Biden administration touts Black progress at Juneteenth Summit
WASHINGTON (WTVD) -- The Biden Administration held a summit Monday at the White House pegged to Juneteenth to highlight what the administration claims are the gains the president has made for Black Americans.
It was a packed day filled with remarks from key administration officials addressing a variety of issues focusing on how policies affect Black Americans.
Economic opportunity was a large part of the conversation, with officials saying closing the racial wealth gap has been a priority for President Joe Biden.
The White House said Black wealth has risen by 60% compared to 2019 accounting for inflation.
A senior economic advisor to the president told ABC11 that Biden plans to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, particularly billionaires but was looking to not raise taxes on those making less than $400,000 a year.
"Our approach to the 2025 tax debate is very much going to be what can we do to extend tax relief for the middle class to provide further tax relief for workers and families in the form of things like the enhanced child tax credit, the earned income tax credit and pay for it critically by raising taxes on the rich and large corporations," said Daniel Hornung, senior economic advisor to the president.
The administration also said it has been working to eliminate racial discrimination in the housing market, saying that its policies such as reforms in HUD mortgage lending helped a quarter of a million African Americans buy a home.
"We need to make sure that Congress is acting to give people the help that they need, but we don't wait for Congress to act. As an administration, we have been working with each other to make sure that we are building more homes and providing the rental assistance that people need," said Adrianne Todman, acting HUD Secretary.
As the Biden administration held this Juneteenth summit for the second consecutive year, officials pointed out this is the most diverse administration in the country's history.
It all comes in the backdrop of what is shaping up to be a contentious election year where North Carolina will play a key role.
Focus on HBCUs, Black healthcare
One of the reforms officials drew awareness to is the Biden administration's investment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Officials said the administration has invested $16 billion in HBCUs.
The investments come as some HBCUs have faced financial challenges, for example, the ongoing accreditation fight and fallout at Saint Augustine's University in Raleigh, and alleged misspending found in a recent state audit of Fayetteville State University.
ABC11 asked the director of the White House Initiative on HBCUs about how it holds schools accountable for their spending.
"Well, that's a great question. We hold them accountable through the Department of Education, the funding that they receive here, they have certain reporting requirements that they have to do on a regular basis," said Dietra Trent, executive director of the program.
The administration also said it was trying to raise awareness of its efforts to improve health outcomes for Black families, increasing Black healthcare enrollment through the Affordable Care Act by almost 50% and tackling deaths in childbirth.
Tackling gun violence
On addressing gun violence, officials highlighted how Biden launched the first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention and has invested in programs to block the trafficking of illegal guns for the past two years. That's helped reduce homicides by over 12% nationwide, they said. Biden also dedicated the first federal funding pathway for violence intervention programs and signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which invests in violence reduction strategies and expands background checks.
Still, one of the leaders of that violence prevention office told ABC11 that violence continues to be a major issue.
"This is the No. 1 cause of death for all youth, No. 1 cause of death for Black men, No. 2 cause of death for Black women and Latino men. And it's been the No. 1 cause of premature death for Black youth since 2006. So this intensity of being exposed to gun violence and this untreated trauma is a real challenge that our communities are facing," said Greg Jackson, the deputy director of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
