Wilmington, in the home of Joe Biden
A storefront in Wilmington.
RFI / Anne Corpet
By: Anne Corpet Follow
15 mins
The Democratic candidate has lived in Wilmington, in the small state of Delaware for decades.
He leads most of his campaign there from the basement of his residence due to the COVID pandemic.
Joe Biden is a known and beloved figure in the city, although Wilmington is no exception to the divisions that plague the rest of America.
Report from our permanent special correspondent in the United States, Anne Corpet.
Publicity
Wilmington Station is a small red brick building topped with a steeple.
It is named after Joe Biden.
It was from here that, during his 36 years in the Senate, the current Democratic candidate took the daily train to Washington.
Just a month after being elected in 1972, Joe Biden lost his wife Neilia and one-year-old baby daughter Naomi in a car crash.
He was sworn in at the hospital at the bedside of his two injured sons.
His daily trips back and forth to the federal capital and the hardships he went through helped forge his legend.
Tomb of Naomi and Neilia.
RFI / Anne Corpet
“
The fact that family has always been the most important thing to him makes him precious to many here.
While he worked very hard for Delaware and the country every day, it was important for him to come home every night to make sure his sons were okay and having some semblance of a normal life.
And the community has united behind this family,
”says Cassandra Marshall, president of the Democratic Party in Wilmington.
“
When his son Beau died of cancer in 2015, the townspeople gathered around him.
I think Joe Biden's story shows he's a man who will take office at any time,
”she adds.
Beau's tomb.
RFI / Anne Corpet
Meat sandwiches, salami pizza and ice cream
The candidate regularly evokes the grief he has gone through and knows how to show sincere empathy with Americans affected by painful ordeals.
He has also cultivated a close proximity to the people of his town for years, and one need only visit one of the restaurants frequented by the Biden family to confirm his popularity.
At the Charcoal Steak House, photos of the ex-vice-president adorn the walls in the corner where he usually eats.
One of the pictures shows him accompanied by Barack Obama.
The decor, chrome stools and individual jukeboxes arranged on each table, is typical of American “diners”.
Dilruba, waitress, had the opportunity to meet the former vice-president several times.
"
He is a charming man, pleasant, easy to access
", she testifies, before specifying "
Joe Biden often comes here, sometimes with his grandchildren.
He loves the meat sandwich and our milkshakes, yes, that's what he prefers to eat
.
But it is in Gianni Esposito's pizzeria that Joe Biden has chosen to announce his candidacy for the White House.
"
His favorite pizza is the one with salami,
" announces the restaurant owner, who is careful not to take sides in the race for the presidency.
"
Joe Biden is a good man, but at 77 he would do better to stay at home and rest,
" said Gianni, who said he had not yet decided on the candidate for whom he would vote.
“
My political views are different from Joe Biden's, but if people hear me speak, they'll say I'm a racist or a fanatic.
This is America today, we can no longer express our opinion.
My business is selling pizza and I don't want to be anyone's enemy.
Joe Biden is a good man.
But will I vote for him?
I don't know…
”.
A client intervenes, and asserts with certainty that stock prices will drop sharply if the former vice-president reaches the White House.
“
No politics here,
” says the owner of the restaurant.
Erik Anderson, a twenty-nine-year-old engineer, does not flinch as he listens to the conversation.
But once out of the pizzeria, he tells us: “
I am progressive.
To be on the left in the United States is to suffer most of the time.
I voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, but I consider Donald Trump to be a very serious threat to democracy.
I'm not keen on voting for Joe Biden, I'm not very excited, but at least I know he's a decent guy
.
Like many inhabitants of the city, Erik had the opportunity to meet the former vice-president.
"
I saw him eat ice cream at the beach, he was chatting with everyone, he seemed very accessible,
" he comments.
Joe Biden's appetite for ice cream is common knowledge, it was also mentioned by his little girls in a video clip released during the Democratic convention.
Tyron.
RFI / Anne Corpet
Lifeguard in a black quarter
At the corner of Lancaster Street and Dupont Street, children are playing ball on the sidewalk.
The neighborhood is poor, overwhelmingly populated by African Americans.
“
I met Joe Biden at my first job at the Janssen supermarket in Greenville,
” says Tyron, 59, sitting on the front porch of his house, “
He gave me fifty dollars after I packed his goods, and he told me to keep doing a good job.
He is close to people, he loves everyone, he is our man
!
", He says happily before assuring"
everyone in the neighborhood will vote for him.
"
Swimming pool.
RFI / Anne Corpet
Further on, Charles Jonson pushes a cart full of empty cans that he picks up to earn some money.
He points to a blue and yellow building, in the middle of a park: the Joe Biden aquatic center, closed due to the pandemic.
“
A long time ago, he was a lifeguard there.
He was sitting in the chair, watching the swimmers, and now he's running for president
!
», He exclaims.
At the time, in 1962, Joe Biden was the only white employee at the pool.
He explains that he wanted to do this job to get closer to a community he did not know.
“
At the time, it was already a predominantly black neighborhood.
He gets along well with African-Americans, he never had any hatred for us,
”testifies Charles Jonson.
Jaqueline Coneway.
RFI / Anne Corpet
But Jaqueline Coneway, an African American who jogs around the park has no sympathy for the Democratic candidate.
She even feels a certain resentment, which dates from her childhood.
“
When I was little, I had to walk an hour and a half to go to school.
