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I just came home after a long Sunday and noticed that there is some speculation over Joe Biden and Corn Pop. I’ve been to Wilmington and talked to folks who knew Joe at the pool and know some things, beyond the speculation. But first, please read story: washingtonpost.com/politics/at-a-…
Yes, Corn Pop was a real. Lots of people I spoke with knew him and talked about him, even if they had never met Joe Biden.
It is a wrong to compare “gangs” in 1962 to stereotypes of gangs today. They weren’t murderous, drug dealing bangers. They were groups of young kids who gave their cliques, their neighborhoods and themselves nicknames and fought. Corn Pop was a part of a gang named the Romans.
Corn Pop, by the way, is now dead.
Also, yes, Wilmington was highly segregated in 1962 and many of the black people who I spoke with did in fact say Joe Biden was the first white person they knew who really listened to them and had a heart for them.
And yes, gangs did hang out at the pool. All the teenagers did b/c many of the housing projects had no air conditioning. But no, Joe Biden was not the only white lifeguard at the pool. There were others. Joe was particularly popular, though he’s prolly put some spin his tales.
Also, the pool wasn’t necessarily segregated by law, exactly. It was a facility in an area that many blacks moved in after the building of 95. The white swimmers largely moved away. ( So did the owner of a nearby ice skating rink, which made me sad. #supportblackskaters)
It is true that Biden did have several run-ins with Corn Pop, which are detailed in story.I couldn’t confirm the specific incident involving razor blades and chains. But the story was competitive and the search to confirm these specific details was ancillary to the bigger point.
This was the bigger point of the story, which harkens today: Joe Biden clearly wanted to get to know and be involved in the lives of black people. Absent of that was an analysis or a willingness to understand the impact of structural and systemic racism.
Early in his career, he actively dismissed those ideas, which are foundational to how we discuss and race and racism today. He relied on the relationships and the knowledge of his black friends. Give story a read, it’s more informed than the twitter takes: washingtonpost.com/politics/at-a-…
