Yahoo Finance Presents: Valerie Jarrett

In this episode of Yahoo Finance Presents, Kristin Myers speaks with former Senior Adviser to President Obama, Valerie Jarrett, about issues of race and equality in American society.

Video Transcript

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KRISTIN MYERS: Welcome to Yahoo Finance. I'm Kristin Myers. Joining me now, we have Valerie Jarrett, Former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama and author of the book "Finding my Voice: When The Perfect Plan Crumbles, the Adventure Begins." Valerie, thank you so much for joining us today.

VALERIE JARRETT: My pleasure, Kristin. Good afternoon to you.

KRISTIN MYERS: So I want to start off with the protests that we are seeing around the country. What have your thoughts been over the last couple of days and weeks as we've seen thousands of protesters taking to the streets and calls for various initiatives around criminal justice and prison reform?

VALERIE JARRETT: Well, it's about time. And, well, Kristin, I'm old enough to remember the civil rights movement. And all of the momentum that was generated there, and obviously, there was appreciable progress that we've made. This feels different because we're seeing demonstrations in all 50 states. People of all races, backgrounds, ages, and that is incredibly positive.

I also think that those demonstrations have yielded results right away. To start with Minnesota, where the attorney general there, Keith Ellison, took the case away from the local prosecutors, brought charges swiftly against all four of the police involved in George Floyd's death, upped the charge against the principal officer involved.

That's the kind of swiftness that I think people know resulted from the pressure. We've seen in cities around the country already banned the chokehold, states do the same. The federal government is looking at a bipartisan bill and police reform, something you would not have imagined six months ago.

So I think that those positive changes have actually encouraged protesters to continue this effort, recognizing that their pressure is yielding results. And then of course, we've seen the business community respond as well. I was just watching the news and seeing that Starbucks has reversed their position on Black Lives Matter t-shirts being worn by their workers.

We've seen philanthropic proposals by the business community. And I encourage the business community to also look at their own house and see if it's in order. What are they doing to promote not just diversity, but inclusion in their culture and in their practices? So there's a lot that can be done, and it feels different this time.

And I'm hesitant to say we've reached the turning point. But I do think this is more than an inflection. I do think it's the beginning of a turning point. And the question question will be, can we sustain this effort over time.

KRISTIN MYERS: So I'm actually glad that you managed that, because I was actually going to ask you if you felt optimistic that this is that moment for change. Do you share that optimism when you're looking at Congress that something legislatively will be able to be done moving forward, especially with a president like President Trump, and the lack of unity between Republicans and Democrats in terms of reaching across the aisle to work going forward?

VALERIE JARRETT: Yes. Well, I think it would send a very positive signal if Congress were to legislate on a national basis some changes. But I also would remind you and your viewers that most of the law enforcement agencies are at the local level. The federal law enforcement is relatively small.

Now, what they could do is set some parameters so into which local law enforcement would have to behave in order to get federal resources. I also think that the Justice Department, the Federal Justice Department, could do more to both support reforms within local law enforcement agencies, and also look at whether there are patterns and practices of discrimination, as they did in the Justice Department that President Obama during his administration.

And if there are patterns and practices, then take those agencies to court, have a court order supervise how those reforms are done. So there are both carrots and sticks that could be provided at the federal level. But I also think that every city council should-- and mayor, should be looking at how they allocate their resources.

Is it done in a way-- it is consistent with the values of the residents of those municipalities and the priorities that are set? And they should be reviewing, for example, use of force. President Obama last week called on mayors around our country to review use of force with the residents of the community who are going to be directly affected by those uses of force and determine whether or not they have it right. And there are reforms necessary. So there is a lot that can be done at the local level, as well as carrot and stick from the federal government.

KRISTIN MYERS: So speaking on that local level, you know, there's been a growing call and a growing movement to essentially defund the police. And I know you don't support that move exactly. I'm wondering if you can just elaborate a little bit on why not.

VALERIE JARRETT: Well, what I was saying, I think, is what we need. So it's not more or less money. It's money appropriately used. So for example, I think we need more resources for recruitment and background checks. There should be a national register so that we could track police misconduct, so they aren't simply able to leave one municipality and go to another.

