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Aside from the deep throated coughing that made me suspicious of Biden's COVID status, his recent comments lived up to my image of him. In an interview with Charlamagne Tha God on Breakfast Club, presumptive democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden offered a manifesto for Black people.

The caucasity!

My forever first lady Michelle Obama said, “When they go low, we go high.” Joe Biden’s strategy is if Hillary Clinton panders on the Breakfast Club, he’ll insult us.

Joe Biden is the guy who calls his neighbor the N-word for driving a Cadillac, then claims he can’t be racist because he has a Black friend. Since Black lives only seem to matter when it comes to elections, I wrote a manifesto for Joe Biden.

First of all, a manifesto is meant to be a public declaration of your intended policies. Any policy for Black people that does not begin with reparations as part of amends for slavery is doomed to revert to white supremacy ideologies. As Roland Martin showed us, Joe Biden does not care about Black folks getting reparations. He just wants to study it. Joe Biden does not care about the institutional generational theft of wealth from Black families. Joe Biden thinks slavery was a form of immigration.

Because of your half-stepping on reparations, I am calling on you to donate your salary to Black folks living in Delaware — the state where you claim to have such a solid grip on Black residents as its long-term senator.

Joe, you do not, will not and cannot represent the best interest of Black people. You supported a crime bill that substantially depreciated Black wealth for decades. When asked about your responsibility in the criminalization of Black and poor folks, you categorically denied involvement by saying that the “crime bill didn’t increase mass incarceration.” It has been widely proved and accepted by the ACLU, the National Research Council, FactCheck.org, Vox News and hundreds (if not thousands) of scholars.

Because you lack even the most basic understanding of cause and effect, I am calling for you to have a Louisiana Superdome full of seats and invest all remaining campaign dollars into a BLM-led long-term safety strategy for local restorative justice, universal health care and culturally competent education.

Joe Biden, you are not a friend to Black victims of injustice. Hell, I would rather elect Joe Buddon. My colleagues and I have researched and found no evidence of Joe Biden working to support the #FreeKenny or #JusticeForBre efforts. How is it that fellow democrat Kamala Harris got the memo and you didn’t? Why do Black government officials like Keisha Dorsey and Jessica Green have the courage to stand up to police brutality, but you don’t? Joe, why aren’t you speaking out against #BrettMylesandJon? You scared? Or is it that you don’t care?

Because of your inability to put your white privilege on the line on behalf of the Black people you claim to know so well, I demand that you drop out of the race and endorse a Black person who would be better suited to address our needs.

You questioned our blackness, my guy. And keep your little raggedy non-apology because we all know you will remain silent about Black suffering until it's time to insult us or pander for a vote. In the tradition of Ellen, and so many Karens throughout history, we do not accept your apology.

In case you missed it, here’s what he said (after Black folks complained):

“I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy,” Mr. Biden said in a call with the U.S. Black Chambers. “I shouldn’t have been so cavalier.” He later said that he had not been expected to join the call, a possible sign of a hastily arranged appearance.

#NoJoe. You were not just about being a “wise guy.” That excuse is equivalent to the dudes who make an unwanted lewd comment, then claim they were just joking. Malcolm X demonstrated the ways Black folks have historically been used as collateral by any of those “good white folks.”

“The white liberal differs from the white conservative only in one way. The liberal is more deceitful, more hypocritical than the conservative. Both want power, but the white liberal is the one who has perfected the art of posing as the negro’s friend and benefactor. And by winning the friendship and support of the negro, the white liberal is able to use the negro as a pawn or a weapon in this political football game.”

Here is your mirror, Joe. Take this manifesto to heart.

Shauntrice Martin

Writing since November 2016 · 2 stories contributed