Joe Biden, 1975. "I oppose busing. It's an asinine concept. . . "

[pnwmom]

I think he should just acknowledge that that was a long time ago, and that he has changed his mind since then. Clearly, for the many children like Kamala Harris, busing turned out to be a good thing.

Or he could say he meant he opposed Federally ordered, or court-ordered busing, not voluntary busing to desegregate schools. He should say something to put this issue to bed, because his flat denials aren't working.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/live-updates/general-election/fact-checking-the-first-democratic-debate/bidens-history-of-opposing-busing-for-school-integration/?utm_term=.83ea6c6480c3

As Viser reported, Biden said in a 1975 interview in a Delaware-based publication named People Paper:

“I oppose busing. It’s an asinine concept, the utility of which has never been proven to me,” he said. “I’ve gotten to the point where I think our only recourse to eliminate busing may be a constitutional amendment.”

Biden recognized that such comments could prompt some to lump him in with racists. “The unsavory part about this is when I come out against busing, as I have all along, I don’t want to be mixed up with a George Wallace,” he said, referring to the segregationist governor of Alabama.

“The real problem with busing,” he said, was that “you take people who aren’t racist, people who are good citizens, who believe in equal education and opportunity, and you stunt their children’s intellectual growth by busing them to an inferior school .?.?. and you’re going to fill them with hatred.”

He contended that being bused, while bad for white students, hurts black children, too. An African American child is sent to a white school in a wealthy neighborhood, then “back to the ghetto. How can he be encouraged to love his white brothers? He doesn’t need a look at ‘the other side,’ he needs the chance to get out of the ghetto permanently,” Biden said.

[calguy]

1. I don't care about Biden's positions in 1975

I DO care about his policies in 2020.

[sacto95834]

3. Good for you...

but I bet a lot of voters do care about Biden's past and how it squares with his thinking today.

[Blue_true]

11. Exactly. nt

[Hassin Bin Sober]

13. It's about judgment and being consistently on the wrong side of issues.

[UniteFightBack]

6. +1000

[LovingA2andMI]

2. Oh Lordy....

Morphing into a 1975 version of this keyboarder....

[mcar]

4. I know he has changed from then, his record shows it

I wish he'd just say so.

[Thekaspervote]

5. He did acknowledge that things change in his initial announcement for a 2020 bid

[pnwmom]

7. So he should have said that in the debate, instead of accusing her of misrepresenting

his previous views.

[crazytown]

8. No retreat / no surrender is old skool

but a surprising number of politicians stick doggedly to that script. Hillary Clinton is for example who could not bring herself to disown her vote on Iraq.

[Hoyt]

9. I remember all the arguments against busing, but they usually came down to opposition

to integration and in far too many cases, the opposition didn’t care about improving Black schools.

Where I lived, confederate flags were often nearby when someone was promoting opposition.

Not suggesting that was true with Biden, but I sure wish he hadn’t been involved in that crud.

[Blue_true]

10. Harris repeatedly tried to point out.

The school districts that had not integrated by 1965 were not going to integrate their schools voluntarily. That is what a lot of people on DU that are attacking Harris completely miss. Her assertions were exactly right.

[Lithos]

12. I remember 1975 - was in school then

I agree totally busing sucks - it is extremely disruptive. *BUT* sometimes the alternative is worse. And I agree with Senator Harris that sometimes the Federal government has to step in whenever the local government drags its feet too much.

What still sickens me is that there remains a certain segregation which spans School districts which busing won't fix. My neighbor moved to the suburb and another school district to avoid any chance his daughter might interact with someone different.

L-