In his first remarks since the protests began, former President Obama described why they make him hopeful.
Former president Barack Obama presented an optimistic take on the civil unrest that has griped the nation, urged mayors to enact policing reforms developed during his administration and spoke directly to young people of color, telling them “your lives matter.”
In his first public remarks since protests over the death of George Floyd alighted cities coast to coast, the nation’s first African American president described the events of the last week “as profound as anything that I’ve seen in my lifetime.”
Yet, observing the protests, Obama said he sees an awakening in the country to the challenges and fears black Americans endure. The confluence of the coronavirus pandemic’s disparate effect on black communities and the killing of Floyd, a black man, by a police officer, who is white, has exposed America’s systemic racial injustices, he said.
Obama said he’s been heartened by the young people mobilizing these demonstrations, noting that youth have led nearly every major social change in the country.
