November 7, 2020

Statement from Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, on Biden-Harris victory:

This is more than a victory for Biden and Harris. This is a victory for democracy. When all the votes are counted, some 80 million Americans will have voted to end the Trumpism politics of lies, greed and the lust for power. An unprecedented coalition of American people have said clearly, “We cannot go backwards. We are going forward together.”

People did not turnout in record numbers in the midst of a pandemic to vote for a return to normal. We have elected Biden and Harris to use the power of government to lift up those who have been battered by COVID-19, battered by poverty, and battered by years of Republican extremism. We can celebrate now for a moment, but we must go to work and make sure that people can soon feel that their votes will result in policy change.

As I said to Vice President Biden when he was running, our hope is in the mourning. If his administration can answer the cries of mourning people with real, transformative policy that addresses systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation and the denial of healthcare, it will indeed be a new day in America. If the new administration and Congress will challenge the war economy and the false moral narrative of religious nationalism and nativism, then we the people can believe again that this democracy will continue to be made a more perfect union. If this win is to be a victory for all of us, we must have a major political reconstruction.

CONTACT: ​
Martha Waggoner​: ​[email protected]