Biden calls systemic racism a ‘stain on our nation’s soul’

Washington: US President Joe Biden called systemic racism a “stain on our nation’s soul” in a televised address to the nation after a white former police officer was convicted of murdering a black man during an arrest.

Biden spoke out yesterday after a jury in Minneapolis found Derek Chauvin guilty of intentionally suffocating handcuffed George Floyd as he lay defenceless, with the officer’s knee pressing on his neck for more than nine minutes.

“It was a murder in the full light of day and it ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see the systemic racism,” Biden said.

“This can be a giant step forward in the march toward justice in America.”

He called for “confronting head on systemic racism and the racial disparities that exist in policing and our criminal justice system”, but pleaded for protesters to steer clear of violence.

“Some will seek to exploit the raw emotions in the moment – agitators and extremists who have no interest in social justice,” he warned. “We can’t let them succeed.” Appearing alongside Biden, Kamala Harris, America’s first Black vice-president, articulated the “relief” the nation was feeling over justice being served but acknowledged that the result couldn’t “take away the pain” of Floyd’s murder.

“A measure of justice is not the same as equal justice. This verdict brings us a step closer. We still have work to do. We still have to reform the system,” she said.

She vowed to work with Biden to urge the Senate to pass “long overdue” legislation on police accountability, saying black men had been treated as “less than humans” throughout US history.

“Here is the truth about racial injustice: It is not just a Black America problem or a ‘people of colour’ problem. It is a problem for every American,” she said.

Biden and Harris watched the verdict being read out earlier along with staff in the White House’s private dining room, the White House said.