Concrete example would be Tamir Rice, 12-year-old boy, black boy, who was shot and killed in Cleveland, Ohio. The officer who killed him had been fired from the police force in Independence, Ohio, just a suburb of Cleveland. But there wasn't a system to check the background check.

So there, I think we need more resources. I think we need more resources and training, both deescalation and looking at implicit biases. The police department, we know, is a microcosm of society. And so that everybody has implicit biases. What are we doing to train officers? We give them-- they take an oath to serve and protect, we give them a badge and a gun, and then we send them out.

And are we protecting them and preparing them for the work that we want them to do? Now, by the same token, Kristin, I would say, we ask our police officers to do stuff that's way beyond their scope. And maybe what would be more appropriate is a social worker to show up on some of these calls, somebody who can help people who are homeless get to a shelter, people who have substance abuse problems, get them into a treatment program.

Young folks who are not in school, rather than expelling them and suspending them, let's get them back in school so that they're not going to get in trouble on the streets. And so therefore, maybe we would want to divert some resources to those functions. And so it's really-- I hesitate to say more or less funding. It's really smart funding, where the goals of the citizens are aligned with what the police do.

But let's face it. If somebody breaks into your home, you're going to call 911. And we've seen what happens, going back to the horrendous example that, well, there are so many examples of where people take law into their own hands, right? I was thinking about Trayvon Martin. Ahmaud Arbery, again, people who decide on their own that they're going to act as though they're law enforcement. Well, that's not acceptable either.

So let's be smart about it, let's be thoughtful about it, and let's engage with the community. Because what you really want is an integrity to the system so that the residents buy into it. You do not-- you want a just system, not an unjust system. You want equity, not discrimination.

And so it's complicated, but it's also, in a sense, there are roadmaps out there, like the 21st Century Policing Task Force that was created under President Obama that has been continued under the umbrella of the Leadership Conference.

These are the steps that make for a stronger bond of trust between police and communities of color. And everybody should go home safe. Police should go home safe to their families, and certainly the residents who are expecting to be served and protected should go safe as well.

KRISTIN MYERS: So I want to kind of call out the example of what happened in Camden, New Jersey, where they actually decided to disband their police force entirely, and then essentially start from scratch, rehiring new officers, creating totally new protocols when it came to use of force. Is that an idea that you might support at some police departments across the country?

VALERIE JARRETT: I actually visited Camden, New Jersey with President Obama when he was in office. We visited with their then police chief, who was a very creative, progressive chief who was looking at community policing. He even did implement community policing.

He used technology in a way that helped him direct resources in the proper way. And I remember I met a police officer who he hired from the community, and she told us a story about, look, I know who the people who are the troublemakers in my community because I grew up in this neighborhood.

And so yes, I think he totally reformed and restructured it. But he didn't make it go away. And I think that's where the language gets touchy. We're not talking about getting rid of law enforcement. We're trying to make sure that it is where there are systemic challenges, that there are systemic solutions.

KRISTIN MYERS: So I know that you've been mentioning a little bit on what you guys were able to accomplish when President Obama was the president in terms of criminal justice reform. But there are some people that have been critical saying that the president did not do enough. What would you say in response to that criticism?

VALERIE JARRETT: Well, look, I think we had a very aggressive agenda, both of our Attorneys General, Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch were very supportive of moving forward criminal justice reform broadly. And this, what we've been talking about, Kristin, the relationship between police and communities of color, is just a small piece of the broader problem.

We have 5% of the population and 25% of those who are incarcerated. And disproportionately, people of color are incarcerated. And the system needs to be reformed at every step along the way. We need to reform the bail system so we're not incarcerating people who are poor. We need these patterns and practices investigations, which we did do. And I don't think anyone can complain about our efforts.

Ferguson, for example, where Michael Brown, was murdered we found the police had a pattern of practice. My city, Chicago, same thing. We need to look at the way that we are sentencing so that we can give judges discretion then we can get rid of these mandatory minimum, horrendously harsh sentences, particularly for nonviolent drug offenders.

And we need to make sure that when people are released from prison, that they can re-enter society, find a job, find housing, and live law abiding lives. And so there is a big arc to that effort. And I will say, we've pushed hard Congress to reform the mandatory minimums for nonviolent drug offenders.

