{"id":131198,"date":"2021-10-25T15:00:56","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T22:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=131198"},"modified":"2021-10-25T15:00:56","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T22:00:56","slug":"president-biden-at-the-10th-anniversary-celebration-of-the-dedication-of-the-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=131198","title":{"rendered":"President Biden at the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Dedication of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Thank you, Kamala. Thank you all so very much. Mr. President \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 Harry, thank you for your stewardship.  You know, here in the heart of the capital of the United States of America, the tensions and the heat [heart] of the nation are vividly on display.  Dr. King stands determined and brave, looking out over the promised land.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iaRrAIzpnis\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Across the Tidal Basin stands another giant of our history: Thomas Jefferson, whose words declared the very idea of America that we are all \u201ccreated equal\u2026 endowed by [our] Creator with certain unalienable Rights\u201d and we all deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.<\/p>\n<p>To state the obvious \u2014 and no audience knows it better than this one \u2014 we\u2019ve never fully lived up to that idea. But we\u2019ve never walked away from it fully. We\u2019ve never walked away.<\/p>\n<p>In his sermon to the March on Washington, Dr. King called on all of America to live up to the full meaning and promise of our Declaration of Independence.<\/p>\n<p>And so, they stand here in perpetuity, in timely and timeless conversation that inspires us and challenges us. It reminds us of how far we\u2019ve come, where we need to go, and how far and how much longer the journey is. And it is a conversation that shapes our days and that we must carry forward.<\/p>\n<p>Madam Vice President, Madam Speaker, Chair of the Black Caucus Beatty, Congressional Black Caucus members, the memorial foundation, leaders of faith and community, distinguished guests: From here, we see the ongoing push and pull between progress and struggle over the self-evident truths of our democracy.<\/p>\n<p>And in our nation, we now face an inflection point in the battle, literally, for the soul of America. And it\u2019s up to us, together, to choose who we want to be and what we want to be. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I know \u2014 I know the progress does not come fast enough. It never has. And the process of governing is frustrating and sometimes dispiriting. But I also know what\u2019s possible if we keep the pressure up, if we never give up, if we keep the faith.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re at an inflection point \u2014 as I know I\u2019ve maybe overused that phrase, but it is an inflection point in American history \u2014 in delivering on economic justice.<\/p>\n<p>For it was the dignity of work that Dr. King was in Memphis on that fateful day in April, helping sanitation workers \u2014 not only for better pay and safer conditions, but to be granted more dignity as human beings.<\/p>\n<p>In our time, it\u2019s about recognizing that for much too long we\u2019ve allowed a narrowed and cramped view of the promise of America \u2014 a view that America is a zero-sum game, particularly of the recent past. \u201cIf you succeed, I fail.\u201d \u201cIf you get ahead, I fall behind.\u201d And maybe worst of all, \u201cIf I can hold you down, I lift myself up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Instead of what it should be \u2014 and it\u2019s just self-evident \u2014 \u201cIf you do well, we all do well.\u201d That\u2019s keeping the promise of America. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve never seen a time when working folks did well that the wealthy didn\u2019t do very well.<\/p>\n<p>Look, it\u2019s the core of our administration\u2019s economic vision, and it\u2019s a fundamental paradigm shift for this nation. For the first time in a couple generations, we\u2019re going to be investing in working families \u2014 putting them first and helping them get ahead, rather than the wealthy and the biggest and most powerful people out there. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re investing in Black families with Rescue checks and tax cuts that will reduce Black poverty by 34 percent, Black child poverty by more than 50 percent this year. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re aggressively \u2014 with the leadership with of the people I\u2019m looking at right now \u2014 combatting housing discrimination to create a generation of wealth. How did every other person make it to the middle class from a working-class circumstance?<\/p>\n<p>Just like my dad did, build equity in a house \u2014 granted, it was small; granted, it wasn\u2019t much, but it was enough to build a little equity.