Joe Biden under fire for segregationist senators remarks

[Chris]

OMG! What will come of this!?!?

Joe Biden under fire for segregationist senators remarks

"He never called me 'boy,' he always called me 'son,'" he said referring to one of the southern Democrats at a fundraising event on Tuesday night.

His comments were quickly panned by rival candidates and critics who noted the racial undertones of the comment.

...Speaking at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City on Tuesday night, Mr Biden praised the "civility" amongst lawmakers in the 1970s when he first joined the US Senate.

He called out his work with two southern Democrats who used their political position to advance their beliefs that white and black people should not live together.

"I was in a caucus with James O Eastland," Mr Biden told the audience, referring to the segregationist senator from Mississippi.

He added that Eastland never referred to him as "boy" during their working relationship.

The Washington Post, and other outlets, have pointed out that "boy" is a racial epithet used to describe black men. Mr Biden's campaign have yet to comment on why it would be unusual for the former senator to not call Mr Biden - who is white - "boy".

...Mr Eastland notably referred to African Americans as an "inferior race" and warned that racial integration would lead to "mongrelisation".

Referring to late Georgia Senator Herman E Talmadge - who opposed the desegregation of US public schools, Mr Biden said: "We got things done. We didn't agree on much of anything. We got things done."...

[Peter1469]

Joe always puts his foot in his mouth. He can't help it. Booker flipped out over this one.

[Tahuyaman]

The more Joe Biden talks, the more he digs a hole. He's run for the Democratic nomination more than once. He's been rejected early every time. He's a clown.

[Chris]

Joe always puts his foot in his mouth. He can't help it. Booker flipped out over this one.

No doubt, it's Juneteenth after all.

[Mister D]

Eastland was his senior by 38 years. I'd imagine he meant Eastland treated him like a colleague. Still a stupid thing to say when you're trying to appeal to a...well you know.

[Mister D]

Joe always puts his foot in his mouth. He can't help it. Booker flipped out over this one.

It was amusing watching his opponents (none of whom stand a chance in 2020) attack him. This primary will be fun to watch.

[Peter1469]

It was amusing watching his opponents (none of whom stand a chance in 2020) attack him. This primary will be fun to watch.

Booker was reacting to a woman who said to a reporter that she was pissed at Joe for saying what is in the OP. She hated it but would vote Joe anyway. That pissed Booker off and he was like, you can always vote for me! LoL

[Chris]

The Democratic Civil War Is Here

...It started with Joe Biden’s totally bizarre comments about how they all used to get along with racists in the Senate, which brought a number of well-deserved smackdowns on Wednesday, the best by far from Cory Booker: “You don’t joke about calling black men ‘boys.’ ... Vice President Biden’s relationships with proud segregationists are not the model for how we make America a safer and more inclusive place for black people, and for everyone. I’m disappointed that he hasn’t issued an immediate apology for the pain his words are dredging up for many Americans. He should.”

So where are the usual decriers of racism?

[EvilCat Breath]

What Biden was saying is that he could work with anyone. Democrats don't want to work with Republicans. They really want to kill us all. That's what the invaders are for.

[Chris]

Joe Biden’s years-old letters to racist senator revealed

Joe Biden’s history of dubious stances on racially charged issues came back to haunt him again Friday with the disclosure of old letters he wrote to a racist Southern senator thanking him for helping him to fight forced school busing.

“I want you to know that I very much appreciate your help during this week’s Committee meeting in attempting to bring my anti-busing legislation to a vote,” Biden wrote on June 30, 1977, to Sen. James Eastland, the Washington Post reported.

Eastland was a plantation owner who believed blacks were an inferior race, and forcefully fought desegregation throughout his career as a Democratic lawmaker from Mississippi.

Biden took heat from many of his fellow Democratic presidential hopefuls earlier this week when it was disclosed that he cited his work with Eastland and another racist Southern Democrat as evidence that he can get things done by working with people even if he disagrees with them.

The letter was written when he was a freshman senator, at a time when federal courts across the US were ordering busing to integrate public schools, a policy Biden and many others from both sides of the aisle opposed at the time.

Biden on Wednesday night described his relationship with Eastland as one he “had to put up with.”

But according to the DC paper’s account, the letters show a relationship in which they were both on board the fight against school integration through busing....

His campaign says it's all a big lie.