One final class lecture
U.S.’ inequities also highlighted in two speeches to graduates
Former President Barack Obama criticized the nation’s leaders for their handling of the coronavirus pandemic, accusing them in two commencement addresses Saturday of not “even pretending” to be in charge.
The comments came in a speech to high school graduates broadcast by major television networks and a similar streamed speech for graduates of 74 historically black colleges and universities across the United States, which also included his first public comments on the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-yearold black man shot when two white men attempted to stop him while he was jogging near his hometown of Brunswick, Ga.
Obama mentioned racial, gender and economic inequity in both addresses, saying the current economic and health crises had revealed much about the country.
“You’re being asked to find your way in the world in the middle of a devastating pandemic and terrible recession. The timing is not ideal,” Obama said during his speech to the college graduates. “And let’s be honest. A disease like this just spotlights the underlying inequalities and extra burdens that black communities have historically had to deal with in this country. We see it in the disproportionate impact of covid-19 on our communities, just as we see it when a black man goes for a jog, and some folks feel like they can stop and question and shoot him if he doesn’t submit to their questioning.”
“Injustice like this isn’t new,” Obama said. “What is new is that so much of your generation has woken up to the fact that the status quo needs fixing; that the old ways of doing things don’t work; that it doesn’t matter how much money you make if everyone around you is hungry and sick; and that our society and democracy only works when we think not just about ourselves, but about each other.”
Obama took direct aim at government officials managing the coronavirus response in the United States.
“More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that the folks in charge know what they’re doing,” Obama said. “A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”
In the speech to high school students, he went further by saying it had revealed not only that many adults lack the right answers, but that they are not even asking the right questions.
“Do what you think is right,” Obama told the students. “Doing what feels good, what’s convenient, what’s easy — that’s how little kids think. Unfortunately, a lot of so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy titles and important jobs, still think that way — which is why things are so screwed up.”
The speech to college graduates earlier in the day capped off a two-hour livestreamed event called “Show Me Your Walk, HBCU Edition,” which included appearances from alumni of historically black colleges and universities; actors and actresses; NBA players and owners; corporate CEOs; and artists. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., a Howard University graduate, made an appearance. Comedian Kevin Hart hosted. The rapper Common, comedian Steve Harvey, musician Gary Clark Jr. and actor and dancer Debbie Allen also made appearances.
In his message to both groups of students, Obama opened with a nod to the less-than-ideal circumstances under which members of the Class of 2020 finished off their college educations. Restrictions on large gatherings and mandates of physical distancing forced schools and universities to shut down in-person classes.
Obama said the graduates had still “earned this moment,” even if they spent the second half of the semester on “Zoom University.”
He joked with the high school students that many would not have looked great in a mortarboard cap typical of traditional graduations.
“As much as I’m sure you love your parents, I’ll bet that being stuck at home with them and playing board games or watching Tiger King on TV is not exactly how you envisioned the last few months of your senior year,” he said.
He also paid homage to the spirit of celebrations from historically black colleges and universities, which the livestreamed event tried to replicate with a roll call from school officials, short speeches from senior students and musical performances.
Obama said that now more than ever, those graduates have the tools they need to seize their power to make change. Obama called on the 2020 class to be “bold” and have a “vision that isn’t clouded by cynicism or fear.”
“No generation has been better positioned to be warriors for justice and remake the world,” Obama said, offering three pieces of advice.
First, he challenged them to take their advocacy beyond online activism and engage with grassroots organizations. Next, he told the graduates they “can’t do it alone” and encouraged them to find “allies in common cause.”
“Rather than say what’s in it for me or what’s in it for my community and to heck with everyone else, stand up for and join up with everyone who’s struggling — whether immigrants, refugees, the rural poor, the LGBTQ community, low-income workers of every background, women who so often are subject to their own discrimination and burdens and not getting equal pay for equal work; look out for folks whether they are white or black or Asian or Latino or Native American,” Obama said.
Finally, he reminded the graduates that they are “inheritors of one of America’s proudest traditions.”
“You’re the folks we’ve been waiting for to come along,” Obama said. “That’s the power you hold.”