Former Vice President Joe Biden responded to a question regarding the legacy of racism and he is blaming Black parents for the racial achievement gap.
What We Know:
- Firstly, Joe Biden addressed the legacy of black enslavement and segregation in an interview with The New York Times. Biden suggested a way to deal with the legacy of slavery is through bridging the “word gap” between white and black children. The former Vice President said, “A kid coming from a very poor school, a very poor background will hear 4 million words fewer spoken by the time we get there.”
- Biden’s comment on the “word gap” and the issue of Black parents being reluctant to be apart of their children’s education proved the political euphemism that Black parents are the problem.
- According to a report from HuffPost, studies have consistently shown that Black parents are more likely than whites to value post-secondary education. Moreover, in the article, segregation, mass incarceration, and poorly funded schools fall squarely under Biden’s responsibility as a politician.
- Additionally, HuffPost cited that Biden suggested that black parents may not be as active in their children’s schooling. A key component could potentially be embarrassment about their own lack of education. The former Vice President learned from his wife, a former teacher, that poor parents “don’t show up because they’re embarrassed. They’re embarrassed the teacher’s going to say–and it’s hard to say, ‘Well, I can’t read'”.
- Finally, Biden said, “Well, that’s true, but there’s also a good deal of it, and check with the educators, there’s a good deal is they just don’t know what to say, many of them. They don’t show up.”
Astonishing how Black parents are the problem, but poor minority children gain almost zero in proper resources for their education in part of insufficient funds.
