In a speech to Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH coalition that the Boston Globe called "one of his most vigorously liberal speeches of the campaign season," John Kerry made a slew of promises to fund higher education by raising taxes on those making more than $200,000 a year. Among other promises, Kerry said he would offer $10 billion to state schools that limited their tuition increases. He also pledged to spend $300 million annually to "encourage" one million more girls and minorities to study math and science.
In a speech that won nine standing ovations from the predominantly black audience, Kerry pledged to raise the minimum wage, make health care a right for all Americans, and aggressively enforce civil rights laws. The Globe reported that Kerry also "compared the Florida ballot-box debacle of 2000 with Jim Crow scare tactics to keep blacks away from the polls."
