Biden: “I never had to tell my daughter if she’s pulled over to put both hands on top of the wheel and don’t reach for the glove box because they may shoot you.”

Trump: “I do” understand what Black families go through. “Nobody has done more for the Black community than me” pic.twitter.com/dBb3b9UAA3

— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) October 23, 2020

In the second general election presidential debate, moderator Kristen Welker gives both candidates the opportunity to address directly parents who are forced to have “the talk” with their children about being targeted unjustly based on the color of their skin. Biden responds by noting his own white privilege: “I never had to tell my daughter if she’s pulled over, make sure she puts, for a traffic stop, put both hands on top of the wheel. And don’t reach for the glove box because someone may shoot you.” He explains, “The fact of the matter is there is institutional racism in America,” adding that we have never lived up to the Constitution’s declaration of universal equality. Trump responds by attacking Biden’s record on racial justice issues and touting his own, saying: “Nobody has done more for the Black community than Donald Trump. And if you look, with the exception of Abraham Lincoln–possible exception, but the exception of Abraham Lincoln, nobody has done what I’ve done.” Trump notes the passage of a criminal justice reform law and his investment in historically Black colleges and universities. In his rebuttal, Biden defends his record and raises Trump’s efforts to sentence the “Central Park Five,” five young Black men accused and convicted of a murder they did not commit, to death. It is notable that Trump does neither addresses the issue of “the talk” directly nor invokes his own role as a parent, especially of a young son.