President Joe Biden pointed to popular advertising as evidence that people in the country are growing less racist when mentioning mixed-race couples during his speech commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre on Tuesday.
While Biden prefaced that his comment on diversity in advertising has “no scientific basis,” the president implored those over the age of 50 to think about “how often did you ever see advertisements on television with black and white couples?”
“I challenge you: Find today, when you turn on the stations, sit on one station for two hours. And I don’t know how many commercials you’ll see, eight to five, two to three out of five have mixed-race couples in them. That’s not by accident. They’re selling soap, man,” Biden said to a laughing crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “Not a joke,” he added.
Biden also referenced the late pollster Patrick Caddell in his speech, pointing to his philosophy that watching advertising can help anyone understand the state of American culture.
Joe Biden says that the number of commercials featuring mixed race couples is a sign of hope for race relations: “They’re selling soap, man!” pic.twitter.com/dU8xJmYCpD
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 1, 2021
“Watch advertising — because they want to sell what they have,” Biden said, referring to the corporations.
Jason Johnson, a journalism professor at Morgan State University and MSNBC political contributor, called Biden’s comments about interracial couples on television a “tired trope” on Tuesday.
“Please don’t tell me that a Geico commercial with an interracial couple means we’re turning the corner, because it doesn’t, and it diminishes what’s actually happening in this country,” Johnson told Deadline: White House host Nicolle Wallace.
I can’t believe #Biden went in front of the descendants of the #TulsaMassacre and repeated that same tired trope about interracial couples on television. I wrote about it after the FIRST time he said it https://t.co/gb7bqSLjMr
— Dr. Jason Johnson (@DrJasonJohnson) June 1, 2021
It is not the first time Biden has made a reference to interracial couples as a sign that the United States is changing culturally. In February, he made a similar comparison during a CNN town hall with anchor Anderson Cooper.
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“I’m going to say something’s going to get me in trouble … and that is that, think about it, if you want to know where the American public is, look at the money being spent in advertising,” the president said. “Did you ever, five years ago, think every second or third ad out of five or six you’d turn on would be biracial couples?”
