Despite the magnitude of the commemorative ceremony, multiple Morehouse college students have been up in arms, turning their backs on U.S. President, Joe Biden while he delivered his commencement speech this Sunday. This happened at the historic black college in Atlanta, Georgia.
However, the statement, “I support peaceful nonviolent protest,” coming from the president himself might not have been the right thing to say just yet. Yes, nonviolent and peaceful protests have been widely hailed by the public, but for it to be directed towards the President of the country? That’s something that many people might not agree with.
It seems like the effects of the recent pro-Palestinian protests have finally reached the college. This comes after numerous disruptions of the universities and colleges all over the country. Bad reviews which have generally affected the president’s popularity among young and black voters are currently emanating from places in the country, like NPR.
Some other indicators that things are not going well for Biden is his decreasing black and young voters’ numbers according to the New York Post. Viewing the back is made worse due to the reasons for the protest.
Then just as if Biden wasn’t already doing badly numbers wise, but his recent appearance at Morehouse college was then coupled up with some young people who are believed to have covered their face by some traditional Palestinian scarves which are referred to as keffiyehs.
While addressing this in his speech, Biden said that he is willing to call for a peaceful ceasefire in Israel. It is irrelevant as to whether this is pleasing or angering Palestinians but the fact remains that Biden nauseated the students who trace their origins from Israel.
This development’s impact was made worse when in his speech; Biden incriminated the country of Israel in the conflict; In Biden’s view, “It is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, that’s why I’ve called for an immediate ceasefire”. As if that wasn’t enough, the president further said that this angers and frustrates many people, that would include people in his immediate family.
One, I feel that the statement ‘I have more African Americans in high places, including on the court, than any president in American history there needs explanation. Can we go deeper and explain the nature of ‘many’ mentioned in this particular case? It unclear whether he meant to mean how many or what. But those words weren’t well-chosen.
Then at last, addressing the country’s standpoint on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict displayed the president’s poor abilities in decision-making. Majority of pro-Palestinian voters and activists were not exactly enthusiastic on the president’s role. This issue raises other practical questions such as his role in the Gaza crisis, also how he was going to handle Israel.
While Biden may have some support among Jewish voters a large part of Biden’s base is pro-Hamas so either way he loses.
The other reminder that the survey concerns Biden is a part of the VP nomination. Just in case anyone doesn’t know, Joe Biden dropped the cue ball on this one. Mika Brzezinski was part of a panel that had this to say “He will be remembered as the president who had the most African-Americans in history.”
Nonetheless, a question was raised by some students concerning the financial aid Israel receives from the U.S. the same reputation many students hold is also what brought together an alliance that led to Biden’s visit to Morehouse. Biden reputation is further portrayed as highly ecru.
NEW: Numerous Morehouse students turned their backs to Biden during his commencement speech.
Students in recent days have voiced displeasure that he was to be their speaker, one quoted as saying “it’s just a way to get the black vote and the young vote, and to help his election” pic.twitter.com/3G1OQrA6e0
— Blast Bulletin (@BlastBulletin) May 19, 2024
Just to show you how deep the plunge had gone, Joe Biden’s presence in the college was not completely healthy. There was some wild buzz among alumni and students about not accepting a commencement address from a person whose position preaches solidarity and peace but on the other side, he refused to acknowledge Israel.
Enthusiasm among black voters for the 2024 election sits at just 59 percent, compared to 74 percent in 2020 according to NBC News and its polling; what could be the ripples of having a president like Biden? If the president is not willing to allow the Israel war to go on without any involvement, he should at least make things clear so that the alliance members find a different address out of where they will find a form of justice. But then again this is rare in a world full of nemeses and campaigns overseas.
Despite 2020 general election’s easy win for the then-candidate of the president, he seems to be struggling even as he nears the end of his first half-year of reign in the greatest nation in power around the world. Other than how he was originally mentioned, some are still not pleased, and they seem to be running worse than expected and could mean complete calamity come time the United States of America returns to the polls.