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll use the federal government\u2019s purchasing power to unlock billions of dollars in new opportunities of minority-owned small businesses and access to government contracts.<\/p>\n<p>Is there any doubt that providing more people with just a little more breathing room to take care of their families, generate a little bit of wealth that they can pass on to their children, and create jobs in their communities would uplift the entire country \u2014 all the country? Everyone.<\/p>\n<p>And as the economy recovers, we are determined and focused on rebuilding it over the long run. No one should have to hold their breath as they cross a rundown bridge to determine whether it\u2019s safe enough or a dangerous intersection in their hometown.<\/p>\n<p>A nation \u2014 every American, every child should be able to turn on a faucet and drink water that\u2019s not contaminated by lead or anything else. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>As a nation, everyone should have access to affordable high-speed Internet. Gone the days when you have to pull up to a McDonald\u2019s and sit in a parking lot with your child to do their homework when there\u2019s virtual learning going on.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. King said, \u201cOf all the forms of inequity, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and [most] inhumane.\u201d This is a once-in-a-century pandemic that\u2019s hit this country hard, and especially the African American community.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s likely you\u2019ve all lost someone to the virus or know someone who has lost a loved one. One in six hundred Black Americans have died from COVID-19. It\u2019s been reported that Black children are more than twice as likely as white children to have lost a parent or a caregiver to COVID-19, to have to experience the trauma and loss.<\/p>\n<p>Many of my colleagues in the Congress are working on what we have to now work on even more \u2014 more fervently, and that is mental healthcare, helping people through the difficult periods we have. (Applause.) It\u2019s been devastating, but we can find purpose in pain. We can find purpose in this pain.<\/p>\n<p>Equity is the center of my administration\u2019s COVID-19 response. The vaccination rates among Black adults is now essentially on par with white adults.<\/p>\n<p>In the midst of this pandemic, we\u2019re building on the Affordable Care Act to extend coverage to lower healthcare costs for millions of Black families.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re also working on lowering prescription drug costs by giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices. And how do you know the plan will work? Because the drug companies are spending millions of bucks to try to stop it. That\u2019s how you know. (Applause.)  <\/p>\n<p>Together, we\u2019re making healthcare a right, not a privilege, in this nation.<\/p>\n<p>And for the millions \u2014 the millions of you who feel financially squeezed in raising a child while caring for an aging parent \u2014 the so-called \u201csandwich generation\u201d \u2014 we want to make eldercare affordable and accessible so your aging loved ones can live with greater independence and dignity.<\/p>\n<p>We also want to make sure childcare costs for most families are cut at least in half. No working family \u2014 if we pr- \u2014 if we get what you all are helping me get done, no working family in America will pay more than 7 percent of their income on childcare for any child under five. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>We want to give raises to millions of care workers and home workers so they can increase their capacity, increase their knowledge, increase their opportunities. Health workers and childcare workers are disproportionately women \u2014 women of color and immigrants \u2014 workers, like the ones Dr. King stood for when he marched and gave his life.<\/p>\n<p>Look, folks, just imagine, instead of consigning millions of our children to under-resourced schools, we gave every single child in America access to an education at age three and age four \u2014 quality preschool. (Applause.) We can afford to do this. We can\u2019t afford not to do it.<\/p>\n<p>And we do know, no matter what the background or circumstance a child comes from, when given that opportunity, they have a better than 58 percent chance of making it all the way through 12 years without getting themselves in trouble and maybe going beyond that.<\/p>\n<p>This will change lives forever. So will historic investments in higher education \u2014 significantly increasing Pell Grants to help millions of Black students in lower-income families attend community colleges and four-year schools. