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In his commencement address to hundreds of young Black men at Morehouse College on Sunday, President Biden cited scripture and lessons from his own tragic past to define the prestigious university’s “meaning.” He said he believes there are “extremist forces who oppose this message.”
Mr. Biden’s speech at a historically black all-male college in Atlanta drew hundreds of people representing a segment of voters who have turned away from Mr. Biden over the war in Gaza and are becoming increasingly apathetic about their choices ahead of the election. He brought people directly in front of him. . Biden used the opportunity to say that manliness is not about “harsh words” or “bigotry” but about calling out hatred.
Biden told graduates that “the idea of being a man is toxic” and did not mention his opponent, but other events this weekend will attack Republican rival Donald J. Trump. It was almost a mystery who he was talking about, given his focus. “It’s not you. It’s not us. Being a man is about strength, respect, and dignity.”
He said the people who stormed the Capitol carrying Confederate flags were “some people calling them patriots,” an apparent reference to Trump. “It’s not in my house.”
Biden’s speech was his first significant appearance before university students since protests over the war in Gaza began roiling campuses. Signs of protest were respectful but visible at the ceremony, where students were not even allowed to display their hats. A small group of graduates sat with their backs to Biden as he spoke, and some wore kaffiyeh. Wear a traditional scarf associated with the Palestinian people over your shoulders. Some parents urged their graduating sons not to protest.
Biden said he was aware that many of the graduates were so outraged by the war in Gaza that they turned away during his speech, and called for an immediate ceasefire and that his administration is working to secure one. . His family has been shaken by the war, including first lady Jill Biden, who said she was privately pleading with her husband to stop the war.
“What is happening in Gaza, Israel is heartbreaking,” Biden said. “This is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”
During his 27-minute speech, Mr. Biden told the graduates — none of whom spoke for him at the podium — that he respects and supports the same ideas they hold dear throughout his life. I tried to emphasize what I had done.
He said he has worked to address inequality throughout his career as a public defender, senator and president. He outlined efforts his administration has made, including canceling massive student loan debt and reducing poverty rates for black children; I believe that the administration deserves more recognition than it has received for its efforts to reduce the poverty rate.
“We know that Black history is American history,” Biden said at one point, referring to Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, and the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. He urged the audience to “check my record,” including his selection. Vice President Kamala Harris.
By focusing on issues of adversity and strength, Biden also seeks to contrast himself with Trump not in terms of politics or policy, but through the lesson of maintaining faith in desperate moments. did. He talked about how his first wife and daughter, and his eldest son Beau, died of brain cancer.
He said it’s natural for Morehouse graduates who have weathered the turmoil of a pandemic and widespread protests over police killings of Black men to question whether they have a place in a democracy at all. He said it was true.
“What is democracy when black men are being killed in the streets?” he said. “What is democracy when the vestiges of broken promises still leave black communities behind? What is democracy when we have to be 10 times better than others to have a fair chance? what?”
Biden repeatedly drew on religious inspiration, remembering that Jesus was buried on Friday and rose from the dead on Sunday, making Saturday a day of despair. He suggested that 2020, when he was elected despite the dual trauma of the coronavirus pandemic and the police killing of George Floyd, was one of those Saturdays.
At one point, Mr. Biden said, “It turns out there is no easy optimism, but through faith, through faith, we can find salvation.”
Biden, who has a bust of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the Oval Office and is old enough to have recounted the memory of King’s assassination in his speech, was also unsure of the crowd’s reaction when he attended commencement Sunday, but he would embrace him.
Founded in Atlanta in 1867, Morehouse is a school steeped in tradition. Students spend years working toward becoming the embodiment of a Morehouseman: well-traveled, well-read, and actively involved in social activities. As Martin Luther King Jr.’s alma mater, it also has a proud history of protesting for social justice.
Biden’s visit to Morehouse drew opposition from some faculty, alumni and students who expressed anger at the Gaza war and the U.S. government’s support for Israel. The tensions received so much attention that the school’s president, David A. Thomas, publicly threatened to cancel the graduation ceremony if any graduates yelled at the president or disrupted the event. did.
The protest signs were respectful but noticeable. Valedictorian D’Angelo Jeremiah Fletcher took to the stage with a Palestinian flag on his stole and hat.
“It is my position as a Morehouseian, and indeed as a human being, to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” Fletcher said. After Mr. Fletcher finished speaking, Mr. Biden joined the crowd and stood up to applaud and shake hands with the graduates.
But by the end of Biden’s speech, there were signs of support. When Biden was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, Thomas praised the president for listening to the concerns of graduates. Others shouted “Four more years” as Biden left the stage.
After his speech at Morehouse, Biden was scheduled to head to Detroit to speak at a dinner hosted by the NAACP.
Winning two battleground states in eight hours is a sign that Biden is serious about reintroducing himself to the voters who propelled him to the White House in 2020 and is looking forward to a second term in office. It was the clearest sign yet that he needed support to stay.
According to the Pew Research Center, 95% of Black women and 87% of Black men voted for Biden in 2020. But as of April, only 55% of black voters told Pew they approved of his job performance. A recent poll by Ipsos and the Washington Post found that 62% of Black Americans plan to vote in 2024, down from 74% in 2020.
In recent days, Mr. Biden and Mr. Harris have both traveled to the Washington suburbs, hosting events aimed at re-energizing voters.
Biden’s visit to Detroit comes as the latest poll from The New York Times and Siena College shows he has the support of less than half of Michigan’s black voters in the five-way race. I was disappointed. In 2020, he won more than 90% of the state’s black voters, according to exit polls.
Analysts say the war in Gaza and economic concerns are driving the rise in apathy. In Michigan, nearly 9 in 10 black voters rate the economy in “fair” or “poor” shape, a higher percentage than white voters, according to a Times-Siena poll. Ta.
Alexis Wiley, founder of a strategic communications firm in Detroit and former member of the Democratic National Committee, said the Biden administration needs to do more to communicate its victory.
“I think they’re finally catching up to the fact that people aren’t feeling well, and now there’s a mad dash to fix that,” Wiley said.
Report contributor: Nicholas Nehamas washington and Chavas Clark Williams, alan blinder and Sean Keenan In Atlanta.
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