Vice President Kamala Harris hit the Peach State on Monday, rolling out the red carpet for small businesses in Atlanta, as she amplified the Biden administration's economic agenda, particularly for minority and Black-owned enterprises during a panel at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park, "None of us have achieved success without support. None of us," she iterated, according to WABE report, emphasizing the disparities in access to opportunities for entrepreneurial success.
The Vice President's Georgia jaunt marked her third for the year, spotlighting the administration's strides including the fastest creation of Black-owned small businesses in over three decades, the all-time low Black unemployment, and an uptick in Black family wealth post-pandemic; meanwhile, President Joe Biden plans an Atlanta stop on May 19 at Morehouse College, as top dogs like Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su have all graced Atlanta recently, reflecting the administration's keen interest in Georgia's pivotal electoral landscape, where Republican rivals, particularly former President Donald Trump, are hustling to swing the state back to GOP territory, with Trump holding a 4% lead over Biden in the latest polls from Real Clear Politics.
Harris paid particular attention to Atlanta's "The Stitch," a downtown park project backed by a hefty $158 million Department of Transportation grant meant to mend the scars of discriminatory urban planning that once divided minority communities in the city; "So what we have been doing through our infrastructure bill is putting resources into basically reconnecting communities," Harris said, according to WABE.
In a climate where the administration's policy moves are under the conservative microscope, the visits to Georgia by Harris and other Cabinet members highlight a strategic push, not just policy-wise, with Atlanta's Stitch project just one of the many initiatives borne from their $2 billion infrastructure plan aimed at reversing the toll of past discrimination on transportation access, Buttigieg stood his ground during a gathering of Black mayors, stating, "It brings people closer to grocery stores and doctor’s offices," and "It reduces the pollution that kids breathe. And it brings economic development back to neighborhoods," as reported by WABE.
Meanwhile, local conservatives, like Tony West of the Georgia chapter of Americans for Progress, balk at what they dub 'Bidenomics', attributing sluggish economic growth and the pinch on Georgian's pockets to the administration's policies, "If Vice President Harris was serious about economic opportunity, she’d stop boosting ‘Bidenomics’ and instead focus on expanding the freedoms that foster economic opportunity," West commented, signaling a battleground of values and visions as the Vice President's tour is poised to roll onto Detroit next week.
