NewsPoliticsTop StoryUS

Biden says action needed against ‘hate-fueled violence’

“We can’t let hate prevail, and it’s on the rise. It’s not diminishing,” President Joe Biden said at the White House as he met with civil rights advocates and the children of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington. The Associated Press has the story:

Biden says action needed against ‘hate-fueled violence’

Newslooks- WASHINGTON (AP)

President Joe Biden called Monday for action to end the type of “hate-fueled violence” that authorities said motivated a white man to fatally shoot three Black people at a Florida store over the weekend. Biden said people must speak out about injustice.

“We can’t let hate prevail, and it’s on the rise. It’s not diminishing,” Biden said at the White House as he met with civil rights advocates and the children of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington.

“Silence, I believe, we’ve all said many times, silence is complicity,” Biden said. “We’re not going to remain silent and, so, we have to act against this hate-fueled violence.”

President Joe Biden speaks as he meets with organizers of the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. From left, Biden, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, son of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., his wife Arndrea Waters King and their daughter Yolanda King. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Biden’s meeting with the King family and other civil rights advocates came two days after Saturday’s racist attack in Jacksonville, Florida. Three Black people were shot to death by a white man wearing a mask and firing a weapon emblazoned with a swastika. The shooter, who had also posted racist writings, killed himself.

Asked how he would stop hatred, Biden said: “By talking directly to the American people because I think the vast majority of the American people agree with this table. But we have to understand, this is serious.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, who was at the meeting, said most people in the United States have more in common with each other than what divides them.

President Joe Biden looks at Vice President Kamala Harris as they meet with organizers of the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

“Yet there are those who are intentionally trying to divide us as a nation and I believe each of us has a duty, a duty to not allow factions to sever our unity,” said Harris, the first Black person elected vice president. “Our diversity is our strength and our unity is our power as a nation, and I do believe that we must be guided by knowing that we have so much more in common than what separates us.”

Monday was 60 years since the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963, which drew tens of thousands to the nation’s capital to advocate for civil rights, justice and freedom. It’s where Rev. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial.

The White House invited a broad group of civil rights leaders to the meeting, including Martin Luther King III, his wife, Arndrea Waters King, his sister Bernice King and the Rev. Al Sharpton, along with representatives from organizations representing Jews, Hispanics and Asian Americans, according to Sharpton’s National Action Network.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris meet with organizers of the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. From left, Marc Morial, Jonathan Greenblatt, Bernice King, Harris, Biden, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, and Arndrea Waters King. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Biden also was to address a reception Monday evening to mark the 60th anniversary of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit legal organization that was established at Kennedy’s request to help advocate for racial justice.

In an opinion piece written for the Washington Post, Biden said the administration is working to advance King’s dream of a society in which people don’t judge others by their skin color.

Biden said his policies have led to a drop in Black unemployment, more small businesses being opened by Black entrepreneurs and more Black families covered by health insurance.

He’s given some $7 billion to the network of historically Black colleges and universities and has emphasized appointing Black people to his Cabinet and White House staff, throughout the federal judiciary and to independent agencies like the Federal Reserve.

FILE – The Rev. Al Sharpton, second from right, joins Martin Luther King III, the son of Martin Luther King Jr., third from right, his wife Arndrea Waters King and their daughter Yolanda King as they march to honor the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

“For generations, Black Americans haven’t always been fully included in our democracy or our economy, but by pure courage and heart, they have never given up pursuing the American Dream,” Biden wrote.

He also referenced Saturday’s attack in Jacksonville, Florida.

“We must refuse to live in a country where Black families going to the store or Black students going to school live in fear of being gunned down because of the color of their skin,” Biden wrote.

FILE – Martin Luther King III, the son of Martin Luther King Jr., right, speaks as he stands with his wife Arndrea Waters King, left, and their daughter Yolanda King during the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Biden’s meeting with King’s family and his remarks at the reception will give the president, who is running for reelection, an opportunity to appeal to Black voters by talking about what he and the broader administration have done to help make their lives better.

But Biden has also struggled to fulfill key promises to Black voters, perhaps the most loyal group in his political base. He kept a promise to put a Black woman — the first to serve — on the Supreme Court, but has been unable to follow through on pledges to shore up voting rights or enact changes to policing to help stop violence against people of color by law enforcement. Legislation on both issues has stalled in a divided Congress.

FILE – Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., sits for an interview with the Associated Press at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial in Washington, Friday, Aug. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

The 1963 March on Washington is still considered one of the greatest and most consequential racial justice demonstrations in U.S. history.

The nonviolent protest attracted as many as 250,000 people to the Lincoln Memorial and provided momentum for Congress to pass landmark civil rights and voting rights legislation in the following years. King was assassinated in April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.

On Saturday, the same day as the shooting in Florida, thousands converged on the National Mall for a 60th anniversary commemoration.

Read more U.S. news

Previous Article
Meadows took witness stand, denied 2 GA case allegations
Next Article
Hawaii power utility takes responsibility for first fire on Maui

How useful was this article?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 0 / 5. Vote count: 0

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this article.

Latest News

Menu