‘There’s a Whole Group of Extreme People Trying to Erase History’
Biden and Harris take on white supremacy days after racist shooting in Florida
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took on white supremacy Monday, just days after a white gunman slaughtered three Black Americans in Florida over his explicit racist ideology.
Biden and Harris made their remarks at the White House in a meeting with civil rights leaders, as part of a broader swipe at far-right extremism.
Officials have identified the three victims of Saturday’s rampage at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Fla., as Jerrald De'Shaun Gallion, 29; Angela Michelle Carr, 52; and, Anolt Joseph "AJ" Laguerre Jr, 19.
The shooter murdered all three before turning the gun on himself. Authorities said his weapon was decorated with swastikas and that he espoused white supremacy.
“And as I’ve said to the country, we can’t let hate prevail. And it’s on the rise. It’s not diminishing,” Biden said. “Silence, I believe, and we’ve all said many times, silence is complicity. We’re not going to remain silent. And so, we have to act against this hate-fueled violence.
“And you saw what’s happening. By the way, almost five years to the day that five young Blacks were killed in Jacksonville, five years earlier at the — not a gun shop — a store, they were doing kid’s toys. But, you know, we have to speak out that there’s a whole group of extreme people trying to erase history,” he added, referring to the efforts of many Republicans to deny accurate teaching of slavery and Black history.
The strength of the nation is based on diversity, according to the vice president.
“Our country was founded on many noble principles, including ‘E pluribus unum,’ ‘Out of many, one.’ And to live up to those ideals, I think, at this moment in time, requires moral clarity on behalf of every American about what is at stake right now,” she said. “The vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. Yet, there are those who are intentionally trying to divide us as a nation. And I believe each of us has a duty — a duty to not allow factions to sever our unity.
“Our diversity is our strength, and our unity is our power as a nation. And I do believe that we must be guided by knowing that we have so much more in common than what separates us,” Harris added. “We must be committed to building communities, building coalitions, understanding that is how we strengthen ourselves as a nation.”
Biden connected racist hate with efforts by many on the political right to ban books in schools and libraries across the country.
“I mean, the idea that we’re sitting here, I never thought that I’d be president, let alone be president and having a discussion on why books are being banned in American schools,” he said.
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