Posted on 11/29/2020 9:17:12 AM PST by nick0786bazpur
BY JYOTHSNA HEGDE & VEENA RAO
Atlanta, GA, October 19, 2020: In our ongoing series, NRI Pulse is interviewing candidates ahead of the November elections. Democratic candidate, Reverend Raphael Warnock, who is running in the special election to the U.S. Senate, discussed his priorities, his personal fight for racial justice and voting rights.
Dr. Warnock received a bachelorâs degree from Morehouse College and an M.Div., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Union Theological Seminary. He became pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in 2005. He was the youngest pastor selected to serve in that leadership role at the historic church. Dr. Warnock graduated from the Leadership Program sponsored by the Greater Baltimore Committee, the Summer Leadership Institute of Harvard University, and Leadership Atlanta.
It may be noted that twenty-one candidates are on the special election ballot for U.S. Senate in Georgia in November. The election will fill the remaining two years of the six-year term that Johnny Isakson (R) was elected to in 2016. Isakson resigned at the end of 2019, citing his health. Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Kelly Loeffler, who is Rev. Warnockâs Republican opponent, to the seat. Loeffler is running in the election.
Vyanti Joseph, AAPI Outreach Coordinator, facilitated the interview.
Q. The Washington Post says winning this race is the key to Democrats taking back the Senate. Right now, you are running neck-and-neck with your opponent Sen. Kelly Loeffler. Do you have enough grassroots support to flip the district blue?
A. Yes, indeed. We are running a people-centered and people-powered campaign. This has been an extension of the work Iâve been doing for years. I have served at the Ebenezer Church for the last 15 years, focused on peopleâs issues, health care reform, voting rights, and the dignity of work. And we are building a strong movement, that will indeed flip the state. Iâm excited and encouraged by what weâre seeing on the ground.
Q. You are the fifth senior pastor of Ebenezer in its 134-year history. Why did you choose to run for office, and do you plan to incorporate any of Kingâs principles in your policymaking?
A. I am a first-time candidate, but I donât feel like I launched a campaign in January as much as I did the campaign that Iâve been on for years, namely, this idea that healthcare is a human right. And it is certainly something the richest and most powerful nation on earth can and ought to provide its citizens. The dignity of work, voting rights, this is work that Iâve done from the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where we built a one-stop shop, wraparound services for ordinary people, and a Job Center located there. Folks helping people start small businesses, connecting to the services that they needed. Weâve been very active as a church in the work that we are doing, registering and educating voters and addressing huge disparities in our criminal justice system. And so, the launch of the public office is just an opportunity for me to translate my activism and agitation into legislation, my protest into public policy. It doesnât feel like a huge leap for me as much as it seems like one more step in my ongoing project to create the dialogue that can foster a more inclusive and justice-centered Georgia.
Q. Dr King was deeply influenced by Gandhiâs principles of non-violent social change. Are Gandhian principles relevant in the time of the Black Lives Matter movement?
A. Oh, absolutely. Gandhian principles are relevant and much needed. Weâre in a moment in America, where division and hatred and violence have become all too common in our politics and in our public life. We have a crop of leaders in office nowâ I donât know that they are leadersâ who donât know how to lead us until they try to divide us. They seem to be more adept at division than vision. So, we need in this moment, moral leaders, who remind us of who we are for one another. Our diversity is our strength. And we want to celebrate it in every way. So, I will contain and lift up Gandhian principles of nonviolence. And the good news is that in the wake of these tragic flashpoints that we saw this path coveredâ George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, so many others, thatâs the bad newsâbut the good news is that we saw a multiracial, multi-generational, multi faith coalition of conscience pour out into American streets responding to one virus while masking up to protect themselves from another virus. Iâm encouraged that the protests weâve seen, contrary to what the trackers are trying to suggest, are overwhelmingly nonviolent, disciplined and well-organized. And now I think we are seeing that same passion being channeled into voting, as people march to the polls. And this is very encouraging. And I think it is an important path towards constructive change.
Q. Do we need to reform the police?
A. Absolutely. We need police reform. We should not be talking about defunding the police. Thatâs not the route to go. We do need police reform. We need criminal justice reform.
Q. You are one of 20 candidates running in Georgiaâs 2020 Senate Special Election. If you win, you will be the first Democratic senator elected from Georgia in two decades, and the first African-American senator from Georgia ever. What does your win mean in a broader spectrum of things?
