Former President Barack Obama told young people to avoid engaging in cancel culture and online outrage cycles during a Tuesday speech at the Obama Foundation Summit.
The third annual summit is currently taking place in Chicago and featured comments from the former president about so-called activists who merely attack other people on the internet over their “flaws.” (RELATED: Obama Warns Campus Protesters Not To ‘Shut Up’ The Opposition)