NEW ORLEANS — In one of President Joe Biden’s first public appearances since ending his reelection campaign, he spoke on something very personal to him — cancer. But Louisiana’s Black activists say he still missed the point.
Over the past decade, Biden has not shied from explaining how the life of his son, Beau Biden, who died from brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46, has guided many of his political priorities.
Biden began his appearance at Tulane University earlier this week by invoking his son’s memory. “The most devastating words anyone can hear — and it’s not a hyperbole — is ‘It’s cancer,’” he said.
He was there, addressing a crowd of lawmakers, health researchers, and community advocates, to announce $150 million in federal grants for eight cancer teams across the country. The funding comes from the White House’s Cancer Moonshot initiative, which has two main goals: to prevent 4 million cancer deaths by 2047 and to improve the experience of people affected by cancer. It is one of his administration’s quieter kept programs, but one that the White House says aligns with its goal to uplift disadvantaged communities.
The $150 million, which will be used to develop technologies to improve tumor removal surgeries, adds to the $9 million recently announced to improve access to cancer screenings and follow-up treatments across the country’s marginalized communities.
But outside the room, nearly 50 people gathered in protest of his administration, some wearing “Back the Blue” shirts, most often connected to Republicans. Still, the vast majority were there to call attention to Israel’s current bombardment of Palestine and to explain what they deemed shortsighted about the White House’s Cancer Moonshot program.
One protester that addressed the crowd soberly went down his family line, exclaiming that one of his great-grandfathers had died of cancer, followed by one of his grandfathers, and that his uncle was recently diagnosed with cancer. Regardless of this funding, “I’ll probably die of cancer someday,” he said, “because we live in Cancer Alley.”
Louisiana has the fourth-highest cancer rate in the country. And New Orleans, one of the largest majority-Black cities in the country, sits at the tail end of what is known as “Cancer Alley.” Across the 85-mile stretch from the Big Easy to Louisiana’s capital, Baton Rouge, people die from cancer at rates that are as much as 50 times the national average.
The region, which has a share of Black residents that is three times higher than the national average, is home to roughly 200 petrochemical plants and according to some metrics, the most pollution and chemical contamination nationwide.
It’s partially why the Biden administration decided to announce the funding in the city, and to the White House’s credit, they made sure to invite several environmental activists to the launch.
One study funded by Cancer Moonshot is researching cancer detection blood tests as a less invasive tool for early detection of cancer, and another is working to increase community engagement in order to address disparities in cancer treatment.
Still, for some, it felt like a slight. Dr. Stefan Grant, director of the Tulane Cancer Center, who is receiving nearly $23 million from the funding pool, said many of the cancers plaguing Louisiana’s Black communities are caused by “preventable” factors like smoking, obesity, and inactivity.
But in Jo Banner’s community in Cancer Alley, the leading statistical cause of cancer is actually air pollution. It is expected that 1 out of every 250 residents in the area will develop cancer due to industrial air pollution, which is 40 times higher than what the Environmental Protection Agency deems an “acceptable risk.”
At the same time, the federal government has done little to fully remediate the issue of air pollution in her community, said Banner, an environmental justice activist who was invited by the White House to the event. Biden, however, has put forth some of the most expansive pollution controls in history and briefly mentioned Cancer Alley in his speech. Still, Black people remain exposed to the most pollution nationwide.
“You want to acknowledge all of the wonderful work that they’re doing for our community, right, but at the same time, it’s hard when you’re sitting next to people and governments that have allowed it to happen,” explained Banner.
Last week, a massive industrial project that would have intensified health struggles in Cancer Alley was halted after years of activism by Banner and her twin sister, Joy. This came despite government support and permitting for the project.
“Like trying to solve lung disease while still smoking”
Nationwide, cancer is the second-leading cause of death, with approximately 600,000 deaths annually, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Across the globe, cancer cases are expected to rise by 77% by 2050, driven in part by an increase in air and water contamination, according to the World Health Organization.
Black Americans have higher death rates than all other racial and ethnic groups for most cancer types due to several factors, including a lack of access to preventative health care and care after diagnosis.
Read More: Chemical Plants Destroyed These Black Towns. The EPA Hopes New Regulations Will Help.
A recent report by the American Lung Association found that 131 million people, or nearly 40% of the U.S., are living in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution, an increase of nearly 12 million since last year. As oil and gas production has skyrocketed over the past two years, in various regions the country is backsliding on the progress it made to clean up air pollution.
“We will never cure cancer if we continue to permit cancer-causing industries. That’s like trying to solve lung disease while still smoking,” said Shaq Cossé, who is a program manager with Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an environmental group.
At the event, Biden explained his own history with cranial aneurysms, which he nearly died of in the 1980s. He recalled a conversation with his doctor, who Biden said was trying to explain to him if his brain ailment was naturally occurring or the product of his environment. Biden said he responded with, “I don’t care. Just get it done.”
While the work of cancer care and aftercare cannot be understated, the environmental advocates claim that this mindset misses the point and more could be done to prevent them in the first place. Particularly as the initiative faces a rocky future.
Funding for the program, which first started under the Obama-Biden administration in 2016, has steadily decreased, and in the most recent congressional spending bill, funding was cut for next year. Former President Donald Trump’s campaign has signaled that it wouldn’t increase funding for the program, either.
“I want it to be prevented, because even with the best surgery and the best new methods, it’s still going to mean someone has to hear what he called the most ‘devastating words anyone can hear,’” Banner said.