In his commencement address at historically black Morehouse College, President Biden claimed that black Americans have to be “ten times better” than others to get a fair chance.
He questioned what democracy means if black men are killed by police and communities left behind.
“You missed your high school graduation. You started college just as George Floyd was murdered, and there was a reckoning on race. It’s natural to wonder if the democracy you hear about actually works for you,” Biden said.
Biden is trying to motivate black voters as his support from that demographic, especially younger black men, has declined.
He attacked Republicans by claiming they hate black people and want to ban books.
“What is democracy? If black men are being killed in the street. What is democracy? Betrayal of broken promises still leave black communities behind. What is democracy? You have to be ten times better than anyone else to get a fair shot,” Biden said.
“Most of all, what does it mean, as you’ve heard before, to be a black man who loves his country even if it doesn’t love him back in equal measure,” he said.
“I never thought when I was graduating in 1968, as your honorary just was, we talked about, I never thought I’d be in a present time when there’s a national effort to ban books. Not to write history, but to erase history!” Biden said. “They don’t see you in the future of America, but they’re wrong.”
Biden also touted forgiving student loans by circumventing the Supreme Court.
“When the Supreme Court told me I couldn’t, I found two other ways to do it,” he said.
His remarks follow campaign events aimed at shoring up black voter support, which polls show decreasing compared to 2020.
Biden’s approval among black voters has dropped significantly, with less enthusiasm for the 2024 election expressed so far.
