more than 100 workers, do you think that that makes a difference if it s coming from the white house versus the person you work for? charles: i don t think it makes a difference for the average person because at the end of the day, they then have to make the decision between what they re choosing for personal health care and put food on the table and bring paycheck every two weeks or the end of the month. i don t think it makes much of a difference and i think people recognize that the force of this is still coming from government. that whether or not their employers choose to adhere to a mandate or violate it themselves and put themselves at risk, that force, that strong arm of the federal government is still coming down and so you know that s why, again, i applaud governor abbott for what he did and i m applauding our texas legislature for considering legislation to codify what his executive order says. jacqui: charles blain, enjoyed the conversation, hope to talk to you soon. grif
abbott and jen psaki sparring over the legality over the biden administration s vaccine mandate as the fight between white house and republican governors heats up. joining us now for reaction urban reform president and member of the texas advisory committee of the u.s. commission on civil rights charles blane. thank you so much for being with us. thanks for having me, jacqui. jacqui: walk us through, charles, what s your take on where things stand right now. applaud the governor for doing what he did. i think one of the big things that has been a part of the conversation about vaccine and vaccine mandates is that one of the big groups that have been reluctant to get them, they look like me. so we are talking about black and hispanic folks, largely folks who are wage workers who are working public facing jobs so they are really going to feel the crunch of a vaccine mandate. and so with the governor stepping in, it s ensuring that they don t have to make the decision of their livelih
think he needs to hold steady on it. jacqui: in your view what would be the better role of the government then to try tone courage vaccine hesitant populations to get vaccinated? well, i think, you know, locally here in harris county in houston we have seen our local officials getting out there and going to community events, holding vaccination events, really showing that they are getting it themselves and that it s safe and effective way of combating the virus but the mandate doesn t seem to be the answer. especially black and hispanic folks are hesitant of government and they have a deep mistrust of government, so mandating something from government is not going to fly with them. and so i really think that just getting out there and communicating continuing to communicate the message of the need for vaccines and the need for ensure that the population is safe is going to be with the answer is. i don t think mandates are it. jacqui: in your view the mandate does the opposite, it mak