For a guy whose greatest professional achievement was when he served as the vice president to America’s first black commander in chief, Joe Biden sure does not sound like a guy who respects black people.
The presumptive 2020 Democratic nominee claimed in an interview this week that there is diversity of thought in the Latino community in the United States, unlike in the black community, which he apparently thinks is monolithic and single-minded.
“Are you going to reengage with Cuba?” asked NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro, referring to Temporary Protected Status. “I’m specifically wondering about the Florida communities that are incredibly interested in the Cuba issue and see status given to Venezuelans while Cubans are being deported.”
Biden responded, “The answer is: Yes. I’m going to engage. Yes. Yes.”
“And by the way,” he continued, “what you all know, but most people don’t know, unlike the African American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things. You go to Florida you find a very different attitude about immigration in certain places than you do when you’re in Arizona.”
“So, it’s a very diverse community,” Biden said.
.@JoeBiden: “Unlike the African-American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community” pic.twitter.com/CFO4Q40jEI
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) August 6, 2020
He also said, “For too long, we didn’t get it right [on Temporary Protected Status]. But here’s the deal: I think that we should be extending. Anybody can prove that they are in jeopardy to go back to their country, and the reason they came in the first place, they should be able to stay in the United States of America until the circumstances change in their country.”
If you think Biden’s remarks this week regarding the Latino community versus the black community are off-putting, this is nothing. Earlier, during a radio interview, the presumptive 2020 Democratic nominee quipped that no real black person would vote for President Trump.
“I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black,” Biden said.
Then, of course, there is the time in 2012 when the then-vice president told a room filled with black people that the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, was “gonna put y’all back in chains.”
After a while, it becomes impossible to ignore Biden’s patronizing and, frankly, insulting tone. This is a guy who obviously takes black support for granted. Biden clearly has some opinions on the black community, and none of then seem quite flattering.
