U.S. President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama greet the Black Caucus Foundation members.
“I will consider it a personal insult, an insult to my legacy, if (the African-American) community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in this election".
Amid reports that African-Americans are less enthusiastic about voting for Hillary Clinton than they were for him, President Barack Obama told a gathering of community leaders that his legacy will be at stake in the November election.
“I will consider it a personal insult, an insult to my legacy, if this community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in this election,” U.S.’s first African-American President told black leaders. In 2008 and 2012, the community had mobilised in large numbers to vote for Mr. Obama.
Addressing an annual dinner of Congressional Black Caucus, Mr. Obama reminded leaders of the arduous struggles it took before the community could free itself and gain civil rights. Those gains are at risk, Mr. Obama said, dismissing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s claim that African-Americans have “nothing to lose”.
Message to Trump
The President did not name Mr. Trump but hit back hard on the narrative. “You may have heard Hillary’s opponent in this election say that there’s never been a worse time to be a black person. I mean, he missed that whole civics lesson about slavery and Jim Crow and — but we’ve got a museum for him to visit. So he can tune in. We will educate him,” he said, referring to the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, the new Smithsonian institution that is set to open on the 24th of this month.
Mr. Obama underscored the achievements of his presidency, in terms of income growth for workers and attempts to reform the criminal justice system, but cautioned that the work is far from over.
The President has in recent months urged black people to be patient and persistent, and even told the ‘Black Lives Matter’ protesters that “yelling” at people in office would not solve the problem.
“But then we knew that we would not solve all of our challenges in one year, or one term, or even one presidency, not even in one lifetime — because we understand better than anybody that this is the story of America, that the project of America is never finished. It is constantly a work in progress... That doesn’t stop with my presidency. We’re just getting started,” he said.
Mr. Obama said he would actively campaign in the next six weeks. “There’s no such thing as a vote that doesn’t matter,” he said, adding that voting in this election will be a “good sendoff”. “If you care about our legacy, realise everything we stand for is at stake. All the progress we’ve made is at stake in this election. My name may not be on the ballot, but our progress is on the ballot. Tolerance is on the ballot,” Mr. Obama said.
End of birther campaign
The President took a swipe at Mr. Trump who conceded two days earlier that Mr. Obama was born in America, after years of misinformation campaign.
“There’s an extra spring in my step tonight. I don’t know about you guys, but I am so relieved that the whole birther thing is over… with just 124 days to go, under the wire, we got that resolved. In other breaking news, the world is round, not flat. Lord.”
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