Biden to meet with Brown v. Board plaintiffs during week of engagement with Black community

President Biden this week will mark the 70th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board Supreme Court decision as part of a broader outreach to the Black community, a White House official exclusively told The Hill.

Biden on Thursday will meet with the plaintiffs from the Brown v. Board case and their families at the White House, the official said. The unanimous 1954 ruling found that segregating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional, paving the way for integration and marking a significant milestone in the civil rights movement.

On Friday, Biden will deliver remarks at an NAACP event marking the Brown v. Board anniversary, which will be held at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. 

Also on Friday, Biden and Vice President Harris will meet with the leaders of the Divine Nine, the group of historically Black sororities and fraternities. Harris is a graduate of Howard University and was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Those events will precede a pair of Sunday engagements already on Biden’s schedule in which he will speak directly to Black voters and Black communities. 

The president will deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically Black college in Atlanta, on Sunday. That evening, he will travel to Detroit to speak at an NAACP dinner that is expected to draw thousands of guests.

Biden throughout the week is expected to highlight his administration’s efforts to improve racial justice and equity, as well as policies that have helped the Black community. 

A White House official noted Black unemployment hit a record low in 2023, and Black Americans have benefitted from major investments in HBCUs and from increased Affordable Care Act coverage. Biden also nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

Black voters are a key part of Biden’s coalition and helped deliver him the Democratic nomination in 2020, as well as lift him to the White House. The president and his campaign will likely need similarly robust turnout from Black voters in November to secure reelection against former President Trump.

A USA Today poll conducted earlier this month found Biden had a 64 percent to 12 percent lead over Trump among Black voters. It marked a 7 percentage point increase for Biden since January, but is still less than the 87 percent who voted for him in 2020.

A Washington Post-Ipsos poll conducted in late April found 74 percent of Black registered voters said they will “definitely” or “probably vote for Biden, compared to just 14 percent who said they will “definitely” or “probably” vote for Trump in November.