Survey Questions and Candidate Responses

Cassandra Martineau | Participating Election

George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the Breathe Act are good starts. I believe in removing racists from official positions/police departments, the judiciary, etc. No one who isn't ready to serve all people equally and fairly is up to the job. This is critical, as no system will work with racist overseers. Police stations across the nation MUST be demilitarized and turned to serve communities. Reallocating funds from aggressive policing to social solutions is part of this solution.

Bruce Walczak | Participating Election

First and most important is we must have a national conversation about racism lead by the highest levels of national and state elected officials. That discussion must lead to non-partisan solutions which can then move thru Congress and then be enforced on both a national and state level.

Joe Courtney | Participating Election

It is clear that Americans of color have been systematically disadvantaged throughout our nation’s history. This summer, Americans of good will spoke out against these injustices, including in our communities in the second district where I participated in peaceful vigils with my friends and neighbors who were calling for action. In response, the House of Representatives passed a package of police reforms like banning choke holds and ensuring police vehicles have dashboard cameras, many of which are already standard practice in eastern Connecticut’s police departments. However, America’s history of racial injustice goes beyond policing, and I support policies that ensure a strong Voting Rights Act, decrease school segregation, and address the crisis in black maternal mortality, among others.

Justin Paglino | Participating Election

Racism has been a chronic ongoing public health crisis in our Nation since the beginning. Some have estimated that before the abolition of slavery, slaveholders reaped about $14 Trillion (in today’s dollars) worth of unpaid labor from their captives. Even after the abolition of slavery, racist attitudes and blatantly racist laws denied African Americans equal opportunity, or just compensation for their labor. The scars of housing discrimination and employment discrimination are still with us. Not until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was racial discrimination made illegal in matters of housing, schooling, and employment. The agency that enforces this law, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), is chronically underfunded, it lacks the needed staff and resources to confront bad actors; its funding level must be dramatically increased for the goals Civil Rights Act to be realized, as well as close employer exemption loopholes in the law. In addition to advocating for improved enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, I advocate for Public Health interventions against racism itself - the topic should be discussed in schools to raise understanding. Reforms that root out discriminatory policing and excessive use of force, an issue that has been brought to the fore by the Black Lives Matter movement this year, I support fully. Finally, I advocate for a host of policies that will help elevate the economically underprivileged in general, including free universal Pre-K, college, and trade school, a living wage, a Federal Jobs Guarantee, Medicare for All, and a more progressive income tax to adequately fund housing and welfare programs. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, unless you do something about it.

John Larson | Participating Election

First, the Senate needs to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. This legislation isn’t a panacea, but is the first step towards transforming the way policing is done in our country. Second, we need to look at how we can best address the disparities that exist across our country. I am a cosponsor of HR 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act. This bill would examine the longstanding implications of slavery and segregation and the best ways to address systemic problems and disparities at that stem from slavery and segregation.

Brian Merlen | Participating Election

Congress must address the existing racial disparities in sectors like law enforcement, residential zoning, healthcare access, employment, educational equity, and others. By looking closely at white supremacy culture and systematic racism Congress can address these disparities. We deserve a society that does not have these disparities in terms of racial issues, and I hope that Congress immediately focuses on these many existing problems.

Rosa DeLauro | Participating Election

The pandemic has further exposed deep racial inequities, particularly in terms of healthcare and economic security. We must move towards a universal health care system, which is why I wrote the Medicare for America Act. It is why we must pass my American Family Act that cuts all child poverty by 42%, Black and Latinx child poverty by 52%. Public education is critical to the success of all of our young people and we must do more to address the deep, systematic problems that exist today. We also must do more to ensure the economic security of working families, and particularly for women, which is why I am fighting for paid sick days as well as paid family and medical leave, regular schedules at work, raising the minimum wage, and equal pay for equal work for women.

Justin Anderson | Participating Election

Racism is real and when you travel to other countries, you see not only how real it is, but how well we are doing in America comparatively. One of the major contributors to this divide is the current media. Identity politics has been normalized, and although it brings light to real concerns, it makes things worse. We can often agree when we see racist policies or concerns that must be addressed, but the idea that calling everyone who politically disagrees with you a racist, will never bring Americans closer together. The people I have known for the last 30 years are still the same people. I do not socialize with racists people. I do not really know any. People like that have never been in my circles. That said, no one I know has recently and suddenly become racist. I have been in the military for over thirty years. When you are in a combat unit, every life depends on teamwork. Race or color is never a thought. The same thing can be said as a corrections officer. I spent over 20 years in a maximum-security prison. We were, and are, all brothers and sisters. No color, race or sex matters. It is family. They always have been. They always will be. So where has the hate come from? The answer is the media. I do not imply racism does not exist or is not a concern. Certainly, it does exist, and we need to address it, but we need to bring people together to overcome it. We need to treat each other as equals and work together for positive solutions. Anyone who thinks that calling everyone else a racist based along party ideology, is never going to solve the problem. The goal should be to solve the problem. If we conduct ourselves in a manner that creates anger or division, then we are not really trying to solve a very real social issue.