Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/democrats-debate-focuses-on-minority-issues Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Democratic presidential hopefuls discussed a number of issues facing minority voters in the United States at a debate held Thursday at Howard University. The NewsHour presents some highlights. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. ANNOUNCER: Live from Howard University in Washington, D.C., it's the All-American Presidential Forums on PBS. KWAME HOLMAN: The eight Democratic presidential candidates faced off for the third time last night at historically black Howard University. The audience of students and prominent minorities gave a special greeting to Illinois Senator Barack Obama. AUDIENCE: Obama! KWAME HOLMAN: Tavis Smiley of PBS served as moderator. TAVIS SMILEY, PBS Host: Where do you stand on the issues that matter most to people of color in America? KWAME HOLMAN: The candidates' focus on issues particularly affecting minorities opened with reflections on yesterday's Supreme Court decision striking down the integration plans of two public school districts. They all saw it as a blow to the 1954 landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling against segregated schools.SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), Illinois: This is where Thurgood Marshall and the team from Brown crafted their strategy. And if it hadn't been for them, I would not be standing here today.And it was their fundamental recognition that for us to achieve racial equality was not simply good for African-Americans, but it was good for America as a whole, that we could not be what we might be as a nation unless we healed the brutal wounds of slavery and Jim Crow.SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), Delaware: It is still the defining issue. And the decision today, look at the minority views. The minority stated, had the rationale that was applied by the majority been applied the last 50 years, we would have never, never overcome the states' effort to ignore Brown v. the Board.