Why you should vote for Biden, and why that should be just your first step

EDITORIAL: Why you should vote for Biden, and why that should be just your first step – The Bowdoin Orient

OPINION

11/6/20, 12:04 PM

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EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL: Why you should vote for
Biden, and why that should be just your first
step
By Editorial Board
October 30, 2020

This piece represents the opinion of the Bowdoin Orient Editorial Board.

We are facing one of the most consequential
elections in American history, and we find ourselves
in a moment where our democracy is profoundly
threatened. This is it. We cannot expect to be
supported by the leaders in our supposedly
democratic system; during Senate hearings for the
appointment to the highest court of the land, our
new Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett
failed to name one of the five protections
guaranteed under the First Amendment: the right
to protest.
What she was not able to remember, we cannot
afford to forget. Protesting has been, and absolutely
should be, at the forefront of American minds. As
this monumental election approaches, our country
has had many reasons to protest—and will face
many more.
On Monday afternoon, the nation watched the
murder of Walter Wallace Jr., a 27-year-old Black
man, at the hands of the police. In the days that
followed, people have taken to the streets of
Philadelphia in response to this unjust killing,
carrying out the same essential rights that were
grossly forgotten by Barrett just weeks before.
https://bowdoinorient.com/2020/10/30/why-you-should-vote-for-biden-and-why-that-should-be-just-your-first-step/

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EDITORIAL: Why you should vote for Biden, and why that should be just your first step – The Bowdoin Orient

11/6/20, 12:04 PM

At Haverford College, five miles from where Walter
Wallace Jr. was murdered, the campus has erupted
into protest over the murder, and over the college
administration’s response. Haverford is now in the
midst of a strike, as students refuse to participate in
campus jobs, classes, athletics or activities until the
campus administration recognizes a list of demands
formed by BIPOC students. The strike is calling for
tangible institutional change for Black students, as
well as recognition for the labor of BIPOC students
and staff.
On our own campus, we similarly have the
opportunity to call out structures of power. In the
event of an election where results are challenged,
votes are not counted or people of color are
intimidated at the polls, we cannot accept injustice.
Institutions or candidates that actively support
systems of white supremacy and injustice must be
targeted and held accountable for their actions.
Bowdoin is not exempt from this.
Sunrise Bowdoin is encouraging students to take
action in the coming weeks in case vote counting is
prematurely stopped or state legislatures begin
dismissing votes. In the case of this injustice,
Sunrise Bowdoin is encouraging students to strike
from all classes for one day and continue
subsequently with other nonviolent actions. We
endorse this course of action. In the case of the
obstruction of democracy, Bowdoin students should
exercise their right to protest.
Put simply, all people deserve a democracy where
they feel safe and able to express their opinions and
political preferences. If this is not the case, and the
country falls further into authoritarianism, we must
advocate for one another and display our outrage
and disapproval.

https://bowdoinorient.com/2020/10/30/why-you-should-vote-for-biden-and-why-that-should-be-just-your-first-step/

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EDITORIAL: Why you should vote for Biden, and why that should be just your first step – The Bowdoin Orient

11/6/20, 12:04 PM

In addition to protest, though, many of us have
another democratic right that we cannot fail to
exercise: voting.
We, the Bowdoin Orient Editorial Board, voice our
endorsement of Joe Biden for President of the
United States and Senator Kamala Harris for Vice
President. We cannot accept a fascist leader who
openly supports white supremacist groups.
Compared to Trump, Joe Biden is the preferable
candidate, and he is, in fact, the only choice in this
moment for upholding anything resembling a
democratic system.
But, it is also important to remember that Biden’s
presidency will present its own set of issues. A vote
for Biden, for many groups and communities, is a
painful one, and not all who are voting for him
support his platform. Many of us supported other
candidates in the Democratic primary. But we have
together chosen to make a sacrifice to vote for a
candidate with a platform that is clearly preferable
to Trump’s.
However, a vote for Biden is only the first step.
Additional steps are required to create a sound and
anti-racist democracy.
What is your post-election plan? How will you
continue—or start—to hold accountable structures
of power? We encourage you, and ourselves, to take
the time to question how we will participate in
democracy after the election. Just as we rejected
systemic racism and inequality under a Trump
administration, we must reject them under a Biden
administration.
We must remember our First Amendment rights,
and we must remind those who forget or ignore
them. We must act, and,no matter what happens
https://bowdoinorient.com/2020/10/30/why-you-should-vote-for-biden-and-why-that-should-be-just-your-first-step/

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EDITORIAL: Why you should vote for Biden, and why that should be just your first step – The Bowdoin Orient

11/6/20, 12:04 PM

next Tuesday, we must continue to dissent.
This editorial represents the majority view of the
Orient’s Editorial Board, which is comprised of Sofie
Brown, Sophie Burchell, Tucker Ellis, Julia Jennings,
Diego Lasarte, Nina McKay, Sam Pausman, Ayub
Tahlil and Juliana Vandermark.

https://bowdoinorient.com/2020/10/30/why-you-should-vote-for-biden-and-why-that-should-be-just-your-first-step/

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