Speaking on a Wednesday afternoon livestream, former President Barack Obama lauded the protests taking place across the nation, saying, “There is a change in mindset that’s taking place.” Obama compared the current protests to the protests of the 1960’s, arguing, “I know enough about that history to say there is something different here. You look at those protests, and that was a far more representative cross section of America out on the streets peacefully protesting. And who felt moved to do something because of the injustices they had seen. That didn’t exist back in the 1960’s, that kind of broad coalition.”
.@BarackObama: "There is something different here." We're witnessing “a far more representative cross-section of America out on the streets, peacefully protesting…That didn't exist in the 1960s." pic.twitter.com/BOE49rK0wR
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) June 3, 2020
Obama also stated, “For those who have been talking about protest, just remember that this country was founded on protest — it is called the American Revolution,” as The New York Times reported. He added, “Every step of progress in this country, every expansion of freedom, every expression of our deepest ideals have been won through efforts that made the status quo uncomfortable. And we should all be thankful for folks who are willing, in a peaceful, disciplined way, to be out there making a difference.”
Obama continued, “In a lot of ways, what has happened in the last several weeks is that challenges and structural problems here in the United States have been thrown into high relief. They are the outcome of not just an immediate moment in time, but as the result of a long host of things — slavery, Jim Crow, redlining and institutional racism.”
On Monday, Obama published an essay in which he wrote, “The point of protest is to raise public awareness, to put a spotlight on injustice, and to make the powers that be uncomfortable; in fact, throughout American history, it’s often only been in response to protests and civil disobedience that the political system has even paid attention to marginalized communities. But eventually, aspirations have to be translated into specific laws and institutional practices— and in a democracy, that only happens when we elect government officials who are responsive to our demands.”
He added, “The more specific we can make demands for criminal justice and police reform, the harder it will be for elected officials to just offer lip service to the cause and then fall back into business as usual once protests have gone away.”
The New York Times noted approvingly of the 1960’s in 1994, writing, “It was a repudiation of the blind obedience and reflexive cynicism of politics as usual. It was about exposing hypocrisy, whether personal or political, and standing up to irrational authority. As in any large movement, it accommodated its share of charlatans and sociopaths. But it is part of us, a legacy around which Americans can now unite, rather than allow themselves to be divided.”
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