WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, in the final months of his four-year term, detailed his administration’s efforts to advance opportunity and equality for the black community Friday at the first-ever White House Celebration of Black Excellence brunch.
The event took place as Congressional Black Caucus This week, the annual legislative conference was held in Washington, D.C.
“Today we pay tribute to this simple truth: Black history is American history, Black excellence is American excellence, and folks, we don’t erase history as others try to do — we make it,” Biden told the crowd on the South Lawn, which included members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other black leaders.
Before Biden, brief remarks were given by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Trell Thomas, founder of the Black Excellence Brunch, Marsai Martin, actress and producer, and Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
“I know because I’ve seen it. I was vice president to the first black president in American history, president to the first black vice president — and, God willing, the first black female president in American history,” Biden added.
Biden, who was originally seeking a second term, passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris in mid-July following his dismal performance in a June debate with Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump.
Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, is now poised to become the first woman to hold the office, the first black woman to serve as president and the first president of South Asian descent.
Biden also highlighted some of the administration’s key efforts in the black community, such as achieving the lowest black unemployment rate in history. The administration has created 2.4 million jobs for black workers, according to August data. White House Fact Sheet.
He also highlighted the administration’s efforts to ensure that more Black Americans have access to health care than ever before. The White House says it has done so by “lowering premium costs by an average of $800 for millions of Americans, increasing the number of Black people covered by Affordable Care Act insurance by 95%, or more than 1.7 million people since 2020,” according to a fact sheet.
Biden added that “on this lawn, in front of the White House built by slaves, we held the first-ever Juneteenth concert after I made Juneteenth a federal holiday, and on this lawn we honored the first Black woman appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States, the best decision I ever made: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.”
He also condemned racism against Haitian migrants in the U.S., saying the community is “under attack in our country right now” and calling it “just a mistake.” Conspiracy theories about migrants and bomb threats continue Springfield Rock, Ohio.
Trump in Tuesday’s presidential debate ABC News spread false accusations about Haitian migrants, saying, “In Springfield, they’re eating dogs, they’re eating people who came, they’re eating cats,” adding, “They’re eating pets of people who live there.”
Biden, referring to Trump, added that he has “no place in America. This has to stop, what he’s doing. It has to stop.”
Meanwhile, Biden and Harris are scheduled to speak at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Phoenix Awards Dinner on Saturday in Washington.
