[ad_1]
WASHINGTON, Jan 26: President Joe Biden said Tuesday that it was “the time to act now” to heal America’s racial divide, taking several steps and promising more to tackle the racism and inequality that he said has plagued America for too long. weather.
Racial tensions escalated during Donald Trump’s turbulent four-year presidency and, in issuing several executive orders, Biden said that the Jan.6 siege of the United States Capitol by Trump supporters was carried out by “thugs, insurgents. , political extremists and white supremacists. ” “
However, Biden said he believed that the vast majority of Americans believe in equality.
“We have never fully complied with the founding principles of this nation – to state the obvious – that all people are created equal and have the right to be treated equally throughout their lives,” Biden said in remarks at the White House. “And it’s time to act now, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because if we do it, we’ll all be better off.”
Biden took executive action on four fronts: curbing the use of private prisons by the U.S. government, strengthening enforcement of the anti-discrimination law in housing, underscoring commitment to Native American tribal sovereignty, and condemn the discrimination against Americans of Asian descent and of Pacific Islander descent that has increased during the coronavirus pandemic, which is believed to have originated in China.
The Democratic president has tried to roll back some of the policies of his Republican predecessor and deliver on the racial justice reforms he promised during the election campaign.
Biden and other critics accused Trump of pursuing policies based on “white wrong” in a nation where the white population is declining as a percentage of the total.
Biden received criticism from some Republicans when he used his keynote address last week to condemn white supremacist ideology and political extremism.
“If you read his speech and listen to it carefully, much of it is thinly veiled innuendo that he calls us white supremacists, he calls us racists, he calls us all the names in the book,” US Senator Rand Paul told Fox News.
Black voters proved essential to Biden first by winning his party’s presidential nomination and then by defeating Trump in the Nov.3 election.
The United States, still struggling with the legacy of slavery, was rocked by protests against racism and police brutality in many cities last year in response to incidents such as the death of black man George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody in May 2020.
Trump condemned the protests and tried to use them to stoke fear and unease among voters during the presidential campaign.
On the day he took office last week, Biden signed an executive order establishing a government-wide initiative to address racial inequality and systemic racism in federal policies, laws and programs.
‘I promise’
On Tuesday, Biden said that in the coming weeks he would reaffirm a “federal commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.”
“Again, I don’t promise that we can finish it tomorrow, but I promise you that we will continue to move forward to eliminate systemic racism, and all branches of the White House and the federal government will be a part of that. effort, ”Biden said.
Interest groups as diverse as the American Civil Liberties Union and the US Chamber of Commerce praised Biden’s measures.
Biden said his order directing the Justice Department not to renew its contracts with privately operated criminal detention centers is aimed at ultimately ending the department’s use of private prisons.
The order did not address the private prison contracts of the Department of Homeland Security, which uses such facilities to detain immigrants who are in the country illegally.
Biden described the move as the first step in “preventing corporations from profiting” from incarceration of inmates and said it was just the beginning of his administration’s plan to address systemic problems in the criminal justice system.
Biden called for restoring and expanding the historic Voting Rights Act, which aims to protect minority voters, even as many states pursue Republican-backed measures that Democrats say are intended to suppress voting rights.
After losing the election, Trump made repeated and false claims of wrongdoing and widespread voter fraud as part of his failed effort to overturn Biden’s victory.
The Biden administration will also require the Department of Housing and Urban Development to study and counter the racially discriminatory impact of previous policies.
“Housing is a right in America and home ownership is an essential tool for wealth creation and for being passed down from generation to generation,” said Biden. – Reuters
[ad_2]
