The Biden Administration and Historically Black Colleges and Universities: On the Future of the Morehouse Commemoration Service in Israel’s War in Gaza
His visit there has already received pushback from students, who have been critical of Biden in his handling of Israel’s war in Gaza. The university’s president David Thomas told NPR that he would halt the commencement ceremonies altogether if protests became too disruptive.
“Faced with the choice of having police take people out of the Morehouse commencement in zip ties, we would essentially cancel or discontinue the commencement services on the spot,” Thomas said.
“The goal will be to make sure that we use this as an opportunity to continue to elevate the amazing work that’s been done at Morehouse over the last century and a half.”
He stressed the investments the Biden administration has made in HBCUs. The Biden administration has funded over 16 billion dollars for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Biden paid tribute to the history of Morehouse. The college was started after the Civil War to give freed slaves education and training to become ministers.
He said that education is linked to freedom and that Morehouse’s founders understood that. To be free means to have something no one can ever take away from you.
The Biden Campaign in Washington, D.C., April 24, 2020: The Insidious Resurrection of Brown v. Board of Education
Biden blamed former President Trump for appointing justices to the Supreme Court who ended affirmation action for college admissions and for ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the country.
In his speech on Friday, Biden told the NAACP that “an extreme movement led by my predecessor and his MAGA allies” was today’s “insidious” version of the resistance faced by the Little Rock Nine in Arkansas, after the Brown decision.
A recent poll shows that only 38% of Black Americans feel the policies of Biden have helped them, a point Biden tried to explain to the media this week.
A recent survey from the Washington Post and Ipsos showed that only 62% of Black voters said that they are absolutely certain to vote this year, compared to 74% this time in 2020.
Biden held a private meeting with plaintiffs and family members of plaintiffs from the Brown case on Thursday at the White House, and on Friday, he gave remarks at an NAACP event marking the Brown anniversary at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. On the weekend, he heads to the swing state of Michigan, where he’ll address an NAACP dinner in Detroit.
In a memo, a senior adviser to the campaign said that they won’t parachute into the communities at the last minute.
The Biden campaign said the engagement showed how important Black issues are to the administration and how it is working to get their support.
The 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education case, which ended the practice of segregating schools based on race, is the subject of a flurry of events by President Biden this week.
What Happens When You’re Here: The NPR News Quiz Opens New Horizons for Black Americans and the Eilish Finds She
There is a quiz. Happy one year anniversary to the NPR News Quiz! How long have you been playing? Do you remember the answer to this week’s bonus question?
Theater: Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot, of the world’s most famous operas, has premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with a whole new ending.
Music: Discussing her latest album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, Eilish told Morning Edition that she found a new self-awareness.
A collection of short stories by Honor Levy gives an amusing, if sometimes odd, take about what it’s like to grow up white, privileged, and Gen Z.
Movies: Evil Does Not Exist — or does it? This Japanese eco-drama about the residents of a bucolic woodland community who face off against a developer with big plans for the land will leave you rapt — and profoundly unnerved.
During rattlesnake season in Arizona, the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary holds classes for the public and businesses. As people are trained to handle rattlesnakes, they discover that most things they thought they knew about the snakes are not true. The practice could prove helpful, as Arizona saw a surge in rattlesnake bites in April.
Source: Biden focuses on outreach to Black Americans; Billie Eilish finds herself
The United Auto Workers Union in the South: Why do we want to fight mifepristone, misoprostol?
The South has been a tough place for unions in the past, NPR’s Andrea Hsu says. The United Auto Workers Union has tried to organize there for decades, but workers just weren’t interested. The reason jobs existed in the region was that it was cheaper to make cars there. But the UAW’s recent wins following the strike against the Big Three automakers, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, has renewed interest in unionizing.
Louisiana could become the first state in the country to categorize mifepristone and misoprostol — the drugs used in medical abortions — as controlled dangerous substances. State and federal regulations for these substances aim to control access based on the drug’s medical benefit and potential for abuse. There would be penalties of up to 10 years in prison for anyone caught with the drugs without a valid prescription if a bill passes the Louisiana legislature. Doctors opposed to the decision say a “false perception that these are dangerous drugs” could lead to “fear and confusion among patients, doctors, and pharmacists, which delays care and worsens outcomes” in a state with high rates of maternal injury and death.
Good morning. You’re reading the newsletter. You can subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox and listen to the Up First show for all the news you need to start your day.
