‘We cannot give hate any safe harbor’ Biden says at SC State graduation
In a speech at South Carolina’s only publicly funded, historically Black university, President Joe Biden spoke about the struggles of race relations in country.
“When given oxygen by political leaders, (hate) comes out, ugly and mean as it was before,” Biden said. “We can’t give it any oxygen. We have to step on it. We have to stop it.”
Biden gave credit to another HBCU during his remarks, saying students at Delaware State University organized for him when he was first elected in 1972.
He recognized students today have dealt with struggles.
This was a class that dealt with going to college during COVID-19 pandemic — and the economic struggles it caused — along with a national reckoning on race not seen since the 1950s and 1960s.
“Your time here has come during a tumultuous and consequential moment in modern American history. It has led you to graduate at a real inflection point in history,” Biden said. “Few classes every once in a few generations enter at a point in American history where it actually has a chance to change the trajectory of the country.”
Biden said a through-line exists from the Orangeburg Massacre to the 2015 shooting at Charleston’s Mother Emanuel AME Church to the white supremacist marches in Charlottesville, Virginia, to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“We cannot, must not give hate any safe harbor. ... Call it out,” Biden said.
Biden came to the graduation ceremony at the invitation of U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, who received a diploma from the school to commemorate the 60th anniversary of his own graduation from S.C. State. It also marked the first time Biden returned to the Palmetto State since winning the state’s 2020 Democratic presidential primary propelling him to the nomination.
He told reporters, at Columbia Metropolitian Airport, “It feels good” to be back in South Carolina.
Biden’s arrival in Orangeburg was met by a handful of protesters, including one holding a sign that said, “Let’s Go Brandon,” a message used by Congressional Republicans to deride Biden.
The S.C. GOP released a statement after Biden’s speech
“Joe Biden conveniently failed to mention that his policies and failed leadership have resulted in sky high inflation, unprecedented surges at the southern border, and Americans killed and stranded in Afghanistan,” said SCGOP Chairman Drew McKissick.
In his commencement address, Biden also spoke about the protecting the right to vote in the country, again calling for the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
“I’ve never seen untying like the unrelenting assault on the right to vote,” Biden said. “It’s not just about who gets to vote, or making it easier, as we tried to do to make people eligible, but who gets to count the vote, or whether the vote counts at all.”
Biden ended his speech, which lasted more than half an hour, with a challenge to the graduates.
“We face that inflection point is going to change the course of history, and I’m counting on you to meet the moment,” Biden said. “It’s an enormous opportunity.”
Clyburn returns to his alma mater
Clyburn has remained a supporter of South Carolina State, contributing money. But he said the state needs to support its only publicly funded HBCU.
“I really feel that the state historically has not done right by that school,” Clyburn said. “And so I’m not just complained about what the state has not done. I do what my dad has always told me to do. Don’t curse the darkness, light a candle and so I have spent my time lighting the candle for South Carolina State.”
Clyburn said HBCUs provide small class environments for students and have them learn from professors with similar backgrounds and it can set up students for success in life.
“I can go through the country and those kinds of examples of tremendous successes of people who come from these HBCUs that never would have made it if they had gone to a school with a classroom size of 150 (or) 200 students. They would have been lost in the shuffle,” Clyburn said.
“So that’s what South Carolina State means to me. It is a tremendous resource in this state that ought to be treated better than it is being treated by the state,” Clyburn said.
Biden’s visit to S.C. State is a big positive headline for a school that was on the brink of losing its accreditation and has dealt with financial struggles in recent years. The school also has seen declining enrollment.
The school was appearing to rebound when its board fired its president James Clark, a person who was well-liked by lawmakers.
Funding for HBCUs is an issue recent American presidents have wrestled with. HBCUs would get about $3 billion more a year under the proposed Build Back Better Act, which is now sitting in the Senate.
Biden also said his administration has sent $5 billion to HBCUs this year. Biden said he wants to expand investment in HBCUs to expand programs in high demand fields such as cybersecurity, engineers and health care.
After federal funding for lapsed in 2019, former president Donald Trump signed legislation to permanently provide more than $250 million a year to HBCUs and other schools with large minority populations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 12:02 PM with the headline "‘We cannot give hate any safe harbor’ Biden says at SC State graduation."
