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A28 u.s. news
Diasabra 18 December 2021

In SC, Biden pledges fight for voting rights, police reform

(AP) — President Joe Biden from advancing in the 50-50 Senate Biden pledged similar advocacy for He did not discuss legislative strategy,
pledged Friday to fight for stalled following passage by the Democratic- police reform, another issue impor- including how he would turn hard
voting rights and police reform controlled House. He blamed “that tant to the Black community after a Democratic opposition to the $2 tril-
legislation, addressing graduates other team, which used to be called series of killings of Black men by po- lion plan into support. All he offered
of South Carolina State Univer- the Republican Party,” for refusing to lice, including George Floyd’s death was the promise to keep fighting —
sity amid the harsh reality that even allow the bills to be debated. last year after a Minneapolis police the same advice he gave the gradu-
months of talks with lawmakers officer kneeled on his neck for about ates.
have failed to move the measures “But this battle’s not over,” Biden nine minutes.
closer to becoming law. said. “We’re going to keep up the Biden told them their “secret power”
fight until we get it done.” The House passed a sweeping police is the ability to understand the injus-
Biden spoke at the historically Black reform measure earlier this year in re- tices and complications of the world,
school a day after conceding that his Biden’s vow to keep pushing to pro- sponse to Floyd’s killing, but months with the enduring legacies of racism
nearly $2 trillion social and environ- tect what he called “the sacred right of negotiations among a bipartisan leaving Black Americans at a disad-
mental bill was unlikely to become to vote” as the NAACP and similar group of senators failed to produce a vantage in home ownership and eco-
law this year, as he had hoped, due to groups have grown frustrated with bill. nomic mobility.
continued disagreement among fel- the White House over the lack of
low Democrats. Republicans unani- progress on the issue. Voting rights is Biden vowed to keep pressing for po- There were no December ceremo-
mously oppose the spending. a priority for Democrats heading into lice reform, too. nies when Clyburn graduated in
next year’s midterm elections after 1961, so he received his diploma by
Wearing a black gown as he delivered Republican-controlled legislatures “The fight’s not over,” he said at the mail. Instead of addressing this year’s
the December commencement ad- passed a wave of restrictive new vot- alma mater of House Majority Whip graduates, as had been planned, Cly-
dress, the president bemoaned GOP ing laws. Jim Clyburn, the highest-ranking burn joined the procession of stu-
opposition keeping voting rights bills Black member of Congress and dents on stage to receive his degree
South Carolina’s only Democrat in from Biden, whom he invited to de-
the delegation. Clyburn, who sat on liver the commencement address.
stage with Biden, accepted his degree
from the president, a longtime friend. The president visited at a fraught
Part rah-rah speech for the graduates time for his agenda, with the future
as they prepare to venture out into the of his $2 trillion social and environ-
world, Biden at times sounded more mental spending package in doubt.
like a candidate as he used the appear- While Democrats had hoped to make
ance before a predominantly Black progress on the bill before Christmas,
audience to stress how his adminis- continued disagreements among law-
tration is working to improve their makers have all but halted negotia-
economic and educational standing, tions, and Biden himself has signaled
from increased funding for histori- Democrats should shift their focus to
cally Black colleges and universities passing a voting rights bill — another
to fighting housing discrimination. heavy lift in the evenly divided Sen-
Black voters, in South Carolina and ate.
other states, were a crucial part of the
coalition that helped Biden win elec- Biden and Clyburn had been plan-
tion as president. ning a gathering in South Carolina,
Clyburn told reporters this week,
He also touched on the infrastruc- and they figured Friday’s ceremony
ture bill he recently signed into law, would suffice. The meetup is signifi-
including the promise of thousands cant for both, in that it’s Biden’s first
of new jobs, but avoided discussing time as president in South Carolina,
his centerpiece social welfare and where Clyburn’s public support is
environmental bill. That measure credited with boosting Biden to the
remains bottled up in the Senate, Democratic presidential nomination.
largely due to opposition from a fel-
low Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin of On the cusp of South Carolina’s
West Virginia, and facing an uncer- first-in-the-South primary, after
tain fate next year, when Democrats struggling through less-than-stellar
need accomplishments to show as performances in other early-voting
they campaign for reelection in the contests, Biden secured a public en-
November. dorsement from Clyburn, an await-
ed signal for many Black voters that
Biden also pledged to help stamp out Biden would be the candidate to
hate and racism, referenced the Jan. stand up for their interests.
6 insurrection at the Capitol, car-
ried out in hopes of subverting his Biden subsequently bested chief rival
election, and talked about his appre- Bernie Sanders on Super Tuesday and
ciation for historically Black colleges claimed the nomination before de-
and universities. He noted that key feating Republican incumbent Don-
members of his team had graduated ald Trump in the general election.
from historically Black schools, in-
cluding Vice President Kamala Har- Biden’s roots in the state run deeper
ris, a Howard University alum. than his 2020 campaign. Often com-
ing to Kiawah Island near Charles-
“You can defeat hate, but you can’t ton for family vacations, Biden also
eliminate it,” Biden said. “It just spent decades as desk mate to Fritz
slides back under a rock and, when Hollings, South Carolina’s longtime
given oxygen by political leaders, it Democratic senator. Biden eulogized
comes out ugly and mean as it was Hollings at his 2019 funeral, a task
before. We can’t give it any oxygen. he previously performed for another
We have to step on it.” South Carolina senator, Republican
Strom Thurmond.