President Joe Biden indirectly referenced the stance of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), likely a Republican presidential candidate, against "woke" school curricula during a White House Black History Month reception.

Biden told the crowd it is critical to teach black history as he reflected on screening the movie Till, based on the life of Emmett Till, the black 14-year-old who was abducted, tortured, and lynched in Mississippi in 1955, and those of his family members earlier this month.

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"We hosted a screening because it's important to say from the White House, for the entire country to hear, history matters. History matters, and black history matters," he said Monday during the East Room reception. "We can't just choose to learn what we want to know. We learn what we should know, to learn everything, the good, the bad, the truth of who we are as a nation. That's what great nations do, and we are a great nation."

Biden, who underscored his support for making it easier to vote following his executive action pardoning all prior federal simple marijuana possession convictions, also quipped about the "real power" of the "Divine Nine," the group of black Greek-letter organizations.

"I may be a white boy, but I'm not stupid," he said.

Vice President Kamala Harris similarly reiterated that it is pivotal to teach black history amid criticism of DeSantis, among others. DeSantis has dismissed the draft curriculum for an African American studies Advanced Placement course.

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"Black history is American history, living history, breathing history," Harris said. "History that we create every day and history that we then must teach and celebrate, a history that helps us to understand how the past has influenced the present."

"We will not, as a nation, build a better future for America by trying to erase America's past," she added.