President Obama weighed in on the University of Oklahoma racist video scandal, saying that he thinks the majority of the country should respond when a citizen is caught saying something racist.
Obama’s sit-down video interview with Huffington Post reporter Sam Stein was released Saturday evening. In the interview, Obama congratulated the “quick response” of student activists to condemn the actions of a small handful of Oklahoma University frat brothers who said the “n word” in a parody chant.
“At any given point on any given day, somebody’s doing something stupid out there,” Obama said. “And in the age of the internet it’s going to attract attention.”
“I don’t think this is the first time that a fraternity’s done something stupid, racist, sexist,” Obama said, pointing them off with his fingers and making sure to get sexist in there. “It won’t be the last.”
“What was heartening was the quick response from [college] president Boren, somebody who I know well and who I know has great integrity. Quick reaction from the student body.”
“The way we have to measure progress here is not, ‘Is there ever going to be an incident of racism in the country?’ It’s, ‘How does the majority of our country respond?'”
“On that front, there’s no doubt that the overwhelming number of students at the University of Oklahoma and around the country think that kind of behavior is deplorable and don’t accept it. And frankly 30 years ago or 40 years ago there might have been a different reaction and more tolerance for that kind of racist chant,” Obama said.
Obama also used the interview to criticize Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not wanting to create a Palestinian state. Obama also teed off on a few Stein softballs. He touched on the Loretta Lynch confirmation delay, claiming that Republicans are holding her nomination hostage. Obama also talked about how he’s going to start giving out more pardons to nonviolent offenders,
“I don’t get too high, I don’t get too low,” Obama said about his general mood in response to Stein asking him how he manages his time and handles the stress of the job. “I’ve been very consistent about exercising in the morning.”
