Member-only story
Does the U.S. Really Need Unity?
It’s a core theme for Biden’s administration, but is it achievable?
Unity and healing were among the major themes of President Joe Biden’s inauguration week. So were pledges to fight white supremacy and racism. But some are wondering if these two desires might be diametrically opposed to one another.
Astead W. Herndon writes in the New York Times that, while the violence in Charlottesville back in 2017 spurred Biden to run for the presidency, some residents of Charlottesville worry that the administration’s talk of change will remain just that:
But in interviews this week, Charlottesville activists, religious leaders, and civil rights groups who endured the events of 2017 urged Mr. Biden and the Democratic Party to go beyond seeing unity as the ultimate political goal and prioritize a sense of justice that uplifts the historically marginalized…
…an open question remains: whether Mr. Biden’s desire for civility is at odds with confronting the threat that white supremacy presents to democracy. Some in Charlottesville believe the two values are opposed, and while broader calls for racial equality have become politically popular, the policies that can bring it about still unsettle some people.
Read the entire article here:
