US President Joe Biden will host a White House summit in September in a bid to combat the wave of hate-fueled violence in the United States and “heal the soul of the nation”.
On Friday, the White House announced that Biden will host the "United We Stand" summit on 15 September highlighting the “corrosive effects” of violence on public safety and democracy.
Advocates pushed Biden to hold the event after 10 black people were killed at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, last May, aiming as well to address a succession of hate-driven violence in cities including El Paso, Texas, Pittsburgh and Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement: “As President Biden said in Buffalo after the horrific mass shooting earlier this year, in the battle for the soul of our nation 'we must all enlist in this great cause of America'
"The United We Stand Summit will present an important opportunity for Americans of all races, religions, regions, political affiliations, and walks of life to take up that cause together."
NEW this morning: President Joe Biden will host a White House summit next month aimed at combating a spate of hate-fueled violence in the U.S., as he works to deliver on his campaign pledge to “heal the soul of the nation.”https://t.co/7PoweSXFbo
— Chris Meagher (@chrismeagher46) August 19, 2022
Hope of bi-partisan support for the anti-hate summit
Biden will deliver a keynote speech at the gathering, which will include participants from civil rights groups to faith leaders, law enforcement representatives to former members of violent hate groups, among others.
The White House has yet not outlined the specific line-up of speakers or participants, saying that would come closer to the event.
However, the White House emphasised that it also intends to bring together Democrats and Republicans, as well as political leaders on the federal, state and local levels to unite against hate-motivated violence.
Biden has frequently cited 2017's white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, with bringing him out of political retirement to challenge then-President Donald Trump in 2020.
He promised during that campaign to work to bridge political and social divides and to promote national unity, but fulfilling that cause remains a work in progress.
