Biden sparks outrage after suggesting black people don't know how to raise children: 'Put the record player on at night'

Former vice president goes down several tangents when asked about the legacy of slavery

Taking several turns and going down multiple tangents, Joe Biden could not seem to answer a simple question about the legacy of slavery during the third Democratic debates.

The former vice president mentioned record players, discussed education and talked about bringing social workers into homes in low-income communities when debate moderator Linsey Davis asked him: “What responsibility do you think that Americans need to take to repair the legacy of slavery in our country?”

Mr Biden began by addressing “institutional segregation” and discussing his track record, as well as the need for social reforms, before making several controversial statements that sparked outcry online shortly after the debates on Thursday night.

“Look, there’s institutional segregation in this country,” he said. “And from the time I got involved, I started dealing with that. Redlining, making sure that we are in a position where – look, talk about education. I proposed that what we take is those very poor schools, the Title I schools, triple the amount of money we spend.”

“The teachers … have every problem coming to them,” Mr Biden continued. “We have to make sure that every single child does, in fact, have three, four, and five-year-olds go to school – school, not daycare, school. We bring social workers into homes and parents to help them deal with how to raise their children. It’s not that they don’t want to help. They don’t know quite what to do. Play the radio. Make sure the television – excuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night.”

“Make sure the kids hear words. A kid coming from a very school – a very poor background – will hear four million fewer words by the time they get there,” he concluded.

Those statements appeared to imply “that black parents don’t know how to raise their own children,” according to some, including Anand Giridharadas, an editor-at-large for TIME Magazine.

“Joe Biden’s answer on how to address the legacy of slavery was appalling – and disqualifying,” he wrote in a tweet.

In a follow-up tweet, Mr Giridharadas added: "Asked about his past comments denying responsibility, as a white man, for America's sins, he gives an answer insinuating that black parents don't know how to raise kids.”

Others said Mr Biden was employing “a racist stereotype” when answering the question.

“So many problems with this,” Ashley Nicole Black, a comedian and cast member of HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show, wrote on Twitter.

“He repeated a racist stereotype (using a debunked study). He still has a record player ... But the pettiest problem ... Does Joe Biden think black parents don't play their kids music?? Has he MET black people?”

Mr Biden continued on with his comments, despite going past the speaking time he was allotted, moving on to discuss foreign policy and the crisis in Venezuela.

“Here's the deal. The deal is we've got this a little backwards and by the way, in Venezuela ... we should be allowing people to come here from Venezuela," he continued, before incorrectly referring to the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, as ‘Madura’.

“I know Madura,” he said. “I confronted Madura. Number two, you talk about the need to do something in Latin America. I'm the guy that came up with $740m (£595.4m) to see to it those three countries in fact change their system so people don't have a chance to leave. You're all acting like we just discovered this yesterday."

The former vice president took centre-stage at the third debate, in which the top 10 leading Democrats appeared together to discuss a wide range of issues during the three-hour special. He was credited with defending his healthcare plan despite Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren – who flanked either side of Mr Biden on stage – presenting their sweeping Medicare-for-All initiatives and vowing universal coverage.

Mr Biden holds a steady frontrunner status over the nine other candidates in national polling. It remains unclear how his controversial statements or debate performance may impact the rest of the race before the Democratic primaries kick off in February.

Mr Biden's campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.