It was the time when little blacks were educated in white neighborhoods to facilitate our integration,
”she says,“ a
lot of whites were not happy to see us walk through their neighborhood.
Sometimes we had to run, because they let their dogs loose on us.
Our parents went out of their way to get a school bus, but Joe Biden opposed it.
People of color like me weren't considered.
So no, I do not support Joe Biden,
”she says.
During the first Democratic debate during the primaries, Joe Biden was attacked by Kamala Harris for his opposition to "busing", intended to facilitate school desegregation.
Samuel Hoff.
RFI / Anne Corpet
“
Delaware had remained a very segregated state in terms of education.
There have been many attempts to try to give children of color the opportunity to have a good education, but most have been unsuccessful.
The state has sued numerous times to keep things as they are,
”recalls Samuel Hoff, professor of political science at the University of Delaware.
And he explains, “
One of the most drastic ways to desegregate schools in the United States and especially in Delaware, was to bus black children to white schools and vice versa.
Joe Biden started his career opposing this, it was a conservative stance.
Today he defends himself by saying that it was a local position, but it was really a conservative position
.
"
Photos of Joe Biden at the Claymont.
RFI / Anne Corpet
"Joe Biden is my personal hero"
The Claymont Steak shop is another small restaurant frequented by the Democratic candidate: this is where Joe Biden used to buy his sandwiches when he was a high school student.
He continued to eat lunch for decades, and photos of the smiling presidential candidate standing alongside the employees were also displayed there.
This is the place that Larry Lambert, candidate for the Democratic Party in the Delaware House of Representatives, chose to tell us about his links with the former senator.
“
I met Joe Biden through the volunteer work I did in this neighborhood when I was a teenager.
He was giving me advice, it was very encouraging,
”he recalls,“
later, when I unfortunately lost my parents and my older brother, I no longer had the means to pay the costs of university.
Joe Biden wrote to the financial commission of the institution I was applying to, and thanks to this letter, the university offered me two years of schooling.
So it was thanks to Joe Biden, my personal hero, that I graduated.
Larry Lambert never tires of talking about "
Uncle Joe's warmth
," the impact that being close to a senator has had over the course of his life.
“
It really inspired me to become a politician today, I want to give back to my community what he gave me.
Says the young African-American in the countryside.
Politically, Larry Lambert is more to the left than his mentor, but he refuses to discuss their differences.
“
The differences of opinion that Joe Biden and I may have on certain political matters have no bearing on my support for his candidacy for the presidency of the United States.
I am the biggest Joe Biden supporter that you can meet here.
That's what's great about the Democratic Party, there's room for everyone.
And thanks to the progressives, the party line has moved on the environment or the minimum wage.
That's what I like about Joe Biden: his ability to be open, and reach out to the needs of the community,
”he concludes.
Lee Murphy.
RFI / Anne Corpet
Joe Biden, sold to the radical left?
Difficult to find irreducible enemies of the Democratic candidate in Wilmington.
In the premises of the Republican Party, well away from the city center, the militants conspire his program, but do not hate the man.
“
He's nice, but less than Donald Trump.
He's a good man, but he's a career politician, and he's tied to everything that doesn't work in Washington,
”says Jeff, who has come to pick up“ Trump 2020 ”campaign signs that he intends to plant in his garden.
Republican House candidate Lee Murphy even prides himself on being a friend of the former vice president, even though the two haven't crossed paths for a long time.
“
I was a train conductor, and I got to know Joe Biden on his daily trips back and forth between Washington and Wilmington.
Sometimes he offered to drive me home from the station.
But those times are over.
In the '80s and' 90s people could disagree, but still get along and stay close.
I think Joe is a great family man, he's a friend, but at this point in history we're really on two different sides.
I defend freedom and unfortunately Joe is on the side of socialism and government control
, "he laments before continuing,"
Joe has always wanted to be President of the United States and this is obviously his last chance given his age advanced.
I hate to say that, but he sold himself completely to the radical left.
It is very disappointing, it shows his weakness of character.
Frankly, if he is elected he will be controlled by the radical members of his party and that is very sad.
This is not the person I knew thirty years ago, it disappoints me
.
"
Tom Burke in front of his nest box.
RFI / Anne Corpet
In the small park located along the river, just behind the railway line, an empty plinth mounted on a wooden stand arouses the visitor's questions.
This is where a birdhouse was installed, representing on one side the Joe Biden station, on the other the White House, all crossed by a train.
A work by Tom Burke, a local artist who intended to salute the political career of the former state senator.
But, the sign "
Ride with Biden, this train is on its way to glory
" with which he posed for a photograph in front of his birdhouse, before posting it on social networks, angered the owners of the park, who have decided to withdraw his work, considered too political.
The anecdote illustrates the rise in tension as the presidential election approaches.
Despite his affection for the Biden family, Wilmington is not spared by the divide that divides America.
"That
sign was there for only twenty minutes, I apologized, I admitted my mistake, I wish they weren't removing my nest box, the Biden could see it
!"
», Laments the artist who claims to have only wanted to pay tribute to the local political celebrity.
But, Tom Burke easily recognizes being a fervent support of the Democratic candidate, and even takes to dreaming "
I hope that my nesting box will be installed in the White House next spring.
".
The artist even has a precise idea of the desired location for his work: where the swing of the children of Barack and Michelle Obama was, which Donald Trump had removed when he arrived at the White House.
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