Joe Biden is the first US president to call out white supremacy in inaugural address
White supremacy is particularly useful as a term that encapsulates the ways racism can be reinforced independently of individual prejudice. “People have this misconception that white supremacy has something to do with hate or racial animus, and it doesn’t,” journalist Michael Harriott explained in an interview last summer. The fact that majority-white schools have more funding than majority-Black schools, or that Black people are disproportionately more likely to be shot and killed by police, are illustrations of white supremacy in action.
It’s amazing that in the year 2021, we have a President who is calling out the system of power our nation is built upon…white supremacy. This article writes that President Obama also spoke of racism, and that is powerful, but unfortunately I don’t think it resonates with many white people. Why? Because it’s really easy to write off one man’s story (even though it is the culmination of many stories and experiences).
With President Biden actually saying those words: “white supremacy,” there is acknowledgement that it is a real thing, and that is in action today. Like it or not, this President’s voice will carry further in the ears of white people than the voice of a black man. It’s disgusting and lamentable, and it is a reason that white people must speak up when appropriate. Speaking up isn’t our quest to be white saviors, but rather it is to hold one another accountable. It is to recognize that whether we want it to be like it is or not, our acknowledgement can be a form of validation.
We (as white males), have a problem, and until we admit our addiction to power and supremacy, we will never be able to get help to heal. And healing isn’t just for us; it is for all of those around us who have been hurt by our actions and our words.
Jeremy P. England 