who were seen as voters. They voted infrequently. There is a sharp turn down and vote percentage in the 2016 election of the first time in 20 years. And so we built out and approach for we began to communicate with voters across the country. But particularly in priority states were africanamericans participation would have it increase in the voice or the outcome of the election. Thats when you ask people to vote a particular way. We know it africanamericans turn out that we vote in like mindedness. That is not about Political Party. It is about an agenda. It is about how parties have articulated their willingness to address systemic structural barriers for that community. And we were successful in that. For the look at the turnout in detroit the statute increase or wisconsin milwaukees increase, philadelphia increased off the chart pittsburgh, atlanta, we were in all this jurisdictions. And we constantly talk to voters who were infrequent voters. Yet over 20000 volunteers who joined the ranks to begin having conversation. We pared people off in areas where they live. You sign up in the bottom chair were able to get people in your neighborhood. In some cases people in your home who had not voted in 2016. We have seen the program through our original pilot in 2018 during the midterm election. And then we expanded that in terms of removing barriers where possible. We communicated with Election Administrators on how we best to support identify resources, particularly in areas where there is early voting. We did a stronger Education Program so people could understand how to navigate a voting process in a pandemic. We filed a lawsuit this morning. We have been filing lawsuits from before the election we are going to continue to make sure that every vote is counted. And no voter is disenfranchised. I think its really important, we cannot have a