Actually, Hillary, Hearts Do Change

On August 11th, Hillary Clinton met privately with five Black Lives Matter activists in Keene, New Hampshire. The activists had arrived at Clinton’s campaign stop shortly before it was to begin, but they were not allowed to enter because the room was filled to capacity. So the campaign reached out to the activists and arranged a time for a meeting after the event. Last week, video of the sixteen-minute, behind-closed-doors conversation was released. Clinton appeared measured and tense at times, holding her hands tightly in front of her. She listened carefully to the activists and gave thoughtful, unscripted, and sometimes impassioned answers to questions about her past support for policies that have harmed communities of color.

One activist, Daunasia Yancey, pressed Clinton on her role in creating a system that continues to be unfairly punitive to African-Americans. Black Lives Matter activists have good reason to scrutinize Clinton’s previous endorsement of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, signed by President Bill Clinton. The U.S. prison system became the largest in the world during the Clinton Administration, with more people in prison or jail than ever before in American history. It was her husband’s bill, but, as First Lady, Hillary Clinton lobbied for its passage. Speaking at the annual conference of the National Center for Women and Policing, in 1994, for example, she said, “We need more police; we need more and tougher prison sentences for repeat offenders.”

During the backstage meeting after her campaign event, Clinton made an honest, candid effort to explain to the activists that the crime bill—one of the most comprehensive pieces of criminal-justice legislation in U.S. history—was a sincere attempt to address a particular set of problems that emerged during the nineteen-eighties and nineties. At three hundred and fifty-six pages, the bill included provisions that aimed to protect vulnerable populations and reduce crime, such as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, the establishment of registries for sex offenders, the Violence Against Women Act, and penalty enhancements for hate crimes. ...

To read the complete essay by History Professor Allyson Hobbs, vist the New Yorker website.