A man of his era

Joe Biden has officially announced his candidacy for president. All the old stories, such as his treatment of Anita Hill, are coming out again. And people are defending him again, saying his “gaffes” are only that he’s from a different era. Goodness, the man is 75, things were different back then.

Melisa McEwan of Shakesville tackles that excuse. What do they mean by “back then?” McEwan lists ten troubling things Biden has done since 2005. The most recent was two years ago. So when did “back then” end? McEwan concludes:

My point is this: Joe Biden is indeed a man of his era, because this era — whether you define it starting in 2000, or 2005, or 2010, or last week — is still rife with bigotries against marginalized people, and privileged people who express them, and defenders of those people.

Biden was a man of his era in the 1970s, and the 1980s, and the 1990s, and the 2000s, and the 2010s. There were white men in each of those eras who engaged in bigoted "humor" and touched people without their consent and supported policies that harmed marginalized people, and there were white men in each of those eras who didn't.

The issue isn't really whether Joe Biden is a man of his era. He is. The issue is, and has always been, what kind of man he is.