VP Candidate Gov. Walz of Minn. Established His State’s “George Floyd Remembrance Day”

By Hazel Trice Edney
TriceEdneyWire.com

Vice President Kamala Harris, now the official Democratic nominee for President of the United States, has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice-presidential running mate, establishing the full ticket to run against former President Donald Trump and Sen. J. D. Vance (R-Ohio) in the Nov. 5 election.

Democrats now will head for a Chicago convention August 19-22 where Harris will become the first Black woman and first Indian American to win the presidential nomination of a major political party. She is the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father.

This, no doubt, will begin a hard-fought race against Trump and Vance, both of whom have proven to be candidates willing to say just about anything – including attack Harris’ race and gender – with hopes to win far right voters and Trump’s base supporters. However, those tactics could easily backfire, given her running mate’s background.

Harris’ choice of  Walz will no doubt resonate with Black and progressive voters across the nation largely due to his sensitivity to key issues. On May 25th this year, Walz issued a proclamation, declaring a George Floyd Remembrance Day. Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, by police officer Derek Chauvin who callously knelt on his neck.

“George Floyd’s murder ignited a global movement, accentuating the systemic racism that Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color have endured for centuries,” Walz stated in the proclamation. “We must continue to do everything in our power to deconstruct systemic racism and inequities in our state …”

Until now, Walz, a former high school social studies teacher, football coach, and retired sergeant major in the Army National Guard,  has been relatively unknown on a national stage. Recently his description of Trump-Vance as “weird” has caught hold on social media and beyond.

Having run in a largely Republican district, Walz spent six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before being elected Minnesota governor in 2018, largely due to votes from the suburbs of Minneapolis, according to the New York Times. He was re-elected in 2022.

Walz, 60, has led on other issues important to the Black community, including a $15-an-hour minimum wage. The organizing of unions, workers’ rights and free breakfast and lunch for school children.

The Walz selection was applauded by former President Barack Obama, said to have advised Harris as she decided between the vice-presidential candidates.

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“By selecting Tim Walz to be her vice president from a pool of outstanding Democrats, Kamala Harris has chosen an ideal partner – and made it clear exactly what she stands for,” said a statement from Barack and Michelle Obama.

“Governor Walz doesn’t just have the experience to be vice president, he has the values and the integrity to make us proud. As governor, Tim helped families and businesses recover from the pandemic, established paid family leave, guaranteed the right to an abortion, and put common sense gun safety measures in place to keep communities safe. But Tim’s signature is his ability to talk like a human being and treat everyone with decency and respect – not all that surprising considering the fact that he served in the National Guard for 24 years and worked as a high school social studies teacher and football coach before being elected to Congress.

“Like Vice President Harris, Governor Walz believes that government works to serve us. Not just some of us, but all of us. That’s what makes him an outstanding governor, and that’s what will make him an even better vice president, ready on day one. Michelle and I couldn’t be happier for Tim and Gwen, their family, and our country.”

The entry of Vice President Harris, a graduate of Howard University, an HBCU, into the race since President Joe Biden decided not to run, has – in just a few weeks – infused powerful new life and excitement into the race, initially between Biden and Trump. The choice of her vice presidential running mate was her first major decision.

The murder of George Floyd by now convicted and imprisoned former police officer Derek Chauvin at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic quickly became an iconic symbol of long standing injustices by police in the Black community. In the Black community, much vetting will now take place of Tim Walz. But he is already getting wide applause that might help Harris’ election which will not happen without vast Black support.

“Gov. Walz shows what our communities can look like when we lead with empathy. He is a labor champion who will take pro-worker values with him to the White House. Together with Kamala Harris, they will defend our freedoms — to care for our families, to have a voice on the job, to thrive. We look forward mobilizing the full strength of our union to ensure that this dynamic ticket wins on November 5,” said Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), in a statement.

“Tim Walz personifies what public service is all about: Doing for others and never leaving anyone behind. He learned these values while serving in the National Guard, and he lived them as a teacher and football coach in Mankato, Minnesota. He has always been the first to lend a helping hand in his community, and today, this is how he governs – empowering worker voices and defending those who have made public service a career,” Saunders continues.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, also applauded Walz:

“Four years ago, we stood in Minneapolis to demand justice for George Floyd and accountability for not only the officer who murdered him, but his colleagues who stood idly by. We were honest about Governor Walz’s response, and he heard the calls we made for actual justice.

“Governor Walz tapped Attorney General Ellison to lead the investigation as a direct result of our advocacy in the streets and in the halls over government. I learned then that he was a man who will listen and do what is right by those he represents. A year later, justice like we had rarely ever seen was delivered for George Floyd, his family, and this nation,” Sharpton said in a statement.

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“We can count on Governor Walz to take that same kind of open approach as Kamala Harris’ vice president. He will be a trusted partner for her as she leads the nation through one of its greatest challenges in history. Governor Walz has already shown he isn’t afraid to take on those who want to move our country backward, which will only be in asset in moving us forward.

“You can already see he is ready and willing to support Kamala Harris as she seeks to become the first Black female President, knocking down one of the greatest barriers in the process.”