Pretty much everyone who’s anyone in politics was on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Saturday for the dedication of the new National Museum of African-American History and Culture, including President Obama, who gave a 2,700-word speech beginning just before noon.
Proud to help open @NMAAHC with so many heroes. African American history is a central part of our glorious American history.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) September 24, 2016
The president gave a preview of the event Friday evening.
"Upon visiting the museum, [people] may step back & say, I understand. I sympathize. I empathize" —@POTUS on @NMAAHC https://t.co/h1CGtvoEJP
— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) September 24, 2016
It’s a bit of a relief to know that after today the museum will be left to speak for itself. Certainly, the president spoke of the historically significant treasures it houses, many provided by citizens who donated “family keepsakes tucked away in Grandma’s attic.”
But this being President Obama, he couldn’t resist drawing a line from the museum’s contents to contemporary America and all of the issues that, frankly, many who voted for him expected him to solve.
"This museum provides context for the debates of our time." —@POTUS on @NMAAHC #APeoplesJourney https://t.co/jzfYXmMNAu
— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) September 24, 2016
“A museum alone will not alleviate poverty in every inner city or … eliminate gun violence from all our neighborhoods, or immediately ensure that justice is always colorblind,” he noted.
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As he’s done so often recently, in particular at the memorial service for the police officers murdered at a protest march in Dallas, the president addressed the #BlackLivesMatter movement but walked strictly down the center line between activists and police.
President Obama called the museum a place to better understand “how we can wear ‘I Can’t Breathe’ T-shirts and still grieve for fallen police officers” as well as “help a white visitor understand the pain and anger of demonstrators in places like Tulsa and Charlotte” while law enforcement officers, within the white communities across this nation, “in fits and starts, are struggling to understand, and are trying to do the right thing.”
"By knowing this other story, we better understand ourselves and each other" —@POTUS on the @NMAAHC #APeoplesJourney https://t.co/EWVy1UduiU
— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) September 24, 2016
While museums preserve the past and the present for future generations to observe and study, there’s one legacy of the Obama administration that’s been whole-heartedly adopted by the Hillary Clinton campaign, and we won’t miss it — the logically vacant political argument that [insert issue here] is (or isn’t) who we are as Americans.
"This national museum helps to tell a richer and fuller story of who we are." —@POTUS celebrating the @NMAAHC https://t.co/EWVy1UduiU
— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) September 24, 2016
Since a trip to D.C. might be a ways off, how about a summary of who, exactly, we are (and aren’t)?
Obama: "prohibited torture and will close the prison at Guantanamo Bay… respect for the dignity of all peoples…That is who we are"
— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) December 2, 2009
“Gov. Romney and his allies in Congress, they've banked on this idea that if you’re in America, you’re on your own. That’s not who we are.”
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 18, 2012
"It’s wrong. It’s not who we are. And it will not become law." —@PressSec on the House GOP's anti-Dreamer amendment: http://t.co/lSM5bWKtLO
— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) June 6, 2013
The House of Representatives voted yesterday to deport the DREAMers. This is not who we are as a country. #StandWithDREAMers
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 7, 2013
"America in the end is not defined by fear. That's not who we are." —President Obama on stopping #Ebola and keeping the American people safe
— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) October 28, 2014
“We define ourselves as a nation of immigrants. That’s who we are—in our bones." —President Obama: http://t.co/niZoNzZNFY #ImmigrationAction
— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) November 20, 2014
Nearly 12 million people have been displaced by the conflict in Syria. As Americans, we can't sit idly by. That's not who we are.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) September 28, 2015
"This whole anti-immigrant sentiment that’s out there in our politics right now is contrary to who we are." —@POTUS http://t.co/RVKwEHO17q
— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) September 15, 2015
A preview of Obama’s third term?
"Turning away orphans, applying a religious test, discriminating against Muslims…that’s just not who we are. We’re better than that."
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 19, 2015
Donald Trump is not who we are. pic.twitter.com/wgpp5Zw54X
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 14, 2016
This election isn’t about the same old fights between Democrats and Republicans—it’s about who we are as Americans. pic.twitter.com/uHSSsV1S1k
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 8, 2016
And that would be …?
The RNC showed a negative, pessimistic view of America: That is not who we are.
Do we have challenges? Sure. Can we meet them? Absolutely!
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 3, 2016
In some states, LGBT Americans can get married on Saturday and fired on Monday. That's not who we are. pic.twitter.com/5TjQnBbM3s
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 25, 2016
In some states, a family bakery can be fined out of existence for not baking the cake for that wedding, too. Is that who we are as Americans?
Seeing as the president himself brought Tulsa and Charlotte into the conversation, would it hurt for someone in power to stand up to the vandals and looters throwing rocks at the police in Charlotte and to tell them definitively, “This is not who we are?”
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