In his Memorial Day address, US President Joe Biden offered his defense of America’s rudimentary democracy and vowed to keep fighting.
Taking place at the Arlington National Cemetery, Biden discussed the right to vote, freedom of expression and efforts to correct economic and racial disparities in the United States. He warned that democracies in the US and the world were “in danger” in the face of autocratic forces. However, he did not explain further the power in question.
“Democracy is more than a form of government, it is a way, it is a way of seeing the world. Democracy is the government of the people,” Biden said, Monday (31/05).
“The struggle for democracy is taking place all over the world – democracy and autocracy. The struggle for goodness, dignity, the simple good,” he continued.
Biden further said that at least 7,036 US troops died in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. They serve the ideals of the United States and democracy as the spirit of government. “They live for it, they die for it,” he said.
Earlier, Biden had announced plans to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan this year. On this occasion he also mentioned China and Russia as autocratic governments which are the big challenges facing the US.
Biden takes part in commemoration of the Tulsa tragedy
Joe-Biden is scheduled to attend the anniversary of one of the darkest tragedies in US history, the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma, racial massacre tragedy.
Biden will commemorate the deaths of more than 300 blacks killed by whites. Those who survived the attacks were held in internment camps under the supervision of the National Guard.
After the massacre, white people looted and burned the Greenwood district, where the black community in the United States lived at the time. This event is also known as “Black Wall Street”.
Biden will also be the first president to take part in the commemoration.
rap/phone (Reuters, AP)