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I tell you, let me be clear: In the shadow of the Morehouse men \u2014 I hear a lot about that, guys \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 and with a Howard alumni \u2014 I keep making the case \u2014 \u201cif you\u2019d excuse the point of personal privilege,\u201d as we used to say in the Senate \u2014 the best HBCU in the country is Delaware State. (Laughter.) That\u2019s where I got started. Come on.<\/p>\n<p>But here\u2019s what we\u2019ve done \u2014 in addition to putting the president of Delaware State, who used to work for me \u2014 Doctor \u2014 he \u2014 in charge of all of this \u2014 we\u2019re committed to nearly $5 billion this year in historic investments, with more, in historically Black colleges and universities to make every single student \u2014 give them a shot with good-paying jobs.<\/p>\n<p>And you all know what I mean, but for anybody watching this: One of the problems is Black students in colleges just have every single capability any other student does, but guess what? Because they don\u2019t have great endowments, they can\u2019t compete for those government contracts that are out there that the big schools are able to go out and get.<\/p>\n<p>Cybersecurity, for example, starting salary is 100-, 125,000 bucks. But you don\u2019t get to get that contract unless you have laboratories, unless you have the facilities you can, in fact, train on.<\/p>\n<p>We also know this about the promise of America. Economic injustice also means delivering on environmental justice to communities on \u2014 fenceline communities, dividing homes in toxic areas.<\/p>\n<p>My state has one of the highest cancer rates in the history of Am- \u2014 in America. Because I lived in a fenceline community called Claymont, Delaware. We used to get up in the morning \u2014 not a joke \u2014 and I\u2019d get driven to the little school I went, up the street; turn on the windshield wiper in the fall \u2014 in the fall, the first frost, and literally there\u2019d be an oil slick on the window. Not a joke. An oil slick on the window. It\u2019s why an awful lot of us, including me, have bronchial asthma.<\/p>\n<p>It means reducing pollution so our children can develop and avoid these consequences.<\/p>\n<p>Every one of you have an alley in your state; we call it \u201cCancer Alley\u201d in our state, going down Route 13.<\/p>\n<p>Look, it means building up our resilience to the climate crisis or the next extreme weather events. And these have been of biblical proportions \u2014 biblical proportions. A hundred seventy-eight-mile top winds in a hurricane down in Louisiana. More people dying in Queens, in their basements, because 20 inches of rain \u2014 they flooded and couldn\u2019t get out of their basements; they drowned. Superstorms, droughts, wildfire, hurricanes.<\/p>\n<p>This is the promise for America \u2014 urban and rural and all across America, not just for any one area. And as we fight for economic justice to fulfill the promise of America for all Americans, the work continues on delivering equal justice under the law.<\/p>\n<p>Look, I know the frustration we all feel that more than one year after George Floyd\u2019s murder and the conviction of his murderer about six months ago, meaningful police reform in George\u2019s name has not passed Congress.<\/p>\n<p>I remember many times meeting with his little daughter. And she\u2019d say to me, \u201cMy Daddy is changing history. He\u2019s going to change history.\u201d But we haven\u2019t fulfilled that yet.<\/p>\n<p>I understand. We got to keep fighting. But let me be clear, though: We\u2019re going to continue to fight for real police reform legislation, and the fight is not anywhere near over.<\/p>\n<p>Despite Republican obstruction, my administration is acting. We\u2019ve already announced changes to the federal law enforcement policies: a ban on choke-holds, restriction on no-knock warrants, requirements that federal agents wear and activate body cameras \u2014 (applause) \u2014 ending the Department of Justice\u2019s use of private prisons, rescinding the previous administration\u2019s guidance to U.S. attorneys to require the harshest of penalties.<\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department has opened a pattern-or-practice investigation of systematic police misconduct in police departments in Phoenix, Louisville, and Minneapolis.<\/p>\n<p>Just because we can\u2019t get it done in the states, we are not standing back. And we have much more to do.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to these important steps, my administration also wants to advance some meaningful police reform that includes additional executive actions to live up to America\u2019s promise of equal justice under the law.<\/p>\n<p>Our work continues to create safer and stronger communities in critical ways. With my American Rescue Plan \u2014 and thank you in the Congress for supporting it \u2014 everybody kind of forgets that was 1.9 billion dollars \u2014 trillion dollars. We got a hell of \u2014 heck of a lot done with that. That \u2014 it did so well, people don\u2019t even know where it came from. (Laughter.) No, I\u2019m serious. Think about it.<\/p>\n<p>Like, \u201cWhat did you do for me lately?