Tag: commencement speech

During a virtual commencement address to the graduates of 74 historically black colleges and universities across the United States on Saturday, former President Barack Obama took a veiled swipe at the nation’s leaders for the inconsistent handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying “a lot of them are not even pretending to be in charge.” He also referenced the shooting death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, a black man shot in Georgia while jogging through a white neighborhood when two white men attempted to stop him.

“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. 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. 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.

“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. A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”

Cue the Trump Twitter rant in 3, 2, 1…