Eyes on 2020 An in-depth look at the candidates vying for the highest office in the land in 2020. Prev Next View All

In an exclusive interview with The Root, presidential candidate Andrew Yang said that he is open to opening a federal inquiry into why the residents of Flint, Mich., have gone years without clean drinking water and agrees that environmental racism is behind the lack of a sequent response to the crisis.



Furthermore, he said that he would use federal dollars to repair Flint’s infrastructure if the state of Michigan does not sufficiently do that job. To prove that the water is clean after the fact, Yang said his two young children would drink from the tap.


He also told us about whether he supports reparations, what makes his economic policies different from Sen. Bernie Sanders’, and his views on whether policing in America can be reformed.

Here is a time code key for each of the subjects we discussed with Yang:



1:25: What is “human-centered capitalism?”

6:30: Yang addresses report that black median wealth will drop to zero by 2053

7:57: Racial wealth gap and Freedom Dividend

8:47: Addressing how the plan would help black people

10:00: Does he support reparations?

11:51: Plan for funding HBCUs

14:24: Climate justice for black communities

15:51: Plan for Flint

19:06: How racism factors into the Flint water crisis

19:50: Yang talks about his experiences with racism

21:38: Is America ready for its first Asian-American president?

22:10: Yang’s views on police reform

25:05: Why his economic plan is more modern and effective than Bernie Sanders’ plans


25:57: Response to controversial tweet about the white death rate