When he was a child, Miguel Cardona spoke only Spanish at home. His learning of English at the public school in the small town of Connecticut where his parents, originally from Puerto Rico, had settled was chaotic. The 40-year-old, who became a teacher, then a principal then an educational executive, is now the Minister of Education in the Biden administration, the second Hispanic in United States history to take up this post.
His colleague appointed to health, Xavier Becerra, is himself the first descendant of Mexican immigrants to fulfill this function. The man, who was the first in his family to pursue an education, has an already rich political and legal career behind him: in 2017, he replaced the current vice-president, Kamala Harris, as attorney general of California. when she was elected senator, becoming the first Latino to hold that position. He takes office in the midst of a pandemic and while the health crisis has highlighted the extent of racial disparities in access to care.
Unprecedented in the history of the country
Many of the personalities chosen by President Joe Biden to lead America’s affairs often combine several qualities: seasoned professionals or politicians, many of whom have been passed through the Obama administration, they also have the advantage of embodying social diversity and ethnicity of American society, thus fulfilling Joe Biden’s promise to form a government that “Looks like America”. This diversity is unprecedented in the history of the country. And these appointments, as symbolic as they are, are not just cosmetic. Each, in their own way, intends to put their heritage and their career at the service of their new functions.
When she was sworn in on March 18, Deb Haaland donned a dress of fabric with traditional patterns – butterflies, stars and corn on the cob – and moccasins, under the visibly satisfied gaze of Vice President Kamala Harris. , herself of Jamaican-Indian origin. Elected from Arizona, Deb Haaland, a single mother from the Laguna Pueblo tribe, is the first Native American to assume ministerial responsibility.
The interior portfolio entrusted to him by the American president is all the more significant as it encompasses the management of natural resources on federal lands, such as national parks, and Indian reserves. As such, she will be responsible for applying the Democratic President’s program to fight climate change.
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