civil rights movement. I was not an activist. I worked at an all-black swimming pool in the east side of Wilmington, Delaware. I was involved. I was involved in what they were thinking, what they were feeling. I was involved, but I was not out marching. I was not down in Selma, I was not anywhere else. I was a suburbanite kid who got a dose of exposure to what was happening to black Americans in my own city." - Meaning and context.">
News conference, Date: 1987-09-17, quoted in Robert Mackey (2020-02-14), "Ahead of South Carolina Vote, Joe Biden Faces Questions Over Claims of Civil Rights Activism", The Intercept

During the '60s, I was in fact very concerned about the civil rights movement. I was not an activist. I worked at an all-black swimming pool in the east side of Wilmington, Delaware. I was involved. I was involved in what they were thinking, what they were feeling. I was involved, but I was not out marching. I was not down in Selma, I was not anywhere else. I was a suburbanite kid who got a dose of exposure to what was happening to black Americans in my own city.

— Joe Biden

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "During the '60s, I was in fact very concerned about the civil rights movement. I was not an activist. I worked at an all-black swimming pool in the east side of Wilmington, Delaware. I was involved. I was involved in what they were thinking, what they were feeling. I was involved, but I was not out marching. I was not down in Selma, I was not anywhere else. I was a suburbanite kid who got a dose of exposure to what was happening to black Americans in my own city." in the context of "News conference, Date: 1987-09-17, quoted in Robert Mackey (2020-02-14), "Ahead of South Carolina Vote, Joe Biden Faces Questions Over Claims of Civil Rights Activism", The Intercept" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Joe Biden" (Quotes, 1980s) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed February 05, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Joe Biden

About Joe Biden

Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under President Barack Obama, and represented Delaware in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 2009.