In the lull between the last classes of the school year and the start of finals season, a trio of seniors convene on one of the Morehouse quads: Jordan Washington, Wisler Charles and DeAngelo Fletcher.
The COVID class of high school is called. He said that many people didn’t get graduations. It’s like our college graduation now. People are focused on the speaker.
“Am I happy about Biden? Not really,” he sighs. There’s a problem if everything about our graduation is about Biden.
Charles said, “I know there’s thoughts of protest,” adding that some folks in his class approached him to join a silent demonstration, turning his back on Biden as he speaks. My family has supported me until this point and pushed me to this point. I have a responsibility to not turn my back.
“I think it’s kind of insulting that our star alumnus is Dr. [Martin Luther] King, but Biden has been on a tirade in the Middle East,” said DeAngelo Fletcher. “Bringing him here — especially during an election year… to get the young Black vote especially, it’s kind of insulting.”
The alumni from the Atlanta HBCU wrote a letter to the administration, calling on them to pull their invitation to President Biden because of his support of Israel.
The goal of the Biden administration is a long-term peace in the Middle East. In recent weeks, Biden has called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take steps so that an “immediate ceasefire” can be put in place and more aid distributed in the region.
Biden is Set for the Morehouse Graduation. Students are Divided: A Campus Student Report from Emory University Senior Brian Fletcher
The letter states that inviting President Biden is a moral disaster and an embarrassment to the college, since the civilian death toll is in the thousands.
Similar sentiments have inspired protests at colleges across the country. But these demonstrations haven’t been as prominent on historically Black campuses.
But Fletcher does not know if he would protest Biden himself. He’s the youngest of seven and like his two friends wants to focus on family at graduation.
The entire Morehouse senior class is caught in this same situation, according to a report by a senior with the student newspaper.
There were events in support of Palestinians and demanded their school administrations take a stance against the war in Gaza last fall, according to The Maroon Tiger.
An organizer is involved in that planning. But after participating in a student encampment at Emory University that was forcibly cleared by law enforcement, he’s cautious.
“I can tell you from my experience that there were more melanated people who were harassed than white people,” he said. “So we’re taking all of that into consideration as an HBCU.”
“So those of us who are standing on the right side of history in this Morehouse and AUC family… we have morals and we have humanity,” he continued. “This President that [the administration is] bringing to our school does not reflect how we feel.”
Source: Biden is set for the Morehouse graduation. Students are divided
Biden is set for the Morehouse graduation. Students are divided: An Emory political scientist’s perspective on HBCU commencements in South Carolina
The Black vote in South Carolina was instrumental in his victory on Super Tuesday in 2020, starting a wave of momentum that propelled him through November. In Georgia — a swing state — Biden’s looking to spark the same kind of support amongst what has been the Democrats most reliable voting bloc.
“So it’s not surprising at all that he would do this, it’s also not surprising that he would target Morehouse because of concerns that his support is fading, particularly amongst Black men,” said Andra Gillespie, an Emory political scientist.
Presidents and first ladies have long used HBCU commencements to convey an agenda, she said, and that tracks back as far as the 1960s. More recently, Biden is following in the footsteps of former President Barack Obama, and First Lady Michelle Obama, who expanded this type of outreach.
She said it’s appropriate to think that there was intentionality in choosing that audience for a political reason. Biden has an opportunity to win over people by giving a truly emotional speech.
Morehouse extended a formal invitation to the White House in September, before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel. But as the war intensified — and calls for Thomas to rescind the invitation grew — he said he never reconsidered his decision.
He said Morehouse has a duty not to cancel or alter commencement, as other schools have done. In his words, that would make Morehouse a “plain, vanilla” institution.
Source: Biden is set for the Morehouse graduation. Students are divided
Speaker’s Perspective: Joe Biden’s “Morehouse Mystique” and “Hot Unites” as a High School Student Perspective
Benjamin said that President Biden respects peoples’ rights to protest and he made it a point to lean in when there are protesters in the same space.
Ronald David, a sophomore, said that “Joe Biden has had things that might have been seen as controversial in his past.” It is important for you to have people you don’t agree with.
He says if it were his graduation, he’d rather have someone Black — echoing a widespread sentiment on campus. But David adds that Biden might learn something from what folks call the “Morehouse mystique.”
“Just because we don’t necessarily resonate or agree with Joe Biden or think that he’s the best speaker, it’s important not to shun him or say that he isn’t the best speaker or shouldn’t be speaking and, instead, welcome that unity.”