If only Joe Biden gave Black men the same gift he gave his son | Opinion

It shouldn’t be lost on anyone that before Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president, chose Joe Biden as a running mate, Black people were skeptical of him. We had not forgotten he was an architect of the 1994 crime bill that devastated our communities, further entrenched racial injustice and supercharged mass incarceration. Nevertheless, in 2020 most of us were convinced it would take a non-scary white man to defeat Donald Trump. Despite the country’s progress, race still matters this deep into the 21st century. That’s true even though Obama was elected twice, and in part because he was. Time has proven us correct.

Biden pardoning his son, Hunter, while having an abysmal commutation record is not a surprise. It would be silly to be shocked that a wealthy, powerful man made such a choice. Biden has a strong argument that the incoming Trump administration would have likely targeted Hunter — Donald Trump has repeatedly made clear he will be targeting political opponents — or that his son faced gun charges for political reasons. Legal analysts have said Hunter is being treated unfairly.

But I know of men sitting in South Carolina and federal prisons who did not commit the crimes for which they were convicted. Because they are Black and come from struggling families, they likely won’t receive the gift Joe Biden just gave Hunter.

The president loves his son and ensured he would spend no time behind bars. Jamar Huggin’s family loves him, too. Still, the Conway, S.C. man hasn’t been saved from a 15-year-prison sentence he did not deserve. He has neither the wealth nor connections to the powerful — or the right skin tone — to be as lucky as Hunter, who grew up privileged but has lived a troubled life.

Huggins was convicted of a home invasion he didn’t commit, the only evidence against him the word of a woman experiencing addiction who recanted on the stand and later signed an affidavit attesting to his innocence once she got clean. I highlighted Huggin’s plight in a series of newspaper stories and in a book. A University of South Carolina professor dedicated a podcast to Huggins. And yet, he remains in a prison cell. He’s not alone. Black families such as the Huggins have experienced more injustice than justice from the criminal legal system.

Young Black men are the most likely to be falsely accused and convicted. That’s why they make up the highest percentage of the exonerated. Even Black boys from wealthy families are more often treated harshly by the system than white boys growing up in poverty. It’s why groups are urging Biden to increase his dismal pardon rate. That wouldn’t right all the wrongs of a system in need of an extreme overhaul which never seems politically plausible or popular.

Make no mistake. I’m not falling for conservatives’ phony outrage. They can cry me a river. Just last month they made it clear they don’t care about presidents abusing power. Their pearl clutching shouldn’t exempt Biden from using his final weeks in office repairing some of the damage his previous political choices caused in the communities of those who gave him access to the Oval Office. They gave him a second chance. He must make it his final mission to do the same for others — and not just his son.

This story was originally published December 4, 2024 at 5:00 AM.