{"id":85437,"date":"2020-02-13T13:32:55","date_gmt":"2020-02-13T19:32:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=85437"},"modified":"2020-02-14T20:04:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-15T02:04:00","slug":"for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/","title":{"rendered":"For one black activist group, Biden remains the front-runner"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Areeba Shah<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

COLUMBIA, S.C. \u2014 In a tightly packed room with Joe Biden supporters stood Bernice Scott \u2014 the first African American to chair Richland County Council. Her dark blue badge, \u201cBiden works for SC,\u201d glinted as she swayed from side to side in sync with a gospel choir minutes before the former vice president entered the room. .<\/p>\n

After a dismal performance in Iowa and New Hampshire, Biden stopped in South Carolina to salvage his campaign in the first primary state where black voters are a significant part of the Democratic electorate.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can always tell what a man is going to do with what he’s already done,\u201d Scott said, referencing Biden\u2019s previous record working with former President Barack Obama.<\/p>\n

He already has the support of \u201cReckoning Crew,\u201d a group founded by Scott more than 35 years ago to keep residents in rural parts of Richland County informed about politics. The group made up of prominent black female activists previously backed Sen. Kamala Harris, but turned to Biden after she dropped out.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

He comes across as honest and straightforward, Scott added, referring to the times she met him – when he campaigned with Obama and after he lost his son Beau to brain cancer.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Joe Biden speaks to a crowd of voters in Columbia, making the case for why they should support him. (Areeba Shah\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cVice President Biden is a man of his word,\u201d Scott said. \u201cYou might not like all the words, but at least you know he’s honest and straight up and that’s what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even as Biden remains the front-runner in South Carolina, where he\u2019s counting on support from \u201cthe most important constituency\u201d – the African American community – in recent polls, his standing has fluctuated.<\/p>\n

He holds a 12-point lead, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average, with billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer in second and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders third.<\/p>\n

Still, he\u2019s relying on his close ties to Obama and his moderate views to make a compelling case for electability when it comes to black voters in South Carolina.<\/p>\n

\u201cI promise you as your president, you will be partners at shaping the policy to make sure every single American has an opportunity,\u201d Biden said during his speech. \u201cYou all leaders in the black community, you know what you do best. You know what you need, you know what your families need, and I\u2019ve never not listened to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He referenced his record of fighting red lining in the housing industry and his role in passing the Violence Against Women Act during his time in the U.S. senate, reiterating that he would continue advocating for the African American community if elected as president.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess he has compassion like Bernice, you know,\u201d said Helen Spearman, member of Reckoning Crew. \u201cThey’ll help anyone that they can. That’s the reason I’m supporting him because, to me, he reminds me of Bernice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spearman, who has been a member of Reckoning Crew for 31 years, became involved after working in Richland County with Scott. When Spearman\u2019s granddaughter was diagnosed with brain tumor at age two, she became aware of how many children suffer because they could not afford health care.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy granddaughter is a cancer survivor, and I just relate to his feelings about his son having cancer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Being a 67-year-old woman who experienced segregation as a teenager, Spearman believes the country is more divided now under Donald Trump\u2019s presidency. She is not troubled by Biden\u2019s age. He will turn 78 on Nov. 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really don’t like people talking about his age and saying he\u2019s too old, because I\u2019m 67. Age has nothing to do with working hard and making the world better.\u201d she said. \u201cWhen he talks, it makes me feel like he’s talking to me. It’s about making me feel like I\u2019m worth something and I do matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though Biden helped write the 1994 crime bill when he chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, leading to accusations that he contributed to mass incarceration, Scott approves.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can’t be right unless you make some mistakes in life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Carol Eaddy, member of the Reckoning Crew, sits in the crowd, waiting for Biden to speak. (Areeba Shah\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her friend Carol Eaddy, 64, another member of the Reckoning Crew, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s a lot of people that did things back then that went along to get along,\u201d said Eaddy, who lives in Hopkins and already calls him President Biden. \u201cI’m not going to hold that against him because I did a lot of things myself. I wasn’t the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eaddy added that Biden is the calm after the storm that this country needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump undid what Obama has done,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat will benefit us is bringing back what we had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott, who believes Biden has the most experience, agreed. With the country\u2019s future at stake, she said, there is no room to take any risks with an inexperienced candidate.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you solve the pain that\u2019s in our country?\u201d Scott asked. \u201cHow do we help get the country back on track? How do we do that? By electing Joe Biden.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Bernice Scott, former Richland County Chair, poses for a photo during former Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Columbia, South Carolina Feb. 11<\/span>. (Emine Y\u00fccel\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Areeba Shah Medill Reports COLUMBIA, S.C. \u2014 In a tightly packed room with Joe Biden supporters stood Bernice Scott \u2014 the first African American to chair Richland County Council. Her dark blue badge, \u201cBiden works for SC,\u201d glinted as she swayed from side to side in sync with a gospel choir minutes before the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":85446,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4946,4928,4892],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-election-2020","category-south-carolina-2020","category-winter-2020"],"yoast_head":"\nFor one black activist group, Biden remains the front-runner - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For one black activist group, Biden remains the front-runner - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Areeba Shah Medill Reports COLUMBIA, S.C. \u2014 In a tightly packed room with Joe Biden supporters stood Bernice Scott \u2014 the first African American to chair Richland County Council. Her dark blue badge, \u201cBiden works for SC,\u201d glinted as she swayed from side to side in sync with a gospel choir minutes before the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-13T19:32:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-15T02:04:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/02\/NEW-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"areebashah2020\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"areebashah2020\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/\",\"name\":\"For one black activist group, Biden remains the front-runner - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/02\/NEW-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-13T19:32:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-15T02:04:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/d9cdd2de70b29bb4f9099ebce6ecceb1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/02\/NEW-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/02\/NEW-1.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1920},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"For one black activist group, Biden remains the front-runner\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/d9cdd2de70b29bb4f9099ebce6ecceb1\",\"name\":\"areebashah2020\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cbda57aceb92e40959645681d940da7a84bdf03f63da03221ce617993d7638a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cbda57aceb92e40959645681d940da7a84bdf03f63da03221ce617993d7638a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"areebashah2020\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/areebashah2020\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"For one black activist group, Biden remains the front-runner - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"For one black activist group, Biden remains the front-runner - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Areeba Shah Medill Reports COLUMBIA, S.C. \u2014 In a tightly packed room with Joe Biden supporters stood Bernice Scott \u2014 the first African American to chair Richland County Council. Her dark blue badge, \u201cBiden works for SC,\u201d glinted as she swayed from side to side in sync with a gospel choir minutes before the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2020-02-13T19:32:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-02-15T02:04:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1920,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/02\/NEW-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"areebashah2020","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"areebashah2020","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/","name":"For one black activist group, Biden remains the front-runner - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/02\/NEW-1.jpg","datePublished":"2020-02-13T19:32:55+00:00","dateModified":"2020-02-15T02:04:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/d9cdd2de70b29bb4f9099ebce6ecceb1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/02\/NEW-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/02\/NEW-1.jpg","width":2560,"height":1920},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-black-activist-group-biden-remains-the-front-runner\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"For one black activist group, Biden remains the front-runner"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/d9cdd2de70b29bb4f9099ebce6ecceb1","name":"areebashah2020","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cbda57aceb92e40959645681d940da7a84bdf03f63da03221ce617993d7638a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cbda57aceb92e40959645681d940da7a84bdf03f63da03221ce617993d7638a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"areebashah2020"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/areebashah2020\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/607"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85437"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85669,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85437\/revisions\/85669"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}