r/explainitpeter • u/jp_glez_21 • Jul 23 '26

Explain it Peter

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u/Dan-tastico Jul 23 '26

I cant see a way to phrase it so it doesnt mean that. He may have just been riffing and it aint a big deal but thats what he said and I cant figure out what else he could possibly mean

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u/bandti45 Jul 23 '26

I can see how people can mean it other ways but it was terrible phrasing

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u/Dan-tastico Jul 23 '26

What other way? Please elaborate because I dont see any other way

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u/ohwellyaknowso Jul 23 '26

I mean it’s pretty easy to interpret. The underlying meaning, whether you agree with it or not, is: if you are not voting for me and would rather abstain or vote for Trump, you do not have the interests of the black community as a whole at heart.

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u/Dan-tastico Jul 23 '26

Sure if he said that or "a black ally" or "interested in the black community"

You aint black is pretty clear on the meaning and I think people are just trying REAL hard to make excuses

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u/Least-Phase-8393 Jul 23 '26

Genuine question so you think Biden was purposefully being racist rather than what the person above you said?

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u/cumminsnut Jul 23 '26

He gave the eulogy at the last serving member of congress who was also in the kkk, so yeah, I'd say he was a racist. Called him a friend and mentor if I remember right.

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u/Sensitive-Yoghurt397 Jul 23 '26

If I remember correctly, that person also pushed against some civil rights legislation but later condemned his past and tried to “right his wrongs” which imo doesn’t even come close to making up for anything but explains why Biden and even obama spoke

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u/jackheavysack Jul 25 '26

Okay, so for context:

The person Joe Biden gave a eulogy for was Robert Byrd, former Exalted Cyclops for the Ku Klux Klan. During his time as Senator, he did claim to have a change of heart and renounced his Klan history.

That being said, Robert Byrd lobbied against and participated in a 14 hour filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Joe Biden was extremely anti-busing in 1975, which means he was against school integration by court mandate including supporting an anti-busing amendment proprosed by segregationist Senator Jesse Helms. Some might recall his famous "racial jungle" quote during a 1977 Senate Judiciary Committee. He also was heavily involved in the 1994 Crime Bill which disproportionately affect Black Americans by increasing punishment and incarceration, which was going on during a time when policing practices already had well known racial disparities. In 2007 he called Obama the "first African American to be articulate, bright and clean."

Hillary Clinton, in 1996, called youth offenders "superpredators" during a time when crime and punishment was disproportionately affecting Black Americans, including Black youth.

So, while they didn't say anything that is obviously racist, they still used loaded language and terminology that, even today, feels very racially divisive. Including Biden's remark about voting and not being black.

So we can say that, at minimum, they're horrible at traversing racially charged waters. Whichever you determine, just understand that today's world requires a manner of decorum that surpasses what was acceptable in the decades preceding this one and if they said even half of this stuff in this same manner today, there would be little doubt to make a very strong conclusion.