Biden’s speech today. WTH!,,

I know it’s a misattributed quote, but I don’t care who said it and I’m probably not going to quote it correctly anyway. “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing.”

Yes, your silence matters.

Six pages and of course, the OP hasn’t been back.

This exactly.  As Dr Martin Luther King said “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”   The silence of Republican politicians and refusal to call out Trump for the big lie makes them complicit.  Other conservatives refusing to criticize Trump or the Republicans makes them complicit, too.  

And for the record, there's no statute of limitations on condemning Trump or the Republicans.  All of them continue to make inexcusable, false reprehensible, racist statements.  Lots of opportunities to call them out. Silence for 5 years or continued silence implies acceptance and agreement.  

We're not talking about little mis-steps that could be overlooked if someone remains silent.  We're talking about a real, continued threat to our democracy.  Silence equals agreement or acceptance. There really is no grey area when it comes to Trump.  You're either with him with your silence or against him and calling him out.

pixiechick I didn't participate in that thread at all. But I'll tell you now that I don't think Biden words were right. I think they were racist. Certainly inappropriate.

There are a lot of political posts I just skim because the arguments get really tiresome. Including this thread. It doesn't change my point. The republican party has a real problem with racism.

I wonder if Biden thinking shifted after working with Obama? I think it was you on the thread about rainbow grandson said sometimes we need firsthand experience to change our thinking about things. I wonder if that was true for him?

See? There's the difference. Thank you aj2hall

Biden was called out. He recognized the level of offense. He wants to do better.

Mitch McConnell has been in Congress long enough to know he needs to choose his words carefully. Now that this has been pointed out, has there been any apology?

Context.
Something you seem to always ignore.
My comments were specific to the topic at hand in this very thread.

Those who have spoken up—YOU’RE the one dismissing it.

And I’ve said more denouncing them than 99.99999% of conservatives on this board have in regards to trump and the current GO and the racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, hateful shit the put out near daily. .

Where are the likes of you on what McConnell just said? Or Boeberts anti-Semitic “joke”.

Yeah. Thought so. Crickets.


It’s down right funny how you conservatives—specifically you are always the victim.

I really do understand your being tired of the arguments. That's why I enjoy discussing with you, you don't include personal attacks, which let's the conversation flow. On topic. Personal attacks are what really derail a thread. 

As far as him needing personal experience in being called out for being racist, it doesn't seem to be helping. He's still making racist comments.




It wasn't just 15 years ago. It's an ongoing CURRENT racist issue with Biden himself.

Only about 6 months ago Biden explained that the reason Latinos in America don't want the vaccine is because “they’re worried that they’ll be vaccinated and deported.” As if all Latinos in this country are illegal immigrants that need to be removed. As if it never occurred to Biden that 10s of millions are citizens of THIS country.

Mid 2020 "If you don't know whether to vote for me or Trump, then you ain't black." and again "unlike the African American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things." As if all black people just flat out think alike. What incredibly ignorant, racist statements these are coming from Joe Biden.

Again in mid 2020 in response to a question he didn't like asking if HE had taken a cognitive test, he tried to deflect by suggesting the black reporter was a drug addict. "That’s like saying you . . . before you got in this program, you’re take a test whether you’re taking cocaine or not. What do you think? Huh? Are you a junkie?"

Yet again in mid 2020, "Black entrepreneurs don't have lawyers and don't have accountants." As if only black people can be low on funding. 

Mid 2019 "Poor Kids Are Just As Bright' As White Kids" as if only people of color can be poor.

...and on and on. Going back to 15 years ago and beyond.






But, he didn't recognize, he's not doing better. His racist comments are being dismissed as so "15 years ago", but they aren't. They are current and ongoing.

If you keep doing it, do you really mean it? 

The big picture is Biden continues to make racist comments to this day and he is excused.
The big picture is the Left uses racism as a weapon in response to disagreeing with their policies. As if the only possible reason you can disagree is because you are a racist. The Right can't possibly have other. better. ideas. Only the Left has those. It's a way to OTHER those on the Right. In the end, using race in that way, IS downright racist and it's watering down ACTUAL racism.

Oh please—your last paragraph is complete and utter bullshit. You’re such a gaslighter. The GOP and republicans party are the ones waving their racist selves and making policy to wipe out history and current lives of POC.



You keep playing the victim. And it’s disgusting.

NBC News 2-26-2021

“Biden says undocumented immigrants should be able to get Covid vaccine without fear of ICE”

Biden's comments underscore a policy shift compared to the previous administration.


