Molly Prince, DCNF

Democratic California Sen. Kamala Harris ceremonially kicked off her 2020 presidential campaign Sunday with a speech that focused on racism and police brutality.

“Let’s speak the truth that too many unarmed black men and women are killed in America,” Harris told the crowd in California. “Too many black and brown Americans are being locked up from mass incarceration, to cash bail, to policing, our criminal justice system needs drastic repair. Let’s speak that truth.”

Harris spoke about various issues such as Medicare for all, universal pre-K and climate change, however, racism was a theme thread throughout the more than 35 minute campaign speech.

The California senator, who officially announced her 2020 presidential bid on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, referred to racism, along with other forms of bigotry, as “age old forms of hate with new fuel.”

“I’m running to fight for an America where no mother or father has to teach their young son that people may stop him, arrest him, chase him or kill him because of his race,” Harris said.

Harris further refrained from referring to President Donald Trump by name, however, she positioned herself as a response to the current White House and invoked the election as a “fight for the people to hold this administration accountable.”

“People in power are trying to convince us that the villain in our American story is each other,” Harris said. “But that is not our story. That is not who we are. That’s not our America. You see, our United States of America is not about us versus them. It’s about ‘we, the people.’”

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