'It's clear there is systematic racism in the US': Biden's press secretary Jen Psaki backs UN ambassador's claims that white supremacy is 'weaved' into the founding documents

 The White House provided firm backing to the U.S. ambassador to the UN after she said white supremacy was woven into the nation's founding documents – with Press Secretary Jen Psaki saying there is a 'history of systemic racism' in the country.

Psaki was asked about comments by the new ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who in remarks this week spoke of the 'original sin' of slavery and its role in some of the nation's foundational documents. 

Asked about the comments, Psaki first rallied around Thomas-Greenfield. 

'Is the president going to remove an African American woman with decades of experience in the foreign service who's widely respected around the world from her position as ambassador to the UN? 'He is not,' Psaki said at Friday's White House press briefing.  


White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Friday defended U.S. ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who said the 'original sin of slavery weaved white supremacy into our founding documents and principles'

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Friday defended U.S. ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who said the 'original sin of slavery weaved white supremacy into our founding documents and principles'

'He is proud to have her in that position. She is not only qualified, he believes she is exactly the right person in that role at this moment in time. I have not seen her comments. I will say that there's no question that there has been a history of institutional racism in this country and that doesn't require the UN ambassador to confirm that,' Psaki said. 

She kept her initial comments to a firm defense of Thomas-Greenfield, a former ambassador to Liberia who has served in numerous overseas postings – but went further when a questioner from Newsmax said her comments were 'essentially the same lecture' that Chinese officials gave Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during a tense meeting in Alaska. 

I will say that there's no question that there has been a history of institutional racism in this country and that doesn't require the UN ambassador to confirm that.' – White House press secretary Jen Psaki 

Asked whether Biden thinks the nation's founding documents are racist, Psaki responded: 'I would say that I will leave my comments to speak for themselves. Certainly, I think most people recognize the history of systemic racism in our country and she was speaking to that.'

Thomas-Greenfield made her comments at Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network's 2021 virtual convention, on a day when a House committee held a hearing on reparations for slavery. 

The Chinese government, which chafes at U.S. pressure over its own human rights record, blasted the U.S. in a report on U.S. human rights in March. 'Ethnic minority groups suffered systematic racial discrimination and were in a difficult situation,' according to the report – which echoed attacks on the U.S. system by rivals during the Cold War.  

Thomas-Greenfield's comments on the U.S. founding documents reference flaws during the nation's founding that have long been noted by historians and commentators. In particular, the U.S. Constitution did not recognize slaves as equal human beings – using a euphemism during a section on congressional representation.

According to the infamous 'Three-fifths Clause': 'Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.'

Biden 's ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield has said that white supremacy is 'weaved' into America's 'founding documents' because of the 'original sin on slavery'

Biden 's ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield has said that white supremacy is 'weaved' into America's 'founding documents' because of the 'original sin on slavery' 

As a practical matter, the policy locked in the political influence of what came to be known as the southern 'Slave Power' until the Civil War and a series of constitutional amendments. 

Calling slavery the nation's 'original sin' is a common phrase among writers. Candidate Barack Obama used it at his speech in Philadelphia in 2008 where he said he could not disown his Chicago pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Obama said then the Constitution was 'stained by this nation's original sin of slavery.'

Speaking on Wednesday, Thomas-Greenfield pledged to prioritize efforts to combat racism both home and abroad, while speaking to her own experience with racism and discrimination.

'On the weekends, the (Ku Klux) Klan burned crosses on lawns in our neighborhoods,' she said. 

The Constitution's 'Three-Fifths Clause' referred to slaves only through a euphemism and limited their popular representation in a way that boosted the influence of slave states

The Constitution's 'Three-Fifths Clause' referred to slaves only through a euphemism and limited their popular representation in a way that boosted the influence of slave states

Thomas-Greenfield referred to slavery as the nation's 'original sin.' She spoke of the legacy of discrimination in her own state, which was also home to a cotton plantation slave pictured above

Thomas-Greenfield referred to slavery as the nation's 'original sin.' She spoke of the legacy of discrimination in her own state, which was also home to a cotton plantation slave pictured above

'I shared these stories and others to acknowledge on the international stage that I have personally experienced one of America's greatest imperfections.' 