And we had 80 votes, which again, is unprecedented to see the Senate come up with that kind of a coalition. We had everyone from Koch Industries on the right to the ACLU on the left. One person, Mitch McConnell, over the objection of Chuck Grassley, who's the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, refused to bring it to a vote.

So I think we could have gotten more done if we had simply been able to move the agenda forward. But the other thing that we did that was very important through our Justice Department is we offered resources to local law enforcement for training that we talked about earlier in this interview. And all of that pretty much was shut down when the new administration came in.

So, look, we gave it our best. It was a high priority of President Obama and both of his Attorneys General. And we were certainly on the way to making progress. Not as fast as anybody would want, but we were going in the right direction until President Obama left office.

KRISTIN MYERS: So I want to switch gears and talk about President Trump and some of the comments that he made just a couple of days ago. He said that, essentially, he has done more for black Americans than any other president. I believe he said, save Abraham Lincoln. Pointing, you know, to unemployment figures and some of the work that he's done in terms of criminal justice reform. What do you say in response to those comments or to anyone who argues that, perhaps, President Trump is great for black Americans?

VALERIE JARRETT: Well, just look at the facts. I mean, it's a ridiculous statement. The unemployment rate for the African American community started coming down as a result of the steps that President Obama did to right our economy back in 2009. And he cut the unemployment rate in half for the general population and the African American community on his watch.

And so in a sense, President Trump has benefited from those steps that created the spur that got our economy going in the right direction. But I think if you look at his language, beginning with being one of the primary boosters of the birther movement, his comments in Charlottesville about there being good people on both sides, white supremacists and peaceful demonstrators, his rhetoric throughout his administration, and the fact that this COVID pandemic has laid bare the health disparities and economic disparities in the African American community, which he has not closed.

He was flat footed on his reaction to the COVID-19. He did not take the steps that-- we gave him a roadmap to take when we left Washington. And the health disparities, which are being-- which were intended to be addressed under the Affordable Care Act, he has been in court trying to repeal.

And so if you look at the economic indicators, if you look at the health imperative, if you look at the language that he uses, the incendiary language that is intended to be a whistle blow to his base, I can't imagine why he would think anyone would believe what he is saying. And if you look at the polling in terms of his standing in the African American community, that speaks for itself as well.

KRISTIN MYERS: Now, in your book "Finding My Voice," you wrote that President Obama had, I'm going to quote here, "the core decency to recognize that public service is not about him. It was about absorbing whatever pain was necessary in order to look out for the best interests of the people he had been elected to serve."

What are your thoughts, then, when you see President Trump deciding to hold a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on the side of the Greenwood Massacre of many black Americans? Do you see the president's actions, essentially, as a slap in the face for the pain of African Americans?

VALERIE JARRETT: Yes. That's a horrible affront to the African American community, and his comments a couple of days ago about refusing to even consider the names of some of our military bases that are named after folks who were Confederates, who wanted to keep slavery. And just imagine what that's like for our men and women in service who are people of color, who have to go into those bases and call it their home, yet they know it's named after somebody who thought they should be a slave.

And so why are we honoring people who supported slavery in our country in 2020? Why do we have statues commemorating generals who fought on behalf of the Confederacy? You look at Germany, you don't have any monuments to Hitler. You don't see the government putting swastikas up.

That's not-- because they're ashamed of that part of their history, as well should we be. Those facts belong in the history books. We do not commemorate people who oppressed a huge portion of our country, particularly when you look at the military. So yes, yes. All of the above, Kristin, is deeply and profoundly offensive to the African American community.

And look, we don't fall for false rhetoric. That's-- I mean, my goodness. Look at the results, look at the language, look at the way that we have been treated by this administration. And the attempt, in a sense, to go after a small portion of his base, to tap into the worst of us as opposed to trying to focus on what we have in common.

And the point I was trying to make in my book was a lesson I learned early working in local government in Chicago where your constituents are proximate. They're like, right there in your face. They know where you live, they have your phone number, they come up to you in the grocery store. It's 24/7. And that's as it should be.

And I learned that you have to earn the trust of the people you intend to lead, and that it can't be about you if you're a public servant. It has to be about them. And you have to put yourself aside. I mean, you remember in the midst of this pandemic when we're losing well over 100,000 people, and were-- during the time when they were having regular briefings, which I think should return. Because everybody wants to know, as we're seeing in states, ticking up of this virus.

