PoliticoWhite America is reckoning with racism. It could reshape 2020
- The killing of George Floyd has prompted a reckoning with racism not only for Joe Biden, but for a wide swathe of white America
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Alex Thompson on politico.com on June 9, 2020
Joe Biden says he, like many white people, was wrong about racism in America.
“I thought we had made enormous progress when we finally elected an African-American president,” he told voters in a live-streamed “Young Americans Town Hall” last week. “I thought you could defeat hate, you could kill hate. But the point is, you can’t.”
Days earlier Biden said he thought others were experiencing a similar awakening to their own wilful naivety.
“Ordinary folks who don’t think of themselves as having a prejudiced bone in their body, don’t think of themselves as racists,” Biden said, “have kind of had the mask pulled off.”
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Black Lives Matter protests sweep the globe after police killing of George Floyd in US
The killing of George Floyd by a white police officer – and the viral video of the agonising 8 minutes and 46 seconds with the officer’s knee on Floyd’s neck – has prompted a reckoning with racism for not only Biden, but for a wide swathe of white America, according to polls conducted since Floyd’s death and anecdotal evidence from around the country.