PENNSYLVANIA — This Black History Month, we are celebrating the contributions of Black Pennsylvanians while recognizing the constant inequities and systemic racism that Black Americans overcome every day. Black history is Pennsylvania history, and Democrats across the commonwealth at every level are committed to supporting our Black elected officials and all those fighting for policies that work to end systemic racism and pervasive inequity.
Read more about how the Biden-Harris administration and Democrats in Congress are delivering for Black Pennsylvanians:
Reversing Decades of Disinvestment: For far too long, neglect of our country’s infrastructure has disproportionately impacted communities of color. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will tackle this by replacing lead pipes, increasing access to good-paying jobs, expanding affordable high-speed internet, providing reliable public transit, delivering clean drinking water, and reconnecting Black neighborhoods divided by legacy highway infrastructure. In Pennsylvania alone, this historic proposal invests more than $17 billion in critical infrastructure and works to reconnect communities divided by racist and outdated urban planning.
Improving Health Outcomes: President Biden’s American Rescue Plan increased affordability and access to health care coverage for historically uninsured communities – improving opportunities for equal access to health care during and beyond this pandemic. From the ARP, 360,000 uninsured Black Americans became eligible to save money for health care coverage.
Creating Economic Opportunity: The ARP provided cash relief directly to low- and middle-income Americans and has cut Black child poverty by 30.2%. In October 2021 alone, the ARP lifted more than 1 million Black children out of poverty across the country. This critical pandemic relief also increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by 15% through September 2021. From the rescue plan, President Biden reduced food insecurity in Black households – which nationally had been double the rate of white households.
Ensuring Equitable Education: The American Rescue Plan provided hundreds of billions of dollars to ensure that students were able to safely remain in school, while also investing in education at every level – protecting low-income elementary and secondary schools from future disproportionate funding cuts and increasing funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
Redefining Criminal Justice: President Biden is working to reform our criminal justice system at the federal level, implementing new bans including the use of chokeholds and carotid restraints – except where force is necessary. He has also pledged not to renew contracts for privately-operated prisons and appointed more Black women to the U.S. Court of Appeals than any other administration in history.
Equitable Covid Response: The American Rescue Plan included funding to improve outreach for and access to vaccines in communities of color, an effort that zero Republicans supported. In January 2021, President Biden created a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force to provide specific recommendations for mitigating the health inequities caused or exacerbated by this pandemic and for preventing such inequities in the future.
Honoring Juneteenth: President Biden signed legislation making Juneteenth, a day we remember the emancipation of slaves in the United States and reaffirm our commitment to equality, a federal holiday.
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