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HOUSTON – For many Americans watching the Democratic debate on Thursday night, Joe Biden's "record player" comment was another sign of his age. But for others, his suggestion that black parents "do not know what to do" with their children was a disturbing example of the situation of the former vice president.
In a question about racism in the United States, moderator Linsey David asked 76-year-old Biden: "In a conversation about the management of segregation in schools in 1975, you told a reporter," I do not meaning not responsible for the sins of my father and my grandfather. I feel responsible for the current situation, the sins of my own generation, and I will be damned if I feel responsible for paying for what happened 300 years ago. "
"You said that forty or so years ago," he said. "But as you stand here tonight, what responsibility do you think Americans must assume to repair the legacy of slavery in our country?"
Biden responded, "Well, they have to deal with institutional – segregation in this country. As soon as I got involved, I started to take care of it. Redlining the banks, making sure that we are in a position where – look, you are talking about education. I propose that we take these very poor schools, the Title I schools, triple the sums we spend by $ 15 to $ 45 billion a year. Give each teacher an increase, an equal increase to reach the $ 60,000 level.
"Second, make sure we invite teachers to solve the problems that come from home.We have a school psychologist for 1,500 children in America today.It's crazy.The teachers are – I I am married to a teacher, my deceased wife is a teacher, they have all the problems to do it.Make sure that every child actually has children of 3, 4 and 5 years old who go to school. , not a daycare, a school: we bring social workers home and parents to help them learn to raise their children.
"It's not that they do not want to help.They do not really know what to do.Play on the radio, make sure the TV – excuse me, make sure that the turntable is lit at night, make sure children hear the words.A child coming from a very poor school – a very poor medium will hear 4 million words less when they get there. "
Biden had not answered the question and his answer was typically disjointed. More importantly, in his last tangent, he suggested that black parents did not know how to raise their children and therefore needed social workers to explain their parenting role.
Anand Giridharadas, author and editor at Time magazine, described Biden's reverie as "a classic example of racism that is always respectable". Political commentator Jeff Greenfield asked: "Did he mean that black parents depended on an army of white graduates to help them raise their kids?"
As soon as Biden had finished his answer, his rival Julián Castro seemed to notice the problem with Biden's answer. "It was a lot," said the former housing secretary of Obama.
Cory Booker, one of two black Democrats in the 2020s, criticized Biden after the debate, although he focused on the retro mention of turntables. "He's talking about people in communities like mine listening to record players, you're definitely listening to Joe Biden and you're asking questions," said the New Jersey senator to the press.
Democratic strategist and former Executive Director and General Advocate of the Congress Black Caucus, Angela Rye, visited Biden on Friday night.
"I do not know what he was answering, but it was not the question," she said. "I think it 's also very problematic that Joe Biden has not yet determined whether or not he has a black program.When we talk about racism in this country, he does not want to talk about it. It's not about whether parents know how to raise their children, and then for him to say it on stage at Texas Southern University, which is a historically black college … I do not know if it's n? do not listen to his black advisers. "
Rolling stone writer Jamil Smith stated that Biden's comments were disqualifying. "Democrats need an anti-racist candidate to fight against a racist like Donald Trump.The third debate confirmed that Biden was not up to the task," wrote the black author.
Biden's racist remarks Thursday were far from being the first to have it sink into hot water. In June, he boasted of working in the Senate with segregationists such as James O. Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia.
"Well, guess what? At least there was some civility. We moved things forward. We did not agree on anything. We were successful," he said. Biden about his relationship with Eastland and Talmadge. "We are done, but today you look on the other side and you are the enemy, not the opposition, the enemy, we do not talk to each other anymore."
A few weeks later, in July, Biden apologized for these remarks, saying that he was "sorry for the pain" that they could have caused.
At the first Democratic presidential debate in June, Senator Kamala Harris of California set the night by hammering Biden's story on racial issues. "It was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputation of two US senators who built their reputation and their career on racial segregation in this country," Harris said.
"It's not only that, but you've also worked with them to oppose the bus," she added, referring to her joining the segregation in 1975, which he said was, at the time, a matter of "pride." black".
Maintaining the support of black voters is one of Biden's key campaign strategies, particularly with regard to young, highly educated white voters who gather around candidates like Sense. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Despite its controversy, a Quinnipiac poll released last month showed that it currently receives support from 46 percent of black Democrats.
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