In the end it was a crafty compromise.
Joe Biden was allowed to speak uninterrupted and renew his pitch to black voters. Protesters could make their point by wearing keffiyehs or raising a fist. Even the sky was merciful and hinted at rain, but it never really let up.
And through it all, Sunday’s 140th Commencement at Morehouse College, a historically black men’s college in Atlanta, retained not only its dignity but also a sense of joy. Music was playing, parents were crying and graduates who had weathered a global pandemic were able to enjoy their big day without being in the shadows.
“Thank you God for this ‘woke’ lesson of 2024 that is in tune with the spirit of the times, the spirit of the times,” said Pastor Claybon Lea Jr. during a commencement prayer held on a lawn on the university campus. century campus, surrounded by trees and red-brick academic buildings.
The urgency of the daily news agenda – will the US president care about Gaza? – collided here with legendary traditions that go back a century and a half. Accompanied by organ music, the graduating class of 2024 was processed in black mortar planks with gold or black sashes. Most wore Kente stoles with the Morehouse seal.
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Morehouse alumni followed, many wearing maroon jackets and straw hats with maroon bands. Some went all the way back to 1954. The alumni seemed more enthusiastic about standing and applauding Biden than the new wave of graduates.
They sat down and looked at a stage set up with a black awning with a maroon background that said “Morehouse” in giant letters. Two large screens showed the event, including close-ups of graduates smiling, waving or making funny faces.
The program began with the solemn ringing of a bell, an evocation and the Army Color Guard Corps performed the color presentation. The Morehouse College Glee Club performed The Star Spangled Banner and Lift Every Voice and Sing – the swelling chorus that is resonant, resilient and transcends the concerns of the moment.
The emotion of the day was evident in David Thomas, president of Morehouse College, who choked up a few times. He paid tribute to the students who have weathered the pandemic with perseverance: “You have shown unparalleled fortitude in the face of adversity.”
When Biden took the stage, wearing a maroon dress with three black stripes on the arms and a maroon tie, there was polite applause, though it could hardly be described as fierce.
There had been a lot of hype surrounding his speech at Morehouse and whether, in light of unrest on other campuses around the country, it would be marred by protests over his handling of the war in Gaza. Some staff and students had called for Biden’s invitation to be rescinded because of his support for Israel and their discomfort with speaking during the election campaign season.
But not for the first time, Biden benefited from low expectations and will view the relatively modest dissent as a victory. Outside the college, a lone protester waved a handwritten “Genocide Joe” sign, closely watched by a police officer.
Inside, a small number of graduates wore keffiyehs — the black-and-white headscarf that has become an emblem of solidarity with the Palestinian cause — around their shoulders on top of their black graduation robes. In his evocation, Lea quoted a “Palestinian Jew named Jesus,” saying that all children matter, from Israelis to Palestinians and beyond.
DeAngelo Jeremiah Fletcher, the class valedictorian, wore a small Palestinian flag pin and decorated his beret with another Palestinian emblem. First, he spoke movingly about the dehumanization African Americans have long endured, saying Morehouse instilled pride “in our combined identity as black and human.”
Turning to global politics, he referenced Morehouse graduate Martin Luther King, whose civil rights activism overlapped with opposition to the Vietnam War.
Fletcher said: “From the comfort of our homes, we watch as an unprecedented number of citizens mourn the loss of men, women and children as they call for the release of all hostages.”
Biden stared into space. Fletcher added: “It is my position as a Morehouse man, indeed as a human being, to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.”
Biden joined the applause and shook Fletcher’s hand. When it was Biden’s turn to speak, some students turned their chairs to face him, and one graduate briefly appeared to hold up a Palestinian flag.
A lone graduate in the back, wearing a mortar-colored and blue dress, stood quietly with his back turned to Biden and his right fist raised throughout the speech. It was perhaps a more powerful statement than any number of disruptions or gestures.
Biden, who has paid close attention to historically black colleges and universities, sought to reassure his audience: “I support peaceful, nonviolent protests. Your voices need to be heard, and I promise I will hear them.”
He described the war in Gaza as “heartbreaking” and acknowledged: “Innocent Palestinians are caught in the middle of this… It is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. That is why I have called for an immediate ceasefire. I know it angers and frustrates many of you, including my family.”
Polls show some African-American men in Georgia, a crucial swing state, are turning away from Biden toward his election opponent Donald Trump. But it was hard to imagine the former president coming here to speak, being received in the same way or speaking out against “extremist forces,” as Biden later did.
An honorary degree was awarded to Biden, who had a mischievous look on his face, then smiled and laughed and pointed to someone in the audience. He joked: “I’m not going home!”
And for the first time that morning, the crowd began to sing. Not ‘Genocide Joe’ but ‘Four more years!’
