Obama: Race relations are better, but 'all of us have more work to do'


In his farewell address Tuesday night in Chicago, President Obama said race remains a "potent and often divisive force in our society," but he's old enough to know that things have improved immensely over the past few decades.
"I've lived long enough to know race relations are better than they were 10 or 20 or 30 years ago," he said. "No matter what some folks say, you can see it not just in statistics, but in attitudes of young Americans across the political spectrum. But, we're not where we need to be. All of us have more work to do." The economy doesn't "have to be a zero sum game," the president said, and last year, "incomes rose for all races, all age groups, for men and for women." If America is going to be serious about race going forward, Obama continued, "we need to uphold laws against discrimination in hiring and in housing and in education and in the criminal justice system. That is what our Constitution and our highest ideals require."
The laws alone won't be enough, though. "Hearts must change," Obama said. "Social attitudes often take generations to change. If our democracy is going to work the way it should in this increasingly diverse nation, then each one of us need to try to heed the advice of a great character in American fiction — Atticus Finch." As the father in To Kill a Mockingbird said, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Obama urged black Americans and other minority groups to take their "very real struggles for justice" and tie them to the "challenges that a lot of people in this country face," and for whites to "acknowledge that the affects of slavery and Jim Crow didn't suddenly vanish in the '60s, that when minority groups voice discontent, they're not engaging in reverse racism or practicing 'political correctness.' When they wage peaceful protests, they're not demanding special treatment, but the equal treatment that our founders promised." Catherine Garcia
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Kim Ju Ae: North Korea’s next leader?
The Explainer Kim Jong Un’s young daughter is being seen as his ‘recognised heir’ following a high-profile public appearance at China summit
-
Is the UK government getting too close to Big Tech?
Today’s Big Question US-UK tech pact, supported by Nvidia and OpenAI, is part of Silicon Valley drive to 'lock in' American AI with US allies
-
Russia’s war games and the threat to Nato
In depth Incursion into Poland and Zapad 2025 exercises seen as a test for Europe
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants