FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May
31, 2020
Statement by Vice President Joe Biden
These
last few days have laid bare that we are a nation furious at
injustice. Every person of conscience can understand the rawness of
the trauma people of color experience in this country, from the daily
indignities to the extreme violence, like the horrific killing of
George Floyd.
Protesting such brutality is right
and necessary. It’s an utterly American response. But burning down
communities and needless destruction is not. Violence that endangers
lives is not. Violence that guts and shutters businesses that serve
the community is not.
The act of protesting should never
be allowed to overshadow the reason we protest. It should not drive
people away from the just cause that protest is meant to advance.
I
know that there are people all across this country who are suffering
tonight. Suffering the loss of a loved one to intolerable
circumstances, like the Floyd family, or to the virus that is still
gripping our nation. Suffering economic hardships, whether due to
COVID-19 or entrenched inequalities in our system. And I know that a
grief that dark and deep may at times feel too heavy to bear.
I
know.
And I also know that the only way to bear it
is to turn all that anguish to purpose. So tonight, I ask all of
America to join me — not in denying our pain or covering it over —
but using it to compel our nation across this turbulent threshold
into the next phase of progress, inclusion, and opportunity for our
great democracy.
We are a nation in pain, but we
must not allow this pain to destroy us. We are a nation enraged, but
we cannot allow our rage to consume us. We are a nation exhausted,
but we will not allow our exhaustion to defeat us.
As
President, I will help lead this conversation — and more
importantly, I will listen. I will keep the commitment I made to
George’s brother, Philonise, that George will not just be a
hashtag. We must and will get to a place where everyone, regardless
of race, believes that "to protect and serve" means to
protect and serve them. Only by standing together will we rise
stronger than before. More equal, more just, more hopeful — and
that much closer to our more perfect union.
Please
stay safe. Please take care of each other.