President Barack Obama urged Black Lives Matter activists to work with the leaders of institutions instead of “keeping on yelling at them” at a youth town hall event.
Obama made the remarks on Saturday — in London, England, well over 3,000 miles from the nearest American Black Lives Matter protester, according to the Daily Mail.
“You can’t just keep on yelling at them and you can’t refuse to meet because that might compromise the purity of your position,” Obama urged his young British audience.
“The value of social movements and activism is to get you at the table, get you in the room and then start trying to figure out how is this problem going to be solved,” Obama added during his frolic across the pond.
“You then have a responsibility to prepare an agenda that is achievable — that can institutionalize the changes you seek and to engage the other side.”
Just before delivering his stinging criticisms of Black Lives Matter, Obama praised the activist organization for addressing “the problem of a criminal justice system that sometimes is not treating people fairly based on race.”
The president made his Saturday remarks at a town hall at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley Hall.
Black Lives Matter, which describes itself as an international movement, was established in 2013 when a handful of radical, leftist black activists began using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on Twitter because they were mad that a jury acquitted George Zimmerman in the shooting of death of Trayvon Martin.
Specifically, Black Lives Matter co-founders Alicia Garza Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors claim to have “turned the powerful words ‘Black Lives Matter’ into a social media phenomenon” and “the banner under which this generation’s human rights movement marches.” (RELATED: RIOTS Expected At Black Lives Matter Event Where Trump Had To Cancel — Oh Wait. Never Mind)
Black Lives Matter protesters have disrupted the campaign events of several presidential candidates including Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.
In June 2015, Black Lives Matter activists focused their anger on Clinton after she suggested that “all lives matter.” Clinton’s assertion that every human being possesses equal dignity came during a civil rights discussion at Christ the King United Church of Christ, a predominantly black church in Florissant, Mo. — roughly one suburb over from Ferguson, where a white police officer shot and killed black teenager Michael Brown in 2014. (RELATED: Hillary Clinton Got Thrashed For Saying ‘All Lives Matter’)
The Democratic front-runner uttered the three hair-raising words as she said that everyone needs a “chance and a champion,” explained The New York Times in a contemporaneous account. Clinton was explaining that her own mother worked as a housekeeper as a teenager because Clinton’s grandparents had abandoned her.
“Kindness along the way from someone who believed she mattered” gave her mother hope in her darkest hours, Clinton said. “All lives matter.”
Evidence suggests that Black Lives Matter activism has not caught on with Americans beyond a radical fringe.
For example, at the University of Missouri, where Black Lives Matter protests erupted last semester, applications for the fall 2016 academic year are down considerably. The year-to-year decrease from applications for 2016 enrollment compared to 2015 is nearly 5 percent. In terms of hard numbers, Missouri’s flagship taxpayer-funded university had seen 914 fewer freshman applications this January compared to last January. (RELATED: SURPRISE! Mizzou Sees Application Drop After Days Of Protests, Illusory Klan Hoods, Poop Swastika)
On the bright side, the Black Lives Matter protesters at Mizzou demonstrated — and camped out — in warmth and comfort, thanks to acquiescent taxpayer-funded officials concerned about being perceived as racist. (RELATED: Mizzou Activists Demanded Generators And A TOASTY FIRE PIT)
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