Remember what it was like to have a president who could take to the airwaves and reassure the nation, whose cool and calm words made everyone less angry and afraid? Seems like something from a movie now, doesn’t it?
Certainly not anything like real life these days…
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Well, after Donald Trump‘s scary speech Monday afternoon threatening to bypass governors and send in the US military to deal with protesters, we thought it would be nice to get a reprieve from right now and read the encouraging words of an actual leader.
Barack Obama wrote an op-ed in Medium on Monday morning about the best ways to effect change in a system which seems corrupt and unjust. The whole thing is worth a read.
But the man knows his audience, so a few hours later he gave a shorter, more bullet point version on Twitter, writing:
“As millions of people across the country take to the streets and raise their voices in response to the killing of George Floyd and the ongoing problem of unequal justice, I’ve heard many ask how we can sustain momentum to bring about real change. Ultimately, it’s going to be up to a new generation of activists to shape strategies that best fit the times. But I want to highlight some basic lessons from past efforts that are worth remembering:
- The protests represent a genuine and legitimate frustration over a decades-long failure to reform police practices and the broader criminal justice system. We should condemn the few who resort to violence––not the overwhelming majority who deserve our respect and support.
- The point of protest is to raise public awareness, to put a spotlight on injustice, and to make the powers that be uncomfortable. But eventually, we have to translate those aspirations into specific laws and institutional practices.
- To do that, we have to know which levels of government have the biggest impact. Changing the federal government is important. But the elected officials who matter most in reforming police departments and the criminal justice system work at the state and local levels.
- So if we want to bring about real change, the choice isn’t between protest and politics––we have to do both. We have to mobilize to raise awareness, and we have to organize and cast our ballots to make sure that we elect candidates who will act on reform.
- 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.
I know the past few months have been hard and dispiriting. But watching the heightened activism of young people makes me hopeful. And if we can keep channeling our justifiable anger into peaceful, sustained, and effective action, this can be the moment when real change starts.”
Good stuff.
However, it does leave out the one sorta reference to the head from which the fish is currently rotting. In his full essay, Obama obliquely mentioned what a horrible leader Trump is, writing:
“When we think about politics, a lot of us focus only on the presidency and the federal government. And yes, we should be fighting to make sure that we have a president, a Congress, a U.S. Justice Department, and a federal judiciary that actually recognize the ongoing, corrosive role that racism plays in our society and want to do something about it. But the elected officials who matter most in reforming police departments and the criminal justice system work at the state and local levels.”
Yeah, that fire was missing from Twitter.
But like we said, he’s trying to calm everyone down, not just attack like Trump is doing.
Do YOU miss Obama being president as much as we do??
[Image via WENN/Avalon/Instar.]
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