'I've seen for myself how the original sin of slavery weaved white supremacy into our founding documents and principles,' Thomas-Greenfield added.

For the US to play an effective role the United Nations' Human Rights Council - which the country rejoined in February - it should first acknowledge its own challenges, she said during a speech at the National Action Network's 2021 virtual convention. 

'When we raise issues of equity and justice at the global scale, we have to approach them with humility,' Thomas-Greenfield said. 

'We have to acknowledge that we are an imperfect union and have been since the beginning. Every day we strive to make ourselves more perfect and more just. In a diverse country like ours, that means committing to do the work. 

'It means learning and understanding more about each other,' she added.

Thomas-Greenfield: 'white supremacy weaved into founding documents'
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Thomas-Greenfield also recalled a recent speech she gave before the UN General Assembly for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in which she spoke of how her great-grandmother was the child of a slave 'just three generations back from me.'

She spoke about how she was raised in the segregated south of America, where she was taken to a segregated school on a bus. 

She continued to say that racism is not the problem of the person who experiences it, but rather it is 'the problem of the racist and it is the problem of the society that produces the racist.'

'In today's world, that's every society,' she noted, saying that in the US, White Supremacy led to the 'led to the senseless killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery and so many other Black Americans.'


Protests resulting from the deaths of Floyd and Taylor at the hands of police officers, and Arbery who was shot while jogging in Georgia, garnered international attention last summer, with protests also being seen over the last few days following the death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright on Sunday at the hands of another officer.

Thomas-Greenfield also noted that other minority ethnic groups - including Latinos, Asian Americans, Sikhs, immigrants, Muslims and Jews - have all faced a spike in hate crime in the United States over the last few years.

'That's why the Biden administration has made racial equity a top priority across the entire government and I'm making it a real focus on my tenure at the U.S. mission to the United Nations,' she said. 

Before her comments on Wednesday, Biden told a civil rights group that parts of the US were 'backsliding into the days of Jim Crow'. 

'Parts of our country are backsliding into the days of Jim Crow, passing laws that harken back to the era of poll taxes – when Black people were made to guess how many beans, how many jelly beans, in a jar or count the number of bubbles in a bar of soap before they could cast their ballot,' Biden said in video-taped remarks.

Biden says the US is 'backsliding into the days of Jim Crow'
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Many southern U.S. states put in place laws after the Civil War that would legalize racial segregation and disenfranchise black citizens. The laws are referred to as Jim Crow laws.

It is high time to respond to a 'cry for justice 400 years in the making,' Biden said in videotaped remarks to civil rights organizers and activists, referring to the beginning of U.S. slavery on the continent in the 17th century.

On his first day in officer on January 20, 2021, Biden issues a series of executive orders aimed at addressing racial injustice and gender equality. 

'The president-elect's equity agenda is grounded in advancing racial justice and building back better for communities who have been underserved, including people of color and Americans with disabilities, LGBTQ+ Americans, religious minorities, and rural and urban communities facing persistent poverty,' the White House said in a statement at that time.

Nearly three years after President Trump withdrew the United States from the international body, the Biden administration rejoined the Human Rights Council after taking office.

The move drew some criticism from GOP lawmakers, as well as the former US ambassador to the UN under the Trump administration Nikki Haley. 

Speaking when the U.S. rejoined the UN organisation in February, Haley said the  Human Rights Council 'covers for dictators and human rights abusers like Russia, China and Venezuela.'


'It's clear there is systematic racism in the US': Biden's press secretary Jen Psaki backs UN ambassador's claims that white supremacy is 'weaved' into the founding documents 'It's clear there is systematic racism in the US': Biden's press secretary Jen Psaki backs UN ambassador's claims that white supremacy is 'weaved' into the founding documents Reviewed by CUZZ BLUE on April 17, 2021 Rating: 5

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