Feb. 26, 2021, 5:38 PM PST
By Dartunorro Clark

“President Joe Biden said during an interview Friday that undocumented immigrants should be able to have access to the Covid-19 vaccine without fear of deportation.

“I want to make sure they all are able to get vaccinated and so they're protected from Covid, without the ICE or anyone else interfering," Biden said. "They should not be arrested for showing up for being able to get a vaccination."

Biden made the comments during an interview with Spanish-language news outlet Univision after visiting a coronavirus vaccination facility in Texas, a state that has also been devastated by winter storms and power outages. The president said his $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package currently moving through Congress will include an increase in nutrition benefits, among other areas, to help those impacted by the pandemic and weather-related disasters.

Biden's comments underscore a policy shift compared to the previous administration, which drew criticism for the enforcement efforts of ICE. The new administration has put an emphasis on equity, including when it comes to vaccine distribution. His administration's Covid-19 vaccine plan targets underserved communities as well as undocumented immigrants.”

More cherry picking & quotes taken out of context. Not at all surprising.

www.politico.com/news/2020/08/06/joe-biden-latino-african-american-remark-392354

Biden's campaign said the comment was meant to describe the diversity of political opinion among Latino Americans and was not a judgment on cultural diversity.

"If you look at the full video and transcript, it’s clear that Vice President Biden was referring to diversity of attitudes among Latinos from different Latin American countries," Symone Sanders, a senior Biden campaign adviser, said in a statement. "The video that is circulating is conveniently cut to make this about racial diversity but that’s not the case.”


Biden clearly could have answered this question in a more respectful way.  Biden, not unreasonably, was frustrated with all of the questions about his cognitive ability.  Person woman man camera TV?  Did that really prove Trump's cognitive ability?


www.politico.com/news/2020/08/05/joe-biden-reporter-cognitive-test-391771

"No, I haven't taken a test. Why the hell would I take a test? Come on, man,” Biden said. “That's like saying to you, before you got on this program if you had taken a test were you taking cocaine or not. What do you think, huh? Are you a junkie?"

"It was a preposterous question deserving of a response that showed the absurdity of it all," a Biden campaign official told POLITICO.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez also took aim at Barnett's line of questioning.

"That's a stupid question, with all due respect," Perez told MSNBC on Wednesday afternoon.

From the Washington Post….  link

“Biden: The imperfect antiracist”

By Robin Givhan
Senior critic-at-large
January 13, 2021

“The images of Joe Biden — peering dispassionately from a Senate dais at Anita Hill, sitting behind President Barack Obama as he delivered many a State of the Union address, giving primary night thanks to his political savior Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and regularly ceding the microphone to his running mate, Kamala Harris — tell the disheartening, confounding but ultimately optimistic story of race in America.

Biden, the oldest person to be sworn in as president, bears the country forward on a path marked by his own failures, moments of enlightenment and political rebirth. He moves us into a light that seems blindingly bright, if only because his predecessor took us so deep into the darkness.

In the actions that will shape his legacy, Biden is an antiracist — a term used by author Ibram X. Kendi in his instructive memoir, “How to Be an Antiracist,” and one that has taken on the weight of enlightenment and progressivism. To be an antiracist is to make choices that proactively nudge the country toward equity, paying special attention to those places where race intersects with gender, class and sexuality.

“Denial is the heartbeat of racism,” Kendi writes. “… What’s the problem with being ‘not racist’? It is a claim that signifies neutrality: ‘I am not a racist, but neither am I aggressively against racism.’ But there is no neutrality in the racism struggle. The opposite of ‘racist’ isn’t ‘not racist.’ It is ‘antiracist.’”

Biden is an empathetic and flawed human being. He’s imperfect in this role. Who wouldn’t be? He has inspired relief in those moments when he has spoken obvious truths about racial injustice in policing — including when a mob of mostly White rioters were grievously underestimated when they stormed the U.S. Capitol. But Biden has also caused consternation and disappointment when he’s favored incrementalism or reassuring conventions over bold reinvention.
So perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he is the occasional antiracist — that he strives toward the fulfillment of its high-minded definition.

Biden often says the wrong thing, the awkward thing, the inelegant thing, on the subject of race. There are always ways in which he could have done more or done better, apologized more fully or chosen his words more carefully. But with the white hair and lined face that mark his 78 years, he reminds us that the blessing of a long life also means that one has ample time to make mistakes, to course correct, to fail again and to keep learning. There’s strength in the scarred and rough patches — the places where the failures have healed or at least scabbed over. His is not a mean-spirited refusal to see the problems at hand; his blind spots are because of the culture into which we are all born.

