\"Once upon a time, they were excluded from certain classrooms. But 70 years later, they're inside the most important room of all, the Oval Office, where they belong,\" Biden said. \"They're a living reminder that once upon a time, wasn't that long ago.\"

Biden added that despite this progress, there is more to do.

\"PHOTO:
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, MAy 17, 2024, in Washington.
>

Biden also said that before his remarks on Friday he met with the \"Little Rock Nine,\" the children who first integrated their district's public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Later Friday, Biden was set to meet privately with the leaders of the historically Black \"Divine Nine\" fraternities and sororities, before traveling this weekend to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

\"The founders of Morehouse understood something fundamental: education is linked to freedom,\" Biden said. \"Because to be free means to have something that no one can ever take away from you. And that's the power of an education. That's why the Brown decision to commemorate today is so important.\"

Biden also used his remarks to tout the work his administration is doing in higher education to ease the economic toll on young people.

\"While college degrees are still a ticket to the middle class, that ticket is becoming too expensive,\" Biden said. \"Too many, too many young people, Black students are dealing with unsustainable debts in exchange for a college degree.\"

Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.

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