A. When I think about my own story, it is one with the American story. This is the land of opportunity and possibility. We donât always live up to that ideal but thereâs always been a path in America, working through the gaps, and helping us to grow taller to reach that ideal. I grew up in public housing down in Savannah, Georgia. One of 12 children in my family. Iâm the first college graduate. Iâm a product of Pell grants and low interest student loans â ways in which weâve used government to try to give ordinary people a chance. And so, my election to the Senate would be one more indication that the American dream is very much alive. That in this country, no matter where you live and how you got started, you can go somewhere else. So I feel deeply honored to represent the people of Georgia in the US Senate. And I work hard every day to make sure that kids like meâ and when I say kid like me, I donât mean just the poor kid from public housing in Savannah Georgiaâ but poor rural white rural communities in North Georgia have an opportunity, that members of the South Asian community and our Latin-American sisters and brothers know that they do have a share in the American dream. Itâs when thereâs a path to all of our children that we create the best Georgia and the best country that we can.
Q. Are you satisfied with the way Georgia has responded to the coronavirus pandemic?
A. No, not at all. I think that the people of Georgia have proven to be courageous. There is a severe leadership vacuum at the state level and the national level. To this pandemic, we need a coordinated response. We need to take this seriously. People are dying. And many of the deaths are totally unnecessary. And we need leadership. So, Iâm proud to offer myself for the United States Senate.
Q. You have fought for Medicaid Expansion and pushed back against proposed cuts to childrenâs health care programs. What are your priorities with healthcare?
A. Number one, we need to expand Medicaid in the state. That is an issue that is decided at the state level but the thing a United States senator can do, is make it even easier than it already is, for Georgia to expand Medicaid. Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center is slated to close in a matter of weeks. Weâve had seven hospitals close in our state in the last decade and two more announced that theyâre going to close. They are closing in large measure because weâve refused to expand Medicaid. By refusing to expand Medicaid, it isnât as if Georgians are going to get a refund on their federal income tax. No, weâre just subsidizing health care in other states like Illinois, New York, California, while our hospitals are closing. This imperils not just poor people who need Medicaid, but anybody in that region needs to get to a doctor in time. So, Iâve been standing up for healthcare. I believe that healthcare is a human right. I intend to reduce the costs of prescription drugs and to make sure that the farmer has to negotiate their price. After all, we believe in free market in this country and I intend to make sure that we do not raise the age for eligibility for Medicare and that we make sure that young people under the age of 26 can remain on their parentâs insurance. Healthcare is a human right. We should not be getting rid of the Affordable Care Act in the middle of a pandemic. We should be looking for every way to extend it and strengthen it.
Q. More Indians who have never been politically active before are coming out in support of you. What do you know about the community and the culture? And why should the community vote for you?
A. I have spent my whole career trying to bring people together. I have great respect, love and appreciation for the Asian community, for my Indian-American sisters and brothers. And every time Iâve tried to do work that matters, whether itâs voting rights, or healthcare, Iâve always been very intentional about building a multiracial, multi ethnic coalition in order to do so. And so, Iâve been very outspoken against bigotry, wherever it rears its ugly head. Weâre seeing that in recent days, even at the highest level of our government, as people try to politicize the pandemic, and then attaching to it, a kind of stigma against Asian people in general. We canât stand for this. We have to stand up for one another. Iâve done that my whole career as a citizen. I will make sure that these communities are being protected in terms of the public policy, we would pass in the United States Senate.
Let’s stick with the Christian principles the country was founded upon.
“We have no doubt about your bravery or devotion to your fatherland, nor do we believe that you are the monster described by your opponents,” Mahatma Gandhi to Adolf Hitler.
What? Drink your own urine and abuse women?
Sexual torment of a saint: A new book reveals Gandhi tortured himself with the young women who worshipped him, and often shared his bed.
...When he finally returned to India in 1915, the rules at his new ashram were even more stringent. Gandhi no longer felt sex was permissible on any level - even for procreation...
The Modern Left should re-assess their worship of Ghandi
Dr. Warnock received a bachelorâs degree from Morehouse College and an M.Div., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Union Theological Seminary. He became pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in 2005. He was the youngest pastor selected to serve in that leadership role at the historic church. Dr. Warnock graduated from the Leadership Program sponsored by the Greater Baltimore Committee, the Summer Leadership Institute of Harvard University, and Leadership Atlanta.
AND HES STILL STUPID!
Ah.... that affrimative action isnt it grand
Utter hypocrisy. Ghandian principles make excellent propaganda, which for all Leftists, are quickly ignored when it suits their political ends.
“”So, I will contain and lift up Gandhian principles of nonviolence.””
These people know ONE thing...continue to talk and talk and obfuscate instead of answering a question and the question that was asked will long be forgotten.
Can we find what he had to say on the NONVIOLENCE we saw in our cities and streets for 3/4 of this 2020? Can we hear him castigating BLM? I didn’t think so! He isn’t fit to give an opinion on a man such as Gandhi...
Gandhi based some of his principles on Christ’s teachings. Of course he merged it with Sanatan Dharma
If u can, Please define GANDHI.
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