Biden Will Announce Bid to ‘Root Out Systemic Racism’

President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced plans to build black wealth and narrow the racial income gap ahead of a trip to Oklahoma to mark the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Biden’s plan focuses on two key creators of wealth: homeownership and small business ownership.

Under his proposal, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will propose new regulations ‘to root out discrimination in the appraisal and homebuying process,’ according to a White House fact sheet, in a bid to boost black home ownership.

The administration also is seeking to address disparities that result in black-owned homes being appraised at tens of thousands of dollars less than comparable homes owned by whites.

And the president vowed to use the power of federal contracts to invest $100 billion over five years into minority-owned businesses by increasing the share of federal contracts awarded to those businesses by 50% by 2026.

Additionally, under his American Jobs Plan that has yet to be passed by Congress, Biden has proposed giving $10 billion in grants to under served communities along with an additional $20 billion in grants for infrastructure and affordable housing.

The wealth gap between whites and blacks has grown over the past two decades: from about $100,000 in 1992 to $154,000 in 2016, according to a recent study from McKinsey. The study also found that almost 70 percent of middle-class black children are likely to fall out of the middle class as adults.

The White House announcement Tuesday morning comes ahead of Biden’s trip to Tulsa, where he will be the first president to take part in remembrances for the Tulsa Massacre, one of the worst – and largely overlooked – acts of racial violence in American history.

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In a White House proclamation on Monday in honor the 100th anniversary of the massacre, Biden called on Americans to reflect on the ‘roots of racial terror.’

‘I call upon the people of the United States to commemorate the tremendous loss of life and security that occurred over those 2 days in 1921, to celebrate the bravery and resilience of those who survived and sought to rebuild their lives again, and commit together to eradicate systemic racism and help to rebuild communities and lives that have been destroyed by it,’ the president declared a day before his planned visit to Tulsa.

‘Today, on this solemn centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, I call on the American people to reflect on the deep roots of racial terror in our Nation and recommit to the work of rooting out systemic racism across our country.’

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During his visit, Biden will give remarks at the Greenwood Cultural Center, where he will talk about his proposal to close the racial wealth gap. He will also meet privately with survivors of the massacre.

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