Obama says racism is ‘deeply rooted in America’ as he addresses wave of protests following decisions to clear killer cops
Daily Mail
President Barack Obama is prescribing time and vigilance to tackle problems as entrenched in American society as racism and bias.
He also is urging patience, saying progress usually comes in small steps.
In an interview with BET, the president described his conversation with a group of young civil rights activists, including a leader of protests in Ferguson, Missouri, he hosted last week in the Oval Office.
Obama said he told them that ‘this is something that is deeply rooted in our society, it’s deeply rooted in our history.’
America has made gains, and that ‘gives us hope’ of making more progress, he said.
President Barack Obama is prescribing time and vigilance to tackle problems as entrenched in American society as racism and bias
Obama told BET ‘What I told the young people who I met with, that we’re gonna have more conversations like this over the coming months, is this isn’t gonna be solved overnight. This is something that is deeply rooted in our society. It’s deeply rooted in our history.
‘But the two things that are going to allow us to solve it. Number one: is the understanding that we have made progress. And so, it’s important to recognize, as painful as these incidents are, we can’t equate what is happening now to what was happening 50 years ago. And if you talk to your parents, grandparents, uncles, they’ll tell you that things are better. Not good, in some cases, but better.’
He continued, ‘And the reason it’s important for us to understand progress has been made is that then gives us hope that we can make even more progress. The second thing that I insisted to these young people is, we have to be persistent. Because, typically progress is in steps. It’s in increments.
‘You know, when you’re dealing with something as deeply rooted as racism or bias in any society, you gotta have vigilance, but you have to recognize that it’s going to take some time and you just have to be steady – so that you don’t give up when we don’t get all the way there.’
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