Politics

Is Joe Biden racist?

WRITTEN BY
11/02/20
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Fact Box

  • President Obama picked Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his running mate on August 23, 2008, who later became the 47th US Vice President. 
  • Joe Biden was born in Pennsylvania on November 20, 1942. He will be turning 78 in 2020, and will be the oldest US President to ever enter office if elected. 
  • Vice President Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972 at age 29. By the time he entered the Vice Presidency, he had been in government for nearly four decades. 
  • In the first Democratic debate of 2019, then-presidential opponent Kamala Harris insinuated Biden was a racist, confronting him on his record of opposing bussing to integrate CA schools. Earlier in the year, Harris said she believed Biden’s sexual assault accusers
  • The Democratic platform proclaims, “Democrats are committed to standing up to racism and bigotry in our laws, in our culture, in our politics, and in our society, and recognize that race-neutral policies are not sufficient to rectify race-based disparities.”

Andrew (No)

Those accusing Joe Biden of being a racist point to his involvement with the 1994 Crime Bill, which severely impacted many African Americans. This argument is revisionist and needs context. As the bill was written, crack cocaine was a real scourge in many African American communities. Community leaders, funneled through the Congressional Black Caucus, wanted swift and firm action against this problem that was tearing communities apart, and Biden delivered for them. Neither Biden nor the Black Caucus could have predicted that the sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine would have such dire consequences for Black communities. To attribute racism to Biden's 1994 Crime Bill is to ignore that Biden was listening to and delivering on promises made to Black community leaders in the bill's creation.

Evidence that Joe Biden is not a racist can be found in that he has taken time to understand systemic racism in America and is subsequently searching for solutions. Following the death of George Floyd, Biden met with the mayors of Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and St. Paul to discuss policing. This shows that Biden understands how systemic racism is built into the policing of Black Americans. While Biden listened to mayors and community leaders, his opponent, President Trump, told mayors to 'dominate' protestors, focusing only on the looting and violence; these are the true actions of a racist. In describing how he believes a leader can affect racial tensions, Biden said, 'Hate just hides. It doesn't go away. And when you have somebody in power who breathes oxygen into the hate, it comes out from under the rocks.' 


Bonnie (Yes)

Though the mainstream media ignores this fact, Joe Biden’s history of racist comments he’s made throughout his career, and recent remarks suggest nothing has changed. Even leftvoice.com called him a 'dedicated, life-long racist.' In Florida recently, Joe remarked he was able to remain secluded at home because 'some black woman was able to stock the grocery shelf,' an incredibly demeaning remark. In Iowa, the former VP suggested that low-income children are all non-white by saying, 'poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.' In an NPR interview, he said Latinos were more diverse in their opinions than Blacks, suggesting Blacks couldn't think for themselves. Speaking to radio host Charlemagne Tha God he said, 'If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black.'  

In 2017 he referred to black children playing with his hairy legs as 'roaches.' In 2007 he spoke of Barack Obama saying, 'You got the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.' Some say what Biden has done for Blacks proves he's not racist, but Black civil rights attorney Leo Terrell, a Democrat, says he doesn't know of anything Biden has done for Blacks. Black writer Linda Lee Tarver for The Detroit News reported Trump's First Step Act freed many people incarcerated under Biden's 1984 crime bill. She criticized the former VP for remaining cloistered when Republicans tried passing a police reform bill blocked by Democrats, saying, 'He knows full well he can't claim to have actually done anything for the black community except for mass incarceration.' The evidence is stacked against Biden, and hurling accusations against Trump isn’t enough to exonerate him.

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