For many South Carolina black voters, however, the president’s words feel disconnected from their realities.
Kenard Holmes, a junior at South Carolina State University (SCSU), told the BBC he was not excited by Mr Biden’s campaign. “I know I’m going to vote. I’m just not sure who I’m voting for.”
The 20-year-old remains unconvinced of the historic investments the White House says it has made into black colleges like his.
In the university building where Holmes meets weekly with his gospel choir, he says conditions are “embarrassing”. “If it’s cold outside, it’s cold in there. If it’s hot outside, it’s hot in there,” Holmes says. “It’s been like that for years.”
Data shows that other black voters in South Carolina have similar reasons to be disenchanted.
In 2022, eight of the state’s top 10 counties with the highest poverty rates were majority black – averaging over 27%. And in more bustling areas like Charleston, US census data shows poverty rates were nearly twice as high in one of the city’s majority-black neighbourhoods compared to its majority-white county.
Although the state is run by Republicans, there is a sense the president could have done more.
Matthew Guah, the dean of SCSU’s business school, agrees that although money has been invested into black communities, it hasn’t been substantive enough to move the needle.
“Record investment just means more than before. Record investment doesn’t mean they got everything they need,” he says.
Ronnie Bennett, co-owner of the Broughton Street Cafe in Orangeburg County, told the BBC: “If Biden has put money into black communities, I don’t see it.”
Ms Bennett plans to vote for Joe Biden again but mostly out of obligation, feeling Democrats offer her the most hope. “Our ancestors fought for the right to vote, so we exercise that right whether we like who’s running or not,” she says.
