Joe Biden Segregationist "Civility" Controversy

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Overview

Joe Biden Segregationist "Civility" Controversy refers to a backlash to a speech given by former Vice President Joe Biden who, at a fundraiser in New York, discussed working with senators who supported segregation of black and white American citizens. Biden claims to have worked with them civility, despite disagreeing with them politically. Many responded negatively to Biden's comments.

Background

On June 18th, 2019, at a fundraiser in New York City, New York, presidential candidate Joe Biden discussed working with "civility" with late senators James O. Eastland (Mississippi) and Herman Talmadge (Georgia), who supported segregation. He said, reportedly, adopting a southern affectation,^[1] "I was in a caucus with James O. Eastland. He never called me ‘boy,’ he always called me ‘son.’" He continued to call Talmadge, "One of the meanest guys I ever knew, you go down the list of all these guys."

He added: "Well guess what? At least there was some civility. We got things done. We didn’t agree on much of anything. We got things done. We got it finished. But today you look at the other side and you’re the enemy. Not the opposition, the enemy. We don’t talk to each other anymore."

Developments

Government Response

Several other presidential candidates responded negatively to Biden's comments. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker demanded Biden apologize. He said in a statement, "You don’t joke about calling black men 'boys.' I’m disappointed that he hasn’t issued an immediate apology for the pain his words are dredging up for many Americans. He should."^[2]

Senator Bernie Sanders agreed, tweeting, ^[3] "I agree with Cory Booker. This is especially true at a time when the Trump administration is trying to divide us up with its racist appeals." The tweet received more than 8,000 likes and 1,000 retweets in 24 hours (shown below, left). Senator Kamala Harris said, "Yes it concerns me deeply. If those men had their way, I wouldn’t be in the United States Senate and on this elevator right now" (shown below, right).^[4]

Online Reaction

On June 19th, Redditor ^[5] RyanSmith posted "Joe Biden Was Just Reminiscing About the Civility of Deep-South Segregationists" in the /r/politics subreddit. The post received more than 630 points (90% upvoted) and 160 comments in 24 hours.

Twitter users continued to criticize Biden. political analyst Cliston Brown tweeted,^[6] "Folks, the more I think about this statement by Biden, the more a sickening realization hits me: Joe Biden just dog-whistled to racists. He signaled that he’s a good old boy and that he can get along with them. I knew weeks ago I couldn’t support him. Now I’m actively opposed" (shown below, left).

Rolling Stone writer Jamil Smith tweeted,^[7] "I’m just going to ask this straight out: what the hell is wrong with @JoeBiden? Eastland, an arch-segregationist, “never called me ‘boy,’ he always called me ‘son’”? You don’t say! Now, why was that the case? Was it your special talent for reaching across the aisle? Or whiteness?" The tweet received more than 2,100 likes 465 retweets in 24 hours (shown below, center).

Biden's Response

The following day, when asked if he should apologize for his comments in response to the criticism, Biden said,^[8] "Apologize for what? Cory [Booker] should apologize. He knows better. There's not a racist bone in my body. I've been involved in civil rights my whole career. Period. Period. Period."