African Americans trust and support Joe Biden — and Bernie Sanders’ dirty tactics won’t change that

For more than 30 years I have worked around the clock organizing and activating voters in South Carolina with my renowned “Reckoning Crew.”

We have hit the ground for local races, presidential races and everything in between — knocking on doors in rural communities and making phone calls into urban neighborhoods. We have had big wins and suffered some tough losses, but we are lucky to speak with so many voters in our communities.

It is safe to say that I know what South Carolina voters are looking for in 2020.

Our country is torn apart, and this election is not a game for people like me. That’s why I have told every candidate that I have met the same thing: we have to stick together.

We have to stay focused.

Some candidates get it, and some candidates just don’t.

I’m disappointed to see that Sen. Bernie Sanders and his campaign have taken their eyes off of the ball. Instead of taking the fight to President Donald Trump, they have turned to tearing down their own.

I’m disappointed, but I’m not surprised; it seems that Sanders has learned nothing from 2016.

Sanders’ divisive and baseless attacks won’t get him anywhere in the Palmetto State. And Sanders is proving to us —once again — that he just does not know or understand South Carolina voters.

By contrast former Vice President Joe Biden knows us like the back of his hand. And we know him.

Joe has more relationships in our communities than anyone else in this race.

He has more history with our communities than anyone else in this race.

And Joe is more comfortable in our communities than anyone else in this race.

To say that Joe has betrayed black voters is not only dangerous, it is flat-out wrong. We already know his character, his heart and his record; you can’t try to make us believe something that runs counter to our own experiences with Joe Biden.

Not only has Joe spent his entire career fighting for civil rights, voting rights, equal justice and equal opportunity, it is what brought him into public service in the first place. In fact, Joe led the charge as a United States senator to extend and strengthen the Voting Rights Act in 1982.

He has fought for more resources to prosecute hate crimes, including resources for the Justice Department and FBI to reopen painful, unsolved murders from the civil rights era.

And in one of the greatest achievements of his career, Joe forged a path for the protection of women and girls — including women of color — by writing and spearheading the Violence Against Women Act.

Here’s what I don’t understand: If Joe Biden wasn’t a champion for black America, why did Barack Obama, our nation’s first African American president, choose Joe to be his vice president?

In my lifetime Joe’s steadfast support as Obama’s No. 2 was unprecedented; it was one of the first occasions when people who look like me were able to see a white man standing proudly and loyally behind a black man. And I can tell you this: South Carolina voters will never forget that.

From Obamacare to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and more, the Obama-Biden administration’s progress was a big deal for communities of color both in South Carolina and across the country. But that progress would not have been possible without working across the aisle — and with people they disagreed with.

Bipartisanship isn’t a dirty word in South Carolina; it’s leadership.

Down here, we do it every day.

And make no mistake about it: Sen. Sanders’ dirty tactics and cheap shots against his fellow Democrats only help Donald Trump.

So enough with all the foolishness.

We have to stay focused.

If we don’t, Trump will laugh his way to a second term.

We have a choice between someone who will keep us divided versus someone who will bring us together.

Joe Biden is the person who will bring us together.

Bernice Scott is a former longtime member of Richland County Council and was the first African American to serve as its chair. She is the founder of the “Reckoning Crew,” a major advocacy group in South Carolina.

This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 5:30 AM.