Vice President Kamala Harris offered a rallying cry to Black voters during a Juneteenth celebration at the White House, listing the Biden administration’s achievements and urging supporters to fight efforts by extremists to roll back those gains.
Harris, the first Black and female vice president, took veiled swipes at tougher voting restrictions enacted following the 2020 presidential election as well as efforts to restrict the teaching of critical race theory.
“As we celebrate a holiday dedicated to teaching and honoring America’s full history, extremists across our country attempt to ban books and erase our past. And on this point, let us be very clear: Black history is American history,” Harris said Tuesday during a concert on the South Lawn.
Though she didn’t mention any names, she was clearly referring to Republicans who have attacked critical race theory as divisive, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a 2024 presidential candidate.
DeSantis has drawn national attention for moves to restrict the teaching of critical race theory in high school advanced placement courses.
Harris highlighted many of the administration’s efforts on Tuesday, citing measures to cap insulin prices, provide more financing for historically Black colleges and universities, and the nomination of Black judges to the federal judiciary, including Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman on the US Supreme Court.
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Harris said the administration would “continue to fight for student debt relief,” as it awaits a Supreme Court ruling on that could strike down their plan and discussed the importance of passing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Voting rights are “under assault” across the nation, she added.
President Joe Biden has credited Black voters with helping him win the White House in 2020 with exit polls showing that he carried 87% of the vote. But Black voters and civil rights groups have also expressed frustration with the administration’s progress on many key issues, including voting rights, police reform and gun violence, making it crucial for Biden and Harris to bolster their outreach in their 2024 reelection bid.
Harris cited the legacy of Coretta Scott King, who she said “reminds us that our freedoms will not be permanent unless we in each generation are vigilant to protect them.”
“Let us stand together as Americans to teach and honor our history, to protect our liberty, and to continue the fight for freedom,” she added.
Tuesday’s event comes two years after Biden signed legislation to make designated Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021.
The holiday, which is celebrated on June 19, marks the anniversary of the Union Army arriving in Galveston, Texas, in 1865 and announcing that all enslaved African Americans in the state were free. Juneteenth has been a celebration of Black history for years but gained larger prominence after the protests in 2020 against racial injustice.
The New York Stock Exchange and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association began observing Juneteenth as a market holiday in 2022.