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Letters to the Editor: Black voters and everyone else have more than enough reasons to support Joe Biden

Joe Biden
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden boards a plane at New Castle Airport in Delaware on Sept. 21.
(Associated Press)
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To the editor: Earl Ofari Hutchinson writes that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden must better address the needs of Black communities if he wants their votes.

Hutchinson mentions President Trump’s strategy of accusing Democrats of playing “plantation politics.” To that, I say the GOP and President Trump are offering “genocidal politics.”

Trump’s response to a pandemic that has affected the Black community hard, his downplaying of the role of slavery in shaping this country, and his dismissal of racism as no big deal tell you all you need to know about the direction of the GOP under this president.

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Since we have two choices, I’ll pick the one that offers the opposite of this hate.

Lynette Kelsey, Riverside

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To the editor: It is not Biden’s — or any candidate’s — task to dangle a carrot before voters to convince them to turn out. Voting in the United States is a privilege and a duty.

Candidates should offer compelling reasons to win voters’ support, but the alternative should not be voters’ unwillingness to exercise their franchise, especially in an election as critical to the survival of our democracy as this one.

President Obama’s campaign promises that won Black support — jobs, a higher minimum wage, improved education and healthcare, financial reforms and repealing tax cuts for the rich — have been shared by other Democratic candidates.

It is cynical to suggest that Black voters might sit out this election if Biden cannot convince them that the election process means something to them. They know that it does. Biden’s task is to convince all voters that he is prepared and determined to work hard for the benefit of all Americans.

Our task is to vote.

Ann Carter, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Hutchinson says Biden should have gone to Kenosha, Wis., “immediately” instead of two days after Trump visited.

Biden is not president and therefore has no official role. By inserting himself there at the height of the trouble, Biden would have required security resources better devoted to addressing Kenosha’s immediate concerns, and it might have appeared he was rushing to where he wasn’t required to be in order to perform for the news cameras.

To Hutchinson’s larger point, I’ve got two positive reasons for Black voters to turn out for Biden: Voting is critical for the preservation of our democracy, and Biden is by far the better candidate.

Is that enough?

Jeff Vaughn, Encino

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