SerpApi.Org
Hundreds filed into Disciple Central Community Church in DeSoto on Monday night to ask James Talarico how he is going to support Black Texans if elected to the U.S. Senate.
Talarico, a Democratic state representative from the Austin area, faces Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Nov. 3.
At the town hall, voters expressed interest in his plans to continue to fight for Black Texans’ rights, and asked how he plans to keep conversations with those communities alive if elected. Two-thirds of the residents in DeSoto are Black.
His continued response was to accurately represent Texas; it requires showing up and investing in Black communities, he said.
One person asked specifically how he is going to make sure that Black voters aren’t taken advantage of by his policies.
Talarico said Democrats must confront the truth of their history of taking Black voters for granted.
“I am committed to not repeating those mistakes,” he said. “It’s why we’re having this conversation tonight. It’s why we have been competing for Black votes all over the state.”
He added that his campaign will spend $25 million on outreach to Black voters, which he says is the largest investment in outreach to the Black community in Texas history.
“We need to make sure that this campaign is reflective of the diversity of this beautiful state,” Talarico said. ”It is impossible for any one person to reflect that diversity, and it’s why we need to build a campaign that reflects that diversity. “
When Talarico was asked about reparations for the Black community he said that repairing past harms is part of his faith.
He said we have to correct the injustices of our past whether it’s by tuition relief, homeownership grants, or baby bonds to ensure that we are helping to build that generational wealth.
“Until we, as a society, are committed to righting those past wrongs of restoring our Black communities, we’re never going to be able to get this country back on track,” he said.
Talarico’s campaign has historically focussed on the importance of the public education system and affordable healthcare for all.
A resident of Cedar Hill asked him what he plans to do to help repair the “broken healthcare system“ in the United States.
“Healthcare is a human right, it is not a privilege,” Talarico said. “This is an emergency across the state of Texas, and I think what you’re seeing as part of this campaign is people coming together: Black, white, brown, rural, urban, suburban, Democrats, infants, and Republicans who are rejecting the extremism and the corruption in our government, and who are ready to fight to make sure that healthcare is truly a human right for every single person in this state.”
In response to a question about how he will ensure that all federal funding for schools is held to the same requirements, he said state funded private school vouchers are part of the problem.
“The states that have tried these private school voucher stands, they tend to reject our students with disabilities, our students with special needs, our students with special education. They take the students who are the easiest to teach and whose parents can afford the gap between the voucher and the tuition bill,” He said.
He added that this system benefits those who can already afford private school and takes money away from public schools that aim to serve everyone.
“It’s immoral. It is unconscionable. It’s unacceptable. And I hope that I can be part, as well as everybody in this room, of a movement that takes back the state and repeals this insane powerful program,” Talarico said.
Asked whether he thinks teachers should be allowed to cross dress at school, he said they should “probably do that at home and not bring it to work.” He also said that cynical politicians have been using the LGBTQ+ community as a way to create division at a time when we must be united.
“Now, I want to make sure that our public schools are for education, not indoctrination. This is why I have fought this Christian nationalist agenda to shove religion down the throats of our students,” he said.
Talarico told the Star-Telegram he is hoping to schedule a similar event to last night’s town hall in Fort Worth, adding that Fort Worth means a lot to him.
“My grandparents lived in Fort Worth when I was growing up, and so I spent a lot of time in Cowtown, and I understand the needs of people in Fort Worth,” Talarico said.