In 1991, he didn’t seem to fully grasp the complex and sorrowful racial history at work during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings when Hill — a Black woman alleging sexual harassment by Thomas, a Black man — was personally derided on Biden’s watch. He sat on the dais looking down at her. Pointing his finger. And not giving her her due, which meant that he was similarly disrespecting those who believed her accusations against Thomas, as well as those who had endured the same pain but never came forward for fear they wouldn’t be believed.

In 2007, as he was launching his second bid for the presidency, Biden imprudently called Obama, one of his Democratic primary rivals, “the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” In his most recent campaign, he chided African Americans who were considering voting for the incumbent, saying during a radio interview before a largely African American audience, “If you have a problem figuring out if you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t Black.”

In each case, Biden apologized. He explained himself without taking a defensive crouch — without the qualifying “if I offended anyone.” He also has expressed his regret for his part in past legislation that had the effect of disproportionately criminalizing generations of Black and Brown citizens.

Despite his apologies, some people can never forgive him, and they’ve made that plain. In response, Biden hasn’t effused that he is “not racist,” which is in many ways a pejorative that can’t be argued away. Racism is in the atmosphere. Sometimes it rolls in ominously like storm clouds, and sometimes it’s barely visible — like smog we don’t even notice until those revelatory occasions when we’re blessed with a clear day.

Biden’s new partner in governance as the vice president-elect, Harris, has called him audacious for his willingness to invite her onto the ticket, for clearing the path for her to make history as this country’s first woman — Black and South Asian — to reach such vertiginous heights of power. What exactly did Biden do?

He asked a qualified legislator and lawyer to be his No. 2. He elevated this Black woman when Black voters — and those blessedly determined Black female activists — had breathed oxygen onto the flickering embers of his campaign. He recognized the glory of immigrants of color at a time when this nation has maligned them, which is akin to insulting our own national character. He gave credence to the capabilities of women when their skills are so numerous it would require foolish effort to ignore them.

To choose Harris was obvious. But it wasn’t easy, because this nation’s entire history argued against the choice. The country so often shrouds what is right in darkness. We are stubbornly committed to our hierarchies.

The most memorable images of Biden, the race guy, have long been those when he was at Obama’s side, in his shadow, following in his wake. The older White man standing behind the younger Black one. Certainly, there were professional advantages to Biden’s decision. But there were risks, too. Those pictures forced a recalibration of what many had presumed to be the natural order. They brought hope. They also left others enraged with the belief that their rightful power was being stripped away.

And now, Biden is crafting a new, even more powerful visual story. In it, a Black woman stands just behind him. But he regularly steps aside so that she has the full light. As he introduced his Cabinet designees and his senior staff, he established a ritual. He spoke first. Each new team member followed up with brief remarks. And then Harris closed the presentation. She would reiterate Biden’s thoughts but always added a few of her own. She built on his foundation. She stood on her own.

Biden made space so the world can see that the presumed social order is not destiny. The stubborn hierarchy can be upended, and the center will not only hold, it will be shored up.”

Biden is not perfect, he makes mistakes and his choice of words and phrases has room for improvement. At times, he has apologized for his remarks. Perhaps more importantly, his administration has done a lot to combat racism and his actions, executive orders and nominations/ appointments speak volumes. There's a lot more to do, but he undid a lot of the racist, discriminatory policies of the Trump administration.

He has one of the most diverse cabinets. His nominees across the board have been diverse. Many of his appointments are firsts, like the director of the National Park Service is the first Native American in that role.

www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government/

www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/25/executive-order-on-diversity-equity-inclusion-and-accessibility-in-the-federal-workforce/

www.americanprogress.org/article/timeline-biden-administrations-efforts-support-lgbtq-equality-first-100-days/

The Build Back better bill has provisions to provide funding for historically black colleges and universities. The bill includes funding to restore minority communities that were adversely affected by infrastructure projects.

The infrastructure bill has provisions to help minority communities

www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/01/19/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-historic-investment-to-americas-port-and-waterway-infrastructure/

The investments announced today further advance the President’s Justice40 commitment to ensure that 40 percent of the overall benefits of Federal climate and clean energy investments flow to historically marginalized, underserved, and overburdened communities to build their economies. The investments also underscore how President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is delivering results to communities across America, advancing racial equity, combatting climate change, and creating job opportunities for American workers.

In just over two months since the President signed the historic legislation into law, the Administration has already mobilized resources to connect Tribal Nations to reliable, high-speed internet,

I get this and I appreciate the clarity on all these comments. This one still doesnt sit right with me.

Where are the brilliant ideas that the right has, that don’t involve taking away rights from others? Seems that racism and discrimination is the basis of their platform based on what I see.