WASHINGTON — President Obama delivered an impassioned call to civic action and responsibility at Howard University’s commencement Saturday, giving an upbeat assessment of the nation’s trajectory but cautioning that there remains “so much more work that needs to be done.”
Obama’s remarks at the historically black college in Washington served as a buttress not only to the inflamed campaign rhetoric about the nation’s health but also to heightened concerns over race relations in many black communities more than seven years into the tenure of the first black president.
“It may sound like a controversial statement — a hot take — given the current state (of) our political rhetoric and debate, but America is a better place today than it was when I graduated from college,” Obama told the graduating students, decked out in blue robes, during the outdoor ceremony.
“It also happens to be better off than when I took office, but that’s a longer story.”
Although his speech was not overtly political, the president was intent on making his case, after months of doom and gloom claimed by the candidates wishing to replace him, that the generation entering the U.S. workforce today has many more advantages than any before it, despite the dramatic technological and social change that has swept the country since he graduated from Columbia University in 1983.
Obama cautioned his audience of mostly young African-Americans to remember history at a time when racial strife and mistrust between blacks and local police forces have racked cities across the country in the wake of high-profile shootings of black residents.
“Race relations are better since I graduated. That’s the truth,” Obama said, though he acknowledged: “No, my election did not create a post-racial society. I don’t know who was propagating that notion, but that was not mine.”
He emphasized that “racism persists, inequality persists. But I wanted the Class of 2016 to open your eyes to the moment you are in.”
The president was kicking off a series of three commencement addresses, which will continue on May 15 at Rutgers University in New Jersey and on June 2 at the Air Force Academy.
His appearance at Howard, urging the graduates to embrace the future, came as he is becoming more reflective as his presidency winds down.
