President Barack Obama’s “blackness” speech has left some whites in the dark. During his commencement speech Saturday to Howard University’s graduating class, Obama touched on race relations and said the country is “a better place today” than it was when he graduated from Columbia University in 1983.
“Given the current state of political rhetoric and debate, let me say something that may sound controversial,” Obama said at the Washington, D.C. school. “America is a better place today than it was when I graduated from college.”
He said more black people are earning bachelor’s degrees, coming into positions of power and creating change, but he cautioned that there was still work to be done. “You will have to deal with ignorance, hatred, racism … at every stage of your life,” he warned.
One of the most memorable lines of the day was when Obama encouraged the students to “Be confident in your heritage, be confident in your blackness.”
This left many asking the obvious question — should white students also be confident in their whiteness?
@markknoller @HowardU so can I be confident in my whiteness?
— Theodore R Herrera (@theo9873501) May 7, 2016
“Remember the tie that does bind us as African-Americans and that is our particular awareness of injustice and unfairness and struggle. That means we cannot sleepwalk through life. We cannot be ignorant of history. We can’t meet the world with a sense of entitlement.
“That’s a pet peeve of mine, people who’ve been successful and don’t realize they’ve been lucky, that God may have blessed them. It wasn’t nothing you did, so don’t have an attitude.”
Obama made a further political statement, commenting on the alleged gender pay gap.
“Harriet Tubman may be going on the 20, but we’ve still got a gender gap when a black woman working full-time still earns just 66 percent of what a white man gets paid,” he said.
Obama closed his speech out with his 2008 campaign slogan “yes we can,” but it was his comments on “blackness” that had social media excoriating him.
@markknoller @HowardU imagine Clinton or Bush saying “be proud of your whiteness at Harvard” there will be a firestorm. Smfh
— Calvin Coolidge (@PurpHze) May 7, 2016
@AfAmEducation@WhiteHouse@POTUS why is everything about race for our president? why does he insist on division!
— Stephanie Brienza (@sabrienza) May 7, 2016
h/t: Bizpac Review