What's the response, what do the health experts tell us we should do. And President Trump is talking about how popular he is on social media. How many followers he has. I mean, nobody wants to hear about that when they're worried about their job, when they're worried about their health of themselves and their loved ones.

And so I think that it's profoundly disappointing. And it's why I'm so committed to helping Vice President Biden in any way I can become the next president of the United States. I think he's right. We do have to really restore the soul of our country.

KRISTIN MYERS: So speaking about coronavirus. It exposed, you know, a lot of what black Americans and communities of color already knew, that there was vast and structural inequities across the board when it comes to healthcare and other things. And now, of course, with George Floyd's death, as you're looking at it, as you're looking at as local municipalities consider their next steps, as Congress considers their next step, what would you say to them needs to be their top priorities moving forward and how to get it done?

VALERIE JARRETT: Well, we should really look at how we deliver healthcare in our country. And there are-- I think it's 14 states that haven't expanded the Medicaid exempt expansion that was authorized in the Affordable Care Act. We need to get those states to do that so that we capture a larger number of people who are uninsured.

We need to make sure that our healthcare providers have the resources and equipment that they need. If we're going to have another wave in the fall, let's prepare for it now we. Don't know when it's coming, but we know it probably is. So let's not be having governors competing against one another for precious resources.

Let's have the federal government really manage that so that it goes to where the need is. It laid bare how our governors were forming regional organizations to decide how they would tackle it, because there was a complete void from the federal government to doing just that. But we need to figure out how, when our economy comes back, it comes back for everybody and not just a few.

And, you know, I would mention, I was just looking back over a statement that the Business Roundtable, organization of the nearly 200 largest companies in our country put out last August, where they really fundamentally looked at their corporate purposes. And it used to be shareholder return. That was the primary purpose.

And they broadened it to say that stakeholders should be a part of that analysis for corporations as well, the employer, the employees, the suppliers, the customers, society. And so I think we have an opportunity here for the corporate community to say, what are we doing to be a part of the solution to end racism and discriminatory practices. What are we doing, as we rebuild our economy, to make sure it is rebuilt for everybody, and the disparities that have been laid bare, we try to close.

KRISTIN MYERS: So I have one last question with you, Valerie. And I want to chat with you about your book. And I essentially ask you what readers can expect from you with these new additions about Trump era politics.

VALERIE JARRETT: Well, I did add two new chapters to the end of my book because my paperback was finished a year later. And it gave me a chance to look at our current climate with a little more context, and I tried to take a step back and look at it in the historical context of lessons I learned.

So, for example, I joined local government because Mayor Harold Washington had been re-elected mayor of Chicago, and he was a progressive inspirational leader. And he died just three months after I arrived. And the lesson I learned there is that, when you have the baton, you have to make every single day count.

It's all precious and you-- because you never know when something sudden would happen. And in a sense, the heartbreak that that caused in Chicago, we're still repairing. And it isn't that we haven't had progressive mayors since then. But we put all of our eggs in the leadership basket, and I think we need to make sure that we are engaging citizens so that when we do have changes, there is enough pressure to keep that momentum going.

And I don't think that that happened when President Trump was elected. And we're seeing it now. We're seeing an enormous amount of activism, and that pressure needs to keep up. In a sense, the midterm elections were a good example, and I mentioned this in the book, of where people had a wake up call that elections do have consequences and they got out voted.

And then the last part of my book is really about becoming a grandmom, a grandmom to an African American black and brown grandson, and the challenges he's going to face growing up in this toxic climate, which gives a heavy heart. And so it was really, you know, what I wish for him and what I wish for his generation in terms of positive change.

And I finished it before COVID-19 and before what we're saying in terms of the focus on police misconduct. And I'm hoping that he will grow up in a time where we have healed considerably from where we are now. I'm glad he's just a baby.

And I hope this era of the historical discrimination and racism that we've seen in our country makes a lot of progress by the time he comes of age. I don't look forward to his parents having to give him the talk that every other African American family currently has to give their sons, and now their daughters.

KRISTIN MYERS: All right. Valerie Jarrett, thank you so much for joining us today.

VALERIE JARRETT: You're very welcome. Thanks a lot, Kristin.