Keypoints:
- This move aims to end the use of private prisons, tackle unfair housing practises,bolster Native American sovereignty and fight xenophobia.
- “We need to make equity and justice part of what we do everyday”, Biden said while signing the orders.
Susan Rice, the domestic policy chief said that every agency will place equity at the core as Biden pushes to undo Trump’s legacy continues. Biden aimed to fulfill a campaign promise to increase racial equity in the US and hence he signed 4 more executive orders.
“What many Americans didn’t see or simply refused to see couldn’t be ignored any longer,” Biden said. “Those eight minutes and 46 seconds that took George Floyd’s life opened the eyes to millions of Americans and millions of people all over the world. It was the knee on the neck of justice and it wouldn’t be forgotten.
“It stirred the consciousness in millions of Americans and in my view it marked a turning point in this country’s view toward racial justice.”
These orders were the latest since Bidens presidency which meant to undo the legacy of Trump’s time in the White House.Broadly, Biden and his aides framed it as a step in their broader hopes to heal racial tensions across the country. In a speech before he signed the orders Biden recalled the death of George Floyd, who was Black, at the hands of police.
“It’s just been weeks since all of America witnessed a group of thugs, insurrectionists, political extremists and white supremacists violently attack the Capitol of our democracy,” Biden said. “So now – now’s the time to act. It’s time to act because that’s what faith and morality calls us to do.”
“We’ll hold the federal government accountable for advancing racial equity for families across America,” said Susan Rice, Biden’s domestic policy council director.
“Every agency will place equity at the core of their public engagement, their policy design and delivery,” Rice said, “to ensure that government resources are reaching Americans of color in all marginalized communities – rural, urban, disabled, LGBTQ+, religious minorities and so many others.
“The president has put equity at the center of his response to the Covid-19 and economic crises.”
On Tuesday, the Senate followed its confirmations of defense secretary Lloyd Austin and treasury secretary Janet Yellen – who were both sworn in to office by the vice-president, Kamala Harris – by confirming Antony Blinken as Biden’s secretary of state.
