Praiseworthy

President Biden is slowly restoring the US administration to its former glory. It is a whiff of fresh air to see the otherwise all-white management joined by people of colour and of diverse nationalities (“Black women, Asian American, Muslim are named US judges,” April 1, Gulf Today).

Four years of Trump rule has wreaked havoc. While it will be an uphill for the seasoned Biden to reverse all of Trump’s bad policies and his favourites, who still occupy seats in the White House, the opening few months have shown that he is on the right track and determined to make a difference.

Biden has a rich understanding of the workings in the White House considering that he was the vice president under Barack Obama, the first Black US president. With Kamala Harris as his Vice-president, Biden has an able hand and ofcourse  that in itself is a great testament of diversity.

Contrary to his predecessor Trump’s team, Biden’s first 11 picks for judges has only two men, neither of them white. The court will now have Ketanji Brown Jackson, who is African-American, to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Besides this he has also nominated two other African-American women to the federal appeals court. Another nomination that is bound to raise eyebrows in the Trump camp is that of Zahid Quraishi. If the senate approves he would become the first ever Muslim to serve as a federal district judge. We need more leaders like Biden to show the world what democracy envisages. A wrong  leader at the helm of affairs  tarnishes democratic values. We have many examples of dictatorial leaders running democratic nations. Biden is the change US was waiting for.

Kader Rafiq
By email