By Emily Cousins | Staff Writer
President-elect Joe Biden is finally able to begin his transition to the White House. Biden has announced many of his picks for his cabinet, but none of them challenge the status quo.
All of Biden’s cabinet picks have great experience in their field and are highly qualified, which is a refreshing change from the Trump administration. However, this is only the bare minimum of what Americans deserve.
When Biden announced his cabinet picks, he said, “America is back.”
We don’t want America back. We want something new. Something different. Something better.
After going through four years of Donald Trump, a pandemic and a huge push to break-down systemic racism, all we get to do is go back in time?
We don’t need another Obama administration. While former President Barack Obama was a good leader and his winning the presidency was a triumph for Black Americans, he did nothing to fundamentally change America for the better.
Obama sent the National Guard to Ferguson, Missouri to put a stop to protests against the grand jury’s decision to not indict the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown in August 2014. He said he understood the reason for the protest, but did not condone the violence that happened during it.
Yet, there was nothing done to hold police responsible after the fact. At the end of the day, Obama is just another moderate Democrat who talks about reform and a better America, but barely does anything to see it through.
All of Biden’s picks are people who formerly worked in the Obama-Biden administration.
What are we getting that’s new? What are we getting that’s better? What’s going to change?
People talk about going back to normal after the Trump presidency or going back to normal after the pandemic, but why would we go back to what we did before? Have we learned nothing?
Trump did not create racism. He did fuel the flame and made it more obvious how serious of a problem it is in The United States. Systemic racism will not go away with Biden as president.
Biden is showing us through his cabinet picks that he will choose qualified people and will pick people who will agree with him on everything, but we can’t stop there. We have to keep asking for more.
The United States was built in a way to uphold white supremacy. We have to see more done to eradicate laws and loopholes that discriminate against BIPOC.
We don’t just need a qualified administration. We need people who will fight for the rights of minorities, women and the poor. Anything less is unacceptable.
I hope that Biden surprises me when he takes office. I hope he actually listens to what Black people have to say and works to dismantle systemic racism. I hope he fights for universal healthcare. I hope he stands up for women and the LGBTQ community. However, all I can see is nothing fundamentally changing and the lukewarm sentiment we receive from most Democrats in office.
This is why we have to keep paying attention. Just because our new president won’t have the controversial personality of Trump doesn’t mean you get to relax. We still need change. We have always needed it.
Let’s keep our government responsible, and continue to push for the rights of BIPOC, LGBTQ, the poor and women.