\u201d Well, we had $1.9 billion [trillion] we took care of.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Trillion!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Well, we made historic investments in community policing and violence intervention programs and were shown to reduce \u2014 some of these programs reduce violence by 60 percent.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re expanding summer programs and job opportunities and service and support to keep young people safe and out of trouble.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re helping formerly incarcerated people successfully reenter their communities. In the past, you\u2019d get 25 bucks and a bu- \u2014 and a bus ticket. And you\u2019d go back right under the bridge you just were there before.<\/p>\n<p>You should have access to Pell grants. You should have access to the po- \u2014 housing. You should have access to all the things. You paid your price. (Applause.) And we shouldn\u2019t put back in the spot where you have no options.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re also working to stem the flow of firearms from rogue gun dealers to curb the ecidem- \u2014 the epidemic of gun violence.<\/p>\n<p>I know I get criticized for being the guy who passed the assault weapons ban. I\u2019m proud of having passed the assault weapons ban. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But here\u2019s the deal: We heard Dr. King paraphrase Micah. He said, \u201cGive us the ballot and we will place judges on the benches of the South who will do justly and love mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Well, in just nine months, we have appointed more Black women to the federal circuit courts and more former public defenders to the bench than any administration in all of American history because of you. We\u2019re going to change it. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And we did it in record time, and we\u2019re just getting started because of all of you in the audience here. You\u2019ve been the engine behind all of this.<\/p>\n<p>But we also know this: To make real the full promise of America, we have to protect that fundamental right: the right to vote \u2014 the sacred right to vote. You know, it\u2019s democracy\u2019s threshold of liberty. With it, anything is possible. Without it, nothing is.<\/p>\n<p>Today, the right to vote and the rule of law are under unrelenting assault from Republican governors, attorneys general, secretaries of state, state legislators. And they\u2019re following my predecessor \u2014 the last President \u2014 into a deep, deep black hole and abyss.<\/p>\n<p>No, I really mean it. Think about it. That\u2019s what got me involved in civil rights as a kid, when I was 26 years old. It gave me \u2014 I had never pla- \u2014 I love reading about how \u201cBiden knew he was going to run President.\u201d Hell, I didn\u2019t know I was even going to be able to run for the county council; I didn\u2019t even want to. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>But, look, this struggle is no longer just over who gets to vote or making it easier for eligible people to vote. It\u2019s about who gets to count the votes \u2014 whether they should count at all.<\/p>\n<p>Jim Crow in the 21st century is now a sinister combination of voter suppression and elective subv- \u2014 election subversion.<\/p>\n<p>My fellow Americans, I thought, at one point, that I had been able to do something good as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. I was able to get every member of the committee, including some of the most conservative members that ever served \u2014 clearly who had racist backgrounds \u2014 to vote to extend the Voting Rights Act for 25 years. I thought, \u201cWhoa.\u201d One of the proudest things I ever did as a senator.<\/p>\n<p>But guess what? This means that some state legislatures want to make it harder for you to vote. And if you do vote, they want to be able to tell you whether or not your vote counts. That\u2019s not happened before.<\/p>\n<p>They want the ability to reject the final vote and ignore the will of the people if their preferred candidate \u2014 Black or white or Asian or Latino, doesn\u2019t matter \u2014 if that \u2014 if their candidate doesn\u2019t win.<\/p>\n<p>And they\u2019re targeting not just voters of color, as I said, but every voter who doesn\u2019t vote the way they want.<\/p>\n<p>I have to admit to you, having been as senator in my whole of 36-year career involved in \u2014 I worked with a lot of folks out here on civil rights issues \u2014 I thought, \u201cMan, you can\u2019t turn this back.\u201d I bet you could defeat hate. What if we could actually defeat hate?<\/p>\n<p>But the most un-American thing that any of us can imagine \u2014 the most undemocratic and the most unpatriotic \u2014 and yet, sadly, not unprecedented. Time and again, we\u2019ve witnessed threats to the right to vote in free and fair elections come to fruition. Each time, we fought back. And we\u2019ve got to continue to fight back today.