Since the days of Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency, the State of the Union address typically occurs in January before a joint session of Congress in the Capitol’s House of Representatives chamber.
Given that this year’s address was in February, it coincides with our favorite time, Black History Month, because in the words of the popular meme, “I’m black every month, but this month I’m blackity black black.”
ESSENCE tuned in to watch last night, and we’re highlighting when President Biden referenced issues that impact our people during his 2023 State of the Union remarks.
President Biden said there was “near-record low unemployment for Black and Hispanic workers.”
As Bloomberg reports, the rate in January 2023 “fell to 5.4%, just above the rate reached in August 2019, which at 5.3% was the lowest in data stretching back to the early 1970s.”
In discussing his legislation to invest in America’s struggling infrastructure, Biden shouted out union worker Saria Gwin-Maye (pictured below).
“For 30 years, she’s [Saria’s] been a proud member of Ironworkers Local 44, known as the ‘cowboys of the sky’ who built the Cincinnati skyline…Saria said she can’t wait to be ten stories above the Ohio River building that new bridge. God bless her. That’s pride.”
According to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDC), “most of the families at risk for lead poisoning each year are Black families. Research conducted on the subject over many years has shown that lead poisoning disproportionately affects Black families — particularly Black children — in the United States.”
On Tuesday, Biden addressed this additional infrastructure issue, saying “We’re also replacing poisonous lead pipes that go into 10 million homes and 400,000 schools and childcare centers, so every child in America can drink clean water.”
“Joining us tonight are the parents of Tyre Nichols, who had to bury him just last week,” Biden said. “There are no words to describe the heartbreak and grief of losing a child. But imagine what it’s like to lose a child at the hands of the law…I’ve never had to have the talk with my children – Beau, Hunter, and Ashley – that so many Black and Brown families have had with their children…Imagine having to worry like that every day in America.”
“With the support of families of victims, civil rights groups, and law enforcement, I signed an executive order for all federal officers banning chokeholds, restricting no-knock warrants, and other key elements of the George Floyd Act,” Biden shared. “All of us in this chamber, we need to rise to this moment…Let’s come together and finish the job on police reform. Do something.”
Per the American Heart Association, “In the U.S., Black people are twice as likely as their white counterparts to die of diabetes. They are three times as likely to end up hospitalized for diabetes-related complications. They are more than twice as likely to undergo diabetes-related leg or foot amputation. And they are more than three times as likely to have end-stage kidney disease.”
Biden discussed the costs for diabetes medication, noting, “There are…200,000 young people with Type I diabetes who need insulin to save their lives. Let’s finish the job this time. Let’s cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for every American who needs it.”
