“History is important.” Joe Biden on Sunday emphasized the importance of fully knowing American history, “good and bad,” as he recalled the brutal repression of hundreds of civil rights marches in Selma, Alabama, 58 years ago. The peace activists were violently repressed by the police on March 7, 1965.
This “Bloody Sunday” shocked America and resulted months later in the Voting Rights Act, a federal law guaranteeing everyone access to the right to vote. These demonstrators “forced America to face the truth and act,” declared Joe Biden, accusing the opposition of wanting to “hide the truth” today.
(again) read: On the road to civil rights
“You can’t choose to learn only what you want to know,” he said, as the debate rages over teaching about slavery and the segregationist past in schools across the country. “We should know everything, good and bad,” he hit.
Suffrage is under threat
A number of conservative states have passed laws banning the teaching of “critical race theory” from 2020, which has become a catch-all formula for racist awareness programs.
read more: Critical race pedagogy, a heated debate in America
Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis, who has presidential aspirations, recently supported banning a high school course in African-American history after being accused of “indoctrinating” young people.
In his speech, Joe Biden called for “vigilance” on voting rights, which he said the Supreme Court had partially unwound the Voting Rights Act, as well as “dozens of restrictive laws.” Conservative states.
The 80-year-old president, whose political career has largely hinged on the support of African-American voters, urged Congress to pass major electoral reform that has been blocked by Republican lawmakers. Without a chance to ask more.
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