There is new air surrounding the pillars of Capitol Hill, and within the first week of new leadership, Biden has directed his attention to the needs of the country. In addition to the concerns brought on by a global health tragedy, he has led his administration to focus on social equity. President Biden has been working diligently, making the concerns of underrepresented communities a priority in all federal agencies under his guidance.
USA Today stated that President Biden led his administration to investigate a solution for the “racial bias” among housing programs, and to reconstruct the private prison functionality within the Justice Department. He is looking to have an “all-of-government approach” to create equitable practices throughout federal leadership, which will serve as the model for all public policy.
A number of executive orders made it to the president’s desk; subjects ranging from racial inequity within federal policy to COVID-19 relief initiatives and protocols. It’s been confirmed that Biden signed four directives; looking to bring healing to severely impacted demographics due to the level of social awareness that recently erupted in America.
NPR enlisted the four directives to be the following: lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development to motion the removal of racial discrimination from federal housing policies, direct the Department of Justice to eradicate the use of private prisons; leading to the unity of the “commitment to tribal sovereignty and consultation,” and lastly, to erase social xenophobia-behavior against Asian American and Pacific Islanders.
In addition to reimagining the use of private prisons in the Justice Department, Biden is delegating organizations to concentrate on racial inequalities found in federal blueprints dating back to the origins of the nation. Biden has lifted the veil of the misrepresentation of targeted groups and brought national attention to the “xenophobia” emboldened by the rhetoric of former President Trump, and the statements he used in reference to Asian and Pacific Islander communities.
Biden has been in step with his political campaign promise so far. On his first day as president, Biden administered diverse federal agencies to create initiatives; correcting major racial imbalances that are deeply cemented into federal policies and programs. Although the head of Domestic Policy, Susan Rice, confirmed that the general approach for justice will be reflected in an economic agenda, similar steps towards balance are looking to be made throughout the Biden’s presidential term.
The aim is inclusion and to bring equal opportunity to all marginalized groups, such as people of color, the LGBTQ community, and people living with disabilities. The Biden-Harris administration wants to encompass a new frontier, leading to open doors of opportunity for every American. Overall, this will strengthen the nation’s economic foothold. According to USA Today, Rice confirmed the estimated loss of $16 trillion dollars over the last 20 years, due to social discrimination.
This coalition for equality includes multiple federal departments and civic equity groups. In addition to Domestic Policy, other branches and facilitators involved include the National Urban League, NAACP, and the Housing and Justice Action Network. According to the previously noted source, the NAACP encouraged Biden to create a directive that had a “czar” position, putting one person in charge of addressing racial justice and equity issues.
The president also delivered news surrounding the efforts to manage the COVID-19 outbreak. The president is looking to have vaccinations available for mass distribution by “this spring.” In the same breath as racial equality, the nation has been suffering from a global virus that affected the country’s livelihood and took many loved ones away. The president is facing these truths and looking for immediate assistance.
Biden is looking to bring tighter regulation on traveling in and out of the country in order to limit the spread of COVID-19 with the addition of new variants of the virus. NPR reported this may be an early sign that the current president may turn back the movements to open U.S. borders to foreign travelers amid a global pandemic.
Biden is seeing that part of the main focus of his administration will be devoted to coronavirus policy. The plan is to strengthen public health measures, put more emphasis around travel security, and general prevention of the spread of COVID-19. The U.S. has surpassed 25 million confirmed cases, according to the data collected by the John Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Additionally, one of the new variants has been studied; the results infer that it is more infectious than the original strand of the virus.
President Biden is moving forward with deconstructing imbalanced directives, that was set up by the previous Head of State. Biden and his transition team has focused on bridging the proper political stance, with the diverse country that it’s looking to serve. The current president has declared the time is now, to take much needed action, and to bring in a new wave of change for this country. Biden proclaimed his personal turning points in his speech recorded this week.
Continuing on the crusade of racial Justice, Biden addressed the murder of George Floyd, as a “turning point of racial Justice.” Biden said, “The devastation in communities of color has been nothing short of stunning.” The president dissected the recorded data collected behind social inequality during a global pandemic. He disclosed that 40 percent of frontline workers are Americans of color, however many are still living below the poverty line.
One out of ten Black Americans are currently out of work, and one out of eleven Latinx Americans are seeing the same fate; Biden concluded that this is a result of systemic racism. Sharing his thoughts of the behavior illustrated in the violence on Capitol Hill on January 6, the president is looking for an immediate call-to-action to bring equality to the forefront. Summarizing his following moves in the White House, Biden said, “Now is the time to act—it’s time to act because that’s what the faith and morality calls to do; across every faith, the same principles hold.”
