Miami’s Frederica Wilson discusses police reform, reparations during Biden meeting

Miami Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson was one of 10 Black lawmakers to meet with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, when the president voiced his support for changing policing standards and committed to picking a Black woman for the Supreme Court.

Wilson, who holds a leadership post in the Congressional Black Caucus as secretary, said the meeting tied to Biden’s first 100 days in office that was scheduled for an hour ended up lasting more than two hours.

“We talked about what’s going on in Minnesota and how police are killing Black people across the nation,” Wilson said, noting that the attendees stressed the importance of passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Wilson represents Florida’s 24th Congressional District, including Miami Gardens and other parts of North Miami-Dade County, and portions of southern Broward County.

The bill, which passed the House in March on a nearly party-line vote, bans police from using choke holds and entering suspects’ homes without knocking and removes legal protections for police officers.

“That bill is in the Senate, and we have to find a way to get that bill passed,” Wilson said. “I think the [Derek Chauvin] trial might give us some sort of public sentiment because this is not about hating the police or defunding the police, this is about justice and racial profiling, it’s about bad policing. Public sentiment might shift towards what we’re fighting for.”

Wilson said the Congressional Black Caucus is supportive of changing congressional rules to pass legislation like the George Floyd bill, which is unlikely to get 60 votes in the U.S. Senate. Biden hasn’t endorsed abolishing the filibuster, which allows most legislation to stall if it doesn’t have the support of 60 senators.

“Everything is on the table as far as the Congressional Black Caucus is concerned,” Wilson said.

Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, said the meeting touched on a wide range of topics, including healthcare, the wealth gap between white and Black Americans, voting rights, civil rights and reparations. The meeting began with an acknowledgment of former Rep. Alcee Hastings, a South Florida Democrat and longtime Congressional Black Caucus member who died on April 6.

“We rolled out our top priorities and that we want to make it clear not only to the president but the nation of who we are as the Congressional Black Caucus in our 50th anniversary year with 56 members,” Beatty said to reporters. “We have a strong message beyond being the conscience of the power. And it is our message, and that is wrapped in healthcare, it is wrapped in closing the wealth gap. It is wrapped in voter rights, civil rights, reparations. And as we look at housing, and environmental injustices. So that’s what we talked about today, but we also made some ask that this is the first of many meetings to come.”

Florida House leaders, Black Caucus agree on policing reforms. Choke holds targeted.

South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, whose endorsement of Biden in 2020 was seen as a key moment for Biden’s successful primary campaign, said he reminded the president that many ambitious government programs passed by his predecessors like Franklin Roosevelt didn’t help Black people enough. Biden is expected to push for a massive infrastructure bill in the coming weeks and isn’t likely to have bipartisan support in Congress for a $2.3 trillion spending plan.

“We also want to have to understand that we know the lessons of history,” Clyburn said. “We want to make sure that this time around, we do not repeat ... errors that were made. For instance, I just raised the issue of the disparities that existed with the New Deal program. We all know that the country came back with a lot of pockets of poverty.”

Texas Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee, who is leading an effort to study reparations for Black Americans, said Biden endorsed a commission to study and develop reparation proposals in the House of Representatives.

And Wilson said the attendees discussed with Biden and Harris the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to suspend the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after six women who received the vaccine reportedly developed a rare and severe type of blood clot. Wilson said she’s not as worried about vaccine hesitancy in Miami compared to other parts of the country, but her biggest local concern is children and teenagers who aren’t going to school or were forced to take on additional financial responsibilities for family members who got sick.

“Black boys have had to drop out of school and become heads of household, and we’re trying to work through those issues,” Wilson said, adding that she brought up her legislation with Republican Sen. Marco Rubio to establish a commission to study societal forces that have disproportionately affected Black men in America. That legislation became law last year.

“I’m calling them COVID-19 children. There are 1 million children missing in America,” Wilson said. “They aren’t going to school or they aren’t logging in.”

But she’s hopeful that Black lawmakers will have an open line of communication with Biden’s White House after largely being ignored by former President Donald Trump. Former Congressman and Congressional Black Caucus member Cedric Richmond is one of Biden’s senior advisers.

“At least we all got the opportunity to meet with him so we can count that off as a win for the Congressional Black Caucus to address the needs of Black people across the country,” Wilson said.