President Biden continued his push to reinvigorate support among black voters on May 17 when he took the stage to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Supreme Court Ruling of Brown v. Board of Education.
“Seventy years ago, you changed the world,” Biden told an enthusiastic crowd at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in downtown Washington.
He said that the ruling, which declared racial segregation to be unconstitutional, also “changed the United States. It changed our role in the world in a fundamental way.” He also noted that he welcomed the plaintiffs of that case, and their families to the White House on May 16.
“The Brown decision proves a simple idea: We learn better when we learn together,” Biden said.
He said that “black history is American history,” adding, “We have a whole group of people out there trying to rewrite history, trying to erase history.”
The president continued by touting his administration’s efforts to support black communities, including an investment of $300 million to support diversity in schools, as well as efforts to increase diversity in teaching. Prior to the speech, the Biden administration also announced investment of $16 billion in historically black colleges and universities.
“Black students, typically young black men, react to black teachers,” he said. “Black students who have black teachers are significantly more likely to graduate from high school and enroll in college. It makes a difference, and it matters.”
He touted how his American Rescue Plan worked to help black children, stating that the child tax credit, for example, cut child poverty in half.
He also reiterated his pitch to establish universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds by taxing the super wealthy.
“My predecessor and his extreme MAGA friends are now going after diversity, equity, and inclusion all across America,” he said. “They want a country for some, not for all.”
The president’s speech comes amid a series of announcements and events geared toward black voters across the country. He will also meet with the leaders of black fraternities and sororities known as the “Divine Nine,” and give the commencement address at Morehouse College on May 19.
However, despite this effort, President Biden is losing ground in the polls to his predecessor and current challenger.
President Trump currently has 20 percent of the black vote, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll, which is a significant margin of a normally Democrat-dominated demographic.
The recent polls were brought up to White House Director of the Office of Public Engagement Stephen Benjamin during a press briefing on May 16 and one reporter asked if he thought the president’s message was resonating with black voters.
Mr. Benjamin declined to speak to the polls but affirmed that the feedback he’s gotten from people across the country was positive.
“I think that we’re going to continue on making history on this side of the of the table by just leading through good government and the leadership of the president and the vice president,” he said.
