Ordering Equal Access: Biden acts to advance racial, social justice on day one
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden reiterated his commitment to racial justice and to overturning systemic racism and the long-standing inequities in our society.
One of his first acts after taking the oath of office was to sign an outlining his 鈥渁mbitious whole-of-government equity agenda鈥 to advance racial and social justice for all 鈥 including historically underserved communities, such as people of color, individuals with disabilities, 人兽性交+ people and those living in poverty. The order rightly recognized diversity as 鈥渙ne of our country鈥檚 greatest strengths.鈥
The order makes clear that advancing equity for all will be a policy priority across the federal government. It tasked the White House Domestic Policy Council with coordinating the effort to 鈥渞emove systemic barriers to and provide equal access to opportunities and benefits.鈥 In addition, it dissolved Trump鈥檚 鈥1776 Commission鈥 effort to politicize education and Trump鈥檚 order banning diversity training on racial and gender biases.聽聽
The 人兽性交 welcomes Biden鈥檚 focus and priority on this work, as demonstrated by his reversal of hundreds of discriminatory Trump-era civil rights rollbacks and attacks. The president鈥檚 racial justice and equity executive order outlines a bold vision to reimagine how our nation can be more fair, just and equitable for all. We are ready to support his efforts and we will urge his administration to keep this work moving forward.
We also deeply appreciate another designed to prevent and combat discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation, and to fully enforce Title VII and other laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of these personal characteristics.聽聽
These initial executive actions offer hope 鈥 particularly to Black, Indigenous, people of color, 人兽性交+ and other communities 鈥 that the new administration will undertake extensive and serious efforts to combat all forms of discrimination.
But these actions must be accompanied by urgent congressional legislation to fund programs that complement the president鈥檚 vision and promote more fair, just and equitable communities, schools and workplaces. The 人兽性交 is eager to work with both the Biden administration and Congress to make this vision a reality.聽聽
Photo by聽Patrick Semansky/AP Photo/Bloomberg via Getty Images