‘We can’t remain silent’: Biden stresses necessity of calling out white supremacy at White House summit

Mr Biden says the ‘battle for the soul’ of America he talked about during his 2020 presidential campaign has not yet been won

President Joe Biden on Thursday said Americans must speak openly about the dangers posed by white supremacy and not be complicit by refusing to talk about the threat it poses to the country.

Speaking at the White House’s first “United We Stand” summit, Mr Biden told an audience of civil society experts and civil rights activists that the internet has given racial and ethnic hatred too much room to breathe in recent years.

“Extremist violence has been allowed to fester and grow,” said Mr Biden, who noted that US intelligence agencies have found racially motivated violent extremism to be the greatest threat currently faced by the United States.

“I've been around a while, I never thought I'd hear that or say that,” he added.

But the president said it’s “unfortunately” necessary to say that “white supremacy, all forms of hate” have “no place in America”.

He said critics who say discussion of such subjects is divisive are contributing to the problem.

Quoting his father, Mr Biden said silence in the face of hatred is “complicity”.

“In silence, wounds deepen,” he said. “We have to face the good, the bad and the truth”.

The White House-organised event is aimed at countering what officials describe as “counter the corrosive effects of hate-fueled violence on our democracy and public safety”.

The day-long programme saw the announcement of a “historic package” of actions taken by the Biden administration, as well as “civic, faith, philanthropic, and business leaders” including the launch of a new “citizen’s initiative” against “hate-fueled violence” known as Dignity.US.

The Dignity.US programme will be supported by the presidential centres or foundations associated with former presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush, Bill Clinton and Gerald Ford and coordinated by four White House Domestic Policy Council directors who served under presidents of both parties.