NY.- President Biden on Saturday declared white supremacy “the most dangerous terrorist threat to our homeland” and warned a predominantly African-American audience that the “sinister forces” embraced by his predecessor and would-be challenger are trying to reverse generations of racial progress in USA.
Biden never named former President Donald J. Trump in his sometimes dour commencement address to the graduating class of Howard University, the most prestigious historically African-American university in the country. However, she alluded to past statements by Trump to link him to racist elements in American society and suggested that the presidential campaign that has just begun will determine whether justice will prevail over hate, fear and violence.
“There are those who demonize and pit people against each other,” Biden said. “And there are those who will do anything, no matter how desperate or immoral, to hold on to power. That’s never going to be an easy battle. But I know this: the oldest and most sinister forces may believe that they will determine the future of America. But they are wrong. We will determine the future of America. You will determine the future of America.”
Dressed in a blue and white academic tunic, the president sought to enroll the young graduates in what he presented as the cause of this moment. He cited the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a police officer, which sparked widespread protests against police brutality, and expressed empathy with African-American drivers who are afraid when officers pull them over.
“Fearless progress toward justice is often met with fierce pushback from the oldest and most sinister forces,” he said. “That’s because hate never goes away. When I graduated, I thought we could beat hate. But the hate never goes away.
Likewise, Biden said that “after the election and re-election of the first African-American American president, I expected that fear, violence and hatred were losing ground significantly.”
He found otherwise, he said, when neo-Nazis and white supremacists clashed with counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, recounting Trump’s reaction. “What did you hear?” he asked her. “That famous quote: ‘There are very good people on both sides.’ That’s when I knew, and I’m not kidding, that’s when I knew I had to stay engaged and get back into public life.”
Trump supporters have said his line has been distorted, noting that he did at one point condemn neo-Nazis. But as he launched a campaign to regain the presidency, Trump more openly embraced the racist and extremist elements in American life. Last winter, he invited to dinner rap artist Ye, who has made anti-Semitic statements, and Nick Fuentes, a prominent white supremacist who attended the far-right Charlottesville rally.
