Vice President Joe Biden admits that under the Obama economy, the middle class continues to suffer — especially African-Americans.
“While the unemployment rate for African-Americans has dropped by more than 7 percent since the height of the recession, it is still double the unemployment rate as the rest of the country,” he said. “And over the last 30 years, African-Americans have faced even greater wage stagnation then the rest of the country.”
Biden, who is contemplating a run for president in 2016 claims he and President Obama worked to save the economy from a giant recession, but that there is still a lot more to do.
“We know that there is a lot more work to do to make the resurgence available to everyone,” he said, pointing to existing wage stagnation, income inequality, and unemployment.
Biden pointed out that his daughter frequently reminded him that there was still “institutional bigotry” in America, blocking people of color from fairness in education, health care, criminal justice, jobs, and wages.
“Of course that prosperity hasn’t always been shared fairly,” he said. “Vestiges of slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation maintain systematic barriers.”
Biden made his remarks at a speech during the National Historical Black Colleges And Universities Week Annual Conference in Washington D.C. this morning.
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