President Joe Biden will speak at Austin’s Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library on July 15 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, the same day Republicans are set to kick off their presidential nominating convention.
White House officials said the Texas visit is the first of three stops in three days.
Biden is starting in Austin, then heading to Las Vegas where he will speak at the 115th NAACP National Convention on July 16 and then the following day at the UnidosUS annual conference, described as one of the largest gatherings of Latinos in the country.
His appearance in Austin coincides with the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Republicans will attempt to neuter their party platform before formally nominating a convicted criminal, who a jury determined sexually abused or forcibly raped E. Jean Carroll.
The appearances in Texas and Nevada follow Biden’s weak debate performance against former President Donald Trump on June 27.
The president’s terrible debate induced some Democrats, including Congressman Lloyd Doggett, who represents Austin, to call on Biden to withdraw from the race against Trump.
As the number of calls for him to drop out swells, Biden’s allies insist that he will be able to stop Trump despite the mountain of evidence that contradicts their claim.
On July 2, 1964, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, which barred discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin.
In 2014, Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter visited Austin for a three-day summit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The 1964 law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
The landmark legislation stimulated a great deal of racial progress — from desegregating Southern establishments, to driving anti-discrimination lawsuits, to opening the doors of opportunity for the new black middle class.
Despite the law, there is still widespread discrimination in employment and housing.
Businesses owned by people of color are still denied equal access to markets, financing, and capital. America is still bleeding from racism as exhibited by police brutality, health disparities and environmental catastrophes.
Black unemployment rate has been twice the white unemployment rate for 60 years, segregation is on the rise in public schools across America, and an unprecedented number of black and brown bodies have been mass incarcerated as a result of the war on drugs.
Biden’s remarks at the NAACP national convention in Las Vegas will focus on his administration’s efforts to advance racial justice, according to the White House.
Biden plans to discuss his administration’s “progress advancing civil rights and his vision to ensure the promise of America for all communities,” according to White House staff.
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