On Friday, the White House announced that during Joe Biden's planned visit to Southern Nevada on Sunday, an event will be held in the Historic Westside neighborhood of Las Vegas. "During the event, the president will speak directly to voters about the stakes of this election," a White House spokesperson wrote.

The campaign stop is ahead of the "First in the West" 2024 Presidential Preference Primary in Nevada on Tuesday, February 6. It comes at the end of the early voting period, when voters have already been casting ballots. Details on the exact location of the event have not been released, but the event is scheduled for 3 p.m. Pacific time.

Located northwest of the strip, local media and pro-Biden pundits have noted that the Historic Westside is a highly concentrated black neighborhood. 

This neighborhood arose out of segregation policies in Las Vegas at a time before integration, which came to fruition in 1960 on the famous Las Vegas Strip. It's where black entertainment thrived, and the Westside was home to the first desegregated club and resort in the United States, the Moulin Rouge Hotel built in 1955. 

There is a civil rights legacy, and a park aptly named for that history, the Historic Westside Legacy Park. There, the city inducts honorees and commemorates community members with monuments, plaques, and art telling of this history. But, it is history. The neighborhood is no longer a bustling black enclave. The economic downturn of this area is explained by the same circumstances that created it: segregation. Once the housing ordinances and other economic opportunities became integrated, residents and businesses moved to other parts of the city. 

Of all the plentiful public parks, I would advise to spend a family day at, the Westside's Legacy Park is a monumental virtue signal more than a functional community space. With a single, small play structure that is a far cry from a "playground" (although the city of Las Vegas' website calls it that), it isn't even covered by a shade canopy. In Las Vegas, a children's play area in direct sunlight is likened to a crime against humanity. The park has no splash pad, grassy field, or basketball hoops. You will find no slides, no swings, and no sports-dedicated areas at all. There isn't even a single picnic table. 

There are no real amenities, just benches where someone can observe the dry desert landscaping, and a bronze Barack Obama statue, of course. 

Why are these details of a lackluster, Westside park important? Much like the Biden campaign's attempts at reigniting the Obama coalition, the park was not built with the intention of meeting the needs of the community but to pay homage to the realities of yesteryear. 

While the Historic Westside used to be a majority-black area, at present time just over half the residents are black, and about 35 percent are Hispanic. This neighborhood stands out as one of the most economically challenged in the city, where a significant number of residents live below the poverty line. The average household brings in just under $25,000 a year.

It's dilapidated, and crime-ridden, much like Biden himself. 

The Biden campaign can unironically tout "Bidenomics" and wonky job creation statistics, but it doesn't mean anything on the Westside where joblessness tends to hit two to three times harder than in the rest of the city. Meanwhile, Nevada boasts the second-highest grocery prices in the nation. 

Biden can make another pit-stop on the "pandering to black America tour," where he pretends to have gone to more black churches than black church-goers do. He's in luck: Las Vegas has a dedicated 3.5-mile neighborhood for virtue signaling in the face of lost prosperity. Of course, that's where Biden will go... during daylight hours.