Students and faculty at Morehouse College, a historically Black men’s college in Atlanta, had been protesting his appearance for weeks. They argued that he should not be the guest honoree given his support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Student protests spread to other colleges and universities. Some even forced the cancellation of commencement speeches.
[[{“value”:”Students and faculty at Morehouse College, a historically Black men’s college in Atlanta, had been protesting President Biden’s commencement speech for weeks weeks, saying he should n’t be a guest of honor given his ongoing support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
Morehouse students spoke to the press about their disapproval of Biden’s appearance as student protests swept through different colleges and universities, actually causing the cancellation or revision of commencement ceremonies. They confronted the school’s President, David Thomas, about his invitation to the president, and some members of the Morehouse faculty and others from Spelman and Clark Atlanta—two various historically Black colleges—demanded in an open, anonymous letter that administrators cancel his appearance, alleging that the school was “endorsing genocide” by having him speak.
I reported this week that the Biden administration has ordered another$ 1 billion worth of weapons to Israel, even after the president declared to CNN that he would stop importing certain weapons if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a massive ground invasion against Rafah. Despite this warning, Jewish forces have already begun the incursion, forcing an estimated 800, 000 Palestinians to flee the area, according to the UN. Administrators first contacted the White House in September about the possibility of Biden speaking, a month before the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Thomas told the Washington Post.
However, a few speakers did find ways to acknowledge the plight of Palestinians during commencement ceremonies and Biden’s appearance essentially came and went without provoking uprisings. In his opening evocation, Rev. According to Claybon Lea Jr., leaders should respect “human life, whether it is lived in Israel or Palestine,” and Jesus Christ was a” Arab Jew.” ( Biden is a devout Catholic. )
The valedictorian, DeAngelo Fletcher, used part of his address to call for an “immediate and continuous ceasefire in the Gaza Strip”, prompting applause from the audience—and Biden himself. This week, Fletcher stated to NPR that” Biden has been on a tirade in the Middle East, giving overseas countries billions and billions of dollars.”
# Morehouse valedictorian, Deangelo Fletcher, calls for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip” — met with applause from crowd and @POTUS behind him. pic. twitter.com/jlckIGES8C
— Garrison Hayes ( @garrison_hayes ) May 19, 2024
The most integrated response to Biden’s appearance was when the whole graduating class remained seated when he took the podium, though the ones that were peaceful and comparatively unobtrusive were more subtle. Some students in the audience gave off keffiyehs, some of whom sat with their heads turned to Biden, and another student gave the impression of holding up a Palestinian flag.
During his remarks, Biden acknowledged what he described as the “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza and called for an “immediate ceasefire”, to” stop the fighting and bring the hostages home”. He also addressed the scale of protests against the war on college campuses, saying,” I support calm peaceful protest. Your voices should be heard. And I’ll promise to hear them, too. Noting that he is working towards” two- state solution…the only solution”, Biden said,” I know]the war ] angers and frustrates many of you, including my family. But most of all, I know it breaks your heart. It breaks stone as well”. He most likely made reference to rumors that First Lady Jill Biden had urged him to” stop it now.”
The President strongly opposed racism and defended his track record in supporting Black voters ‘ needs, whose support has just declined. While Biden retains an advantage over Trump with Black voters nevertheless, a Washington Post/Ipsos poll published last month found that 55 percent of Black Americans under 30 years old disapprove of his job performance, in contrast, a year earlier, 56 percent of that group approved of Biden.
” You started college just as George Floyd was murdered, and there was a reckoning on race”, Biden told the graduates, before eventually condemning” the poison of light supremacy”.
” Instead of forcing you to prove you’re ten times better, we’re breaking down doors so you have 100 times more opportunities”, he added, touting the more than$ 16 billion his administration has allocated to HBCUs. He noted his history of supporting Black leadership, and said many Morehouse graduates today worked in his administration. He explained to his audience how important it was to him to nominate a Black woman as his vice president, how to do that, and how the second Black woman was appointed as a Supreme Court Justice.
However, it remains to be seen whether these statistics and Biden’s long history of supporting Black leaders will be sufficient to change the fiercely contested election in his favor. According to a Carnegie poll conducted last month, 59 percent of Black Americans believe the US should halt military aid to Israel to ensure that the country’s use of weapons is compliant with international human rights laws, and that the proportion of Black Americans who expressed sympathy with the Palestinians ‘ situation rose from 32 percent in October 2023 to 45 percent in March.”}]] Students and faculty at Morehouse College, a historically Black men’s college in Atlanta, had been protesting President Biden’s commencement speech for weeks, saying he should n’t be a guest of honor given his ongoing support for Israel’s war in Gaza. As student protests swept through different colleges and universities, also forcing the cancellation
Students and faculty at Morehouse College, a historically Black men’s college in Atlanta, had been protesting his appearance for weeks. They argued that he should not be the guest honoree given his support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Student protests spread to other colleges and universities. Some even forced the cancellation of commencement speeches.
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