President-Elect Joe Biden on Wednesday will take office with the most racially diverse presidential cabinet in U.S. history.
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“50 percent of the nominees for Cabinet positions are Black people. That figure includes Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who will be the first Black, South Asian person, and woman to hold the position,” a CNN report revealed.
Biden also picked incoming Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who will be the first Black person to lead the Pentagon, and Republican Marcia Fudge for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary.
Other Black nominees include incoming Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan, and United Nations (UN) Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
Throughout his term, outgoing President Donald Trump target Muslims, Mexicans, Syrian refugees, and African-descendants. Fifty-six percent of U.S. citizens believed that Trump made the country's race relations worse, according to Pew Research Center.
Civil rights leaders believe that this is a historic step that will help begin repairing a broken country.
“President-elect has achieved a milestone. However, this is only the first step,” National Urban League president Marc Morial assured.
Latino-Descendants, which hold the largest minority population in the country (18 percent), will also be represented in the cabinet.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who was tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, could become the first Latino to lead the office if confirmed by the Senate.
Biden picked for his Cabinet Latinos Miguel Cardona for Secretary of Education Alejandro Mayorkas for Secretary of Homeland Security; and Isabel Guzman for Small Business Administrator.
"The upcoming President knows our people are hurting, and he understands the need of putting equity at the center of his management,” UnidosUS President Janet Murguia said.
The new administration also reserved seats for representatives of the LGBTI community. On Tuesday, transgender federal official Rachel Levine was appointed to serve as Biden's Assistant Secretary for Health.
"Levine will bring the steady leadership and essential expertise we need to get people through this pandemic, no matter their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability,” Biden stated.
In December, he nominated former Mayor Pete Buttigieg to be his transportation secretary. According to CNN, Buttigieg would be the first Senate-confirmed LGBTQ Cabinet secretary if his nomination passes the Senate.
"We believe that Biden's Cabinet appointments are just the starting point for a slate of demands that most of the U.S. people have,” Color of Change President Arisha Hatch assured.