“Condemn Few…”: Barack Obama Says Protesters Deserve Respect, Support
The Situation
Barack Obama. former US President, on Monday, said that people protesting in the US deserve support.
He called for political solutions to address their grievances about criminal justice. And I haven’t heard anything so apt in a long time.
Obama tweeted that the protests represent a genuine and legitimate frustration over a decades-long failure to reform police practices and the broader criminal justice system.
He went on to say that we should condemn the few who resort to violence-not the overwhelming majority who deserve our respect and support.
Obama added that the entire point of protest is to raise public awareness, to put a spotlight on injustice, and to make the powers that be uncomfortable.
He ended his tweet, saying that no matter what, eventually, we have to translate those aspirations into specific laws and institutional practices.
Procession
Obama has said that once they make demands for criminal justice and police reforms, the harder it will be.
For whom, you ask? Well, for the elected officials, to just offer lip service to the cause and then fall back into business as usual once protests have gone away.
Around 4,000 people across the United States have been arrested during the massive protests.
As the first black US president, Obama had dealt with civil unrest in cities such as Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore.
There were widespread violent protests over the deaths of young black men at the hands of the police.
Can It Be Curbed?
In both the cases mentioned above, Barack Obama was extremely critical of the violence.
Obama’s Justice Department launched probes into police departments in those cities.
And even in others, for instance, Chicago, in an effort to bring about internal reforms.
This is a practice that the Trump administration has employed little to none at all, in the recent past.
