President Obama has a special penchant for trashing the United States when speaking abroad, and speaking to an assembly of young people in London on Saturday, he spoke of the slow pace of social change when tackling pressing problems like transgender rights and racial profiling.
The New York Times took special notice of the president’s advice that the #BlackLivesMatter movement “can’t just keep on yelling” and expect to receive everything it demands. The trick is convincing young activists to work with political leaders to craft solutions rather than criticize “from outside the political process.”
President Obama says movements like Black Lives Matter "can’t just keep on yelling" https://t.co/MLyfv9xyGO pic.twitter.com/Ju9nyc4tQI
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 23, 2016
@nytimes Agreed. Occupy and BLM need to mobilize into a political force the way the Tea Paty did.
— ResistTrump (@SphallSteve1245) April 23, 2016
#BlackLivesMatter already has, with high-profile member DeRay Mckesson making the transition from traveling agitator to unofficial White House advisor. Mckesson has been successful in transforming the radical-sounding agenda of the #BlackLivesMatter movement into the more respectable Campaign Zero, which makes the same demands to hobble police departments at large (end broken window policing, tie promotions to racial preference tests, etc.) but wraps them in a more presentable package.
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Mckesson, who took advantage of his opportunity to teach a class at Yale Divinity School to assign readings such as “In Defense of Looting,” has met with President Obama and Valerie Jarrett, who briefed him on the administration’s criminal justice platform for the final year of Obama’s presidency. Perhaps today’s town hall in London was the president message for the agitators to tone it down now that they have a representative in the White House.
Related:
On criminal justice reform, president says ‘our history’ demands we take #BlackLivesMatter seriously
#BlackLivesMatter leader announces launch of Police Use of Force Project
DeRay Mckesson is at a White House Christmas party tonight [photos]
DeRay Mckesson’s 2011 White House ‘tour’ included visit with current Goldman Sachs VP
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