Black history is American history. We cannot tell our nation’s story without recognizing and honoring the contributions and sacrifices of Black Americans. Every day, including and especially during Black History Month, we have the collective opportunity to highlight, amplify, and empower the Black community while calling out and addressing the injustices and adversities that they continue to face.
Black Americans weaved the very fabric of this country. They are our poets and physicians, our ministers and musicians. They are our activists, humanitarians, and entrepreneurs. Black workers built our infrastructure and industries and remain at the forefront of resistance and change. But today, the Black community continues to experience hardships and inequities on a daily basis.
This is why the Biden-Harris Administration will always stand for economic justice for the Black community. We are pressing forward to democratize opportunity, to empower more people and workers, and to tear down barriers. This includes an unprecedented commitment to advance racial and gender equity through trade; to use research, analysis, and data to better understand the distributional effects of trade; and to lift up historically underrepresented and underserved communities through trade policy.
From day one, my priority as the United States Trade Representative has been to hear directly from the Black community so that their voices can help shape our work serving and representing all of our people. Just as past generations were foundational to our nation’s growth, current and future members of the Black community will lead and form domestic and international economic policy for a fairer, more inclusive, and more equitable tomorrow.
We celebrate the month of February in light of this vision, but our devotion is not time bound. Let us continue to work together until all our people fully grasp the benefits of the American promise.
###