<\/p>\n<p>I want to thank Martin Luther King III for leading marches on voting rights during the anniversary of the March on Washington on August 28th.<\/p>\n<p>The Vice President and I, and our colleagues here, have spent our careers doing this work. It\u2019s central to our administration.<\/p>\n<p>On the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, I directed each and every federal agency to promote access to voting from each agency heeding that call.<\/p>\n<p>For example, the Department of Veterans Affairs \u2014 I asked them to make it easier for veterans and their families to register and to vote at VA facilities \u2014 so it\u2019d be open.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice has doubled the voting rights enforcement staff.<\/p>\n<p>We got a long way to go though. It\u2019s using authorities to challenge the onslaught of state laws undermining voting rights, whether in old or new ways.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s something like 20 percent of the Re- \u2014 or half the Republicans \u2014 the registered Republicans: I am not your President; Donald Trump is still your President. As we Catholics say, \u201cOh, my God.\u201d (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>But look, the focus is going to remain on discrimination and racial discriminatory laws \u2014 Georgia\u2019s various [vicious]* new anti-voting laws.<\/p>\n<p>And let\u2019s be clear about Georgia \u2014 Dr. King\u2019s home state and the home state of someone who has literally stood in his shoes as \u2014 (jets fly overhead).<\/p>\n<p>I think some of you guys knew this was \u2014 the next line was coming; that\u2019s why you had the jets come out \u2014 (laughter).<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 stood in his shoes as a Morehouse man. (Laughter.) That\u2019s what I keep getting from Cedric. Oh, anyway. (Laughter.) And as a preacher in the pulpit of Ebenezer \u2014 United States Senator Raphael Warnock, the first Black senator in Georgia\u2019s history. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Senator Warnock won his election in the battle of ideas. He earned the trust and confidence of a broad coalition of voters in Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>And the response of Republicans in Georgia \u2014 what was it? It\u2019s not to try winning on the merits and ideas, it\u2019s by changing the rules to make it harder for people to vote, deny the franchise.<\/p>\n<p>The Vice President has been leading our administration\u2019s efforts. And we\u2019ve supported Democrats pressing to enact critical voting rights bills since day one of this administration, making sure we have unanimous support.<\/p>\n<p>But each and every time, the Senate Republicans block it by refusing even to talk about it. They\u2019re afraid to even just debate the bills in the U.S. Senate, as they did again yesterday, even on a bill that includes provisions that they\u2019ve traditionally supported. It\u2019s unfair. It\u2019s unconscionable. And it\u2019s un-American.<\/p>\n<p>And this battle is far from over. The door has not been closed. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act will soon come up for a vote \u2014 named after our dear friend we still miss dearly, but whose voice we hear every day in our hearts and in our conscience.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a law that helped lead the reauthorization \u2014 as I said, for 25 years that I served of the \u2014 in the Senate Judiciary Committee \u2014 expanding the Voting Rights Act.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s traditionally received bipartisan support. We have to keep up the fight and get it done.<\/p>\n<p>And I know the moment we\u2019re in; you know the moment we are in. I know the stakes; you know the stakes. This is far from over.<\/p>\n<p>And finally, we\u2019re confronting the stains of what remains \u2014 the deep stain on the soul of the nation: hate and white supremacy.<\/p>\n<p>You know, there\u2019s a through line of subjugation and enslaved people from our earliest days to the reigns of radicalized terror of the KKK to Dr. King being assassinated. And through that \u2014 though [through] that line continues to be the torches emerging from dark shadows in Charlottesville, carrying out Nazi banners and chanting anti-Semitic bile, and Ku Klux Klan flags; and the violent, deadly insurrection on the Capitol nine months ago \u2014 it was about white supremacy, in my view.<\/p>\n<p>The rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans during the pandemic and the rise of anti-Semitism here in America and around the world.<\/p>\n<p>The through line is that hate never goes away. It never \u2013I thought \u2014 in all of the years I\u2019ve been involved, I thought once we got through it, it would go away. But it doesn\u2019t; it only hides. It only hides until some seeming-legitimate person breathes some oxygen under the rocks where they\u2019re hiding and gives it some breath. