Biden Is Talking Directly to Black Voters. This Is What He Wants Them to Know.

The president is trying to increase his support among Black Americans, some of whom are angry over the war in Gaza. Others feel disengaged altogether. Here are takeaways from events held this week.

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President Biden spoke at the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Friday. As a senator, he was one of the original co-sponsors of legislation establishing the museum.

President Biden is spending much of his time this week speaking directly to Black voters, a constituency that carried him to the White House in 2020 and whose voters are now threatening to withhold their support as Mr. Biden’s final presidential campaign unfolds.

Mr. Biden’s most high-profile event this week is still to come. On Sunday, he will deliver a commencement speech at Morehouse College, a prestigious, historically Black institution. But he has spent the days leading up to it running down a list of achievements and otherwise making his message clear: “My name’s Joe Biden, and I’m a lifetime member of the N.A.A.C.P.,” he said during a speech on Friday.

He was speaking to a crowd at the National Museum of African American History and Culture celebrating the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, a landmark civil rights ruling that outlawed racially segregated schools.

Not even the venue choice seemed like a complete coincidence: As a senator, Mr. Biden was one of the original co-sponsors of legislation establishing the museum, and he attended its opening as vice president in 2016.

In 2020, 95 percent of Black women and 87 percent of Black men voted for Mr. Biden, according to the Pew Research Center. But recent polls show that he is lagging among some groups of Black voters, including men, who have signaled that they view some of the president’s promises as unkept, and younger voters, who are angry over the administration’s involvement in the Gaza war.

Here are a few takeaways from events held this week.

The president knows there is a problem.

Mr. Biden is aware that some of his accomplishments are going either unnoticed or unheard. At the museum, he said the quiet part out loud.

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