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve said it before \u2014 and all my colleagues here know it: According to the United States intelligence community, domestic terrorism from white supremacists is the most lethal terrorist threat in the homeland.<\/p>\n<p>To that end, our administration is carrying out the first-ever comprehensive effort to tackle the threat \u2014 (applause) \u2014 passed by domestic \u2014 posed by domestic terrorism, including white supremacy.<\/p>\n<p>We are doing so by taking action to reduce online radicalism and recruitment to violence.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re also disrupting networks that inspire violence and domestic terrorists by providing resources to communities to build resilience.<\/p>\n<p>We cannot and must not give hate any safe harbor \u2014 any safe harbor.<\/p>\n<p>My fellow Americans, standing here I\u2019m reminded of the goal of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which Dr. King led. And I quote \u2014 he said his goal was to, quote, \u201credeem the soul of America.\u201d That\u2019s what\u2019s at stake here: the soul of America.<\/p>\n<p>And we know that it\u2019s not the work of a single day or a single administration or even a single generation. But here we stand with Dr. King to show: Out of struggle there is progress, out of despair there is hope.<\/p>\n<p>From the promise of equality and opportunity, of jobs, justice, and freedom, we see Black excellence, American excellence, Black history as American history and a defining source of the might of this nation.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why we\u2019re here to today: to renew our own courage in the shadow, in the light, and on the shoulders of Dr. King, Coretta Scott King, and all those known and unknown who gave their whole souls to this work.<\/p>\n<p>The courage to confront wrong and to try do right. The courage to heal the broken places in the nation. The courage to see America whole, to acknowledge where we fall short, to devote ourselves to the perfection of the union that we love and we must protect.<\/p>\n<p>For if we can summon the courage to do these things, we\u2019ll have done our duty, honored our commitments, and brought the dream of Dr. King just a little bit closer to reality.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the highest of callings. It\u2019s the most sacred of charges. And it\u2019s what, with the help of God, we can do now.<\/p>\n<p>So, let\u2019s go forth from this sacred place \u2013- of tumult and turmoil \u2014 with the hope and promise of a nation always seeking, always thriving, always keeping the faith. Because, folks \u2014<\/p>\n<p>You know, I know my colleagues in the Senate used to always kid me for quoting Irish poets on the floor. They thought I did it because I was Irish. It\u2019s not the reason; they\u2019re the just the best poets in the world. (Laughter.) There\u2019s a line from the \u2014 and I believe this to be true. There\u2019s a line from a poem, \u201cThe Cure at Troy\u201d \u2014 it says that:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026 once in a lifetime<br \/>\n[That] tidal wave<br \/>\nOf justice [rises] up,<br \/>\nAnd hope and history rhyme.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not the whole quote. I won\u2019t bore you with it all. But \u201chope and history rhyme.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I believe the American people \u2014 the vast majority \u2014 are with us. I think they see much more clearly what you\u2019ve all been fighting for your whole lives now. It\u2019s in stark relief.<\/p>\n<p>The bad news: We had a President who appealed to the prejudice. The good news is that he took the \u2014 he ripped the Band-Aid off, made it absolutely clear what\u2019s at stake. And I think the American people will follow us.<\/p>\n<p>But guess what? Whether they will or not, we have no choice. We have to continue to fight. (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>God bless you all. May God protect our troops. (Applause.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Thank you, Kamala. Thank you all so very much. Mr. President \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 Harry, thank you for your stewardship. You know, here in the heart of the capital of the United States of America, the tensions and the heat [heart] of the nation are vividly on display. Dr. King stands determined and brave, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Fullscreen-capture-10252021-24114-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=131198"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131200,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131198\/revisions\/131200"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/131199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=131198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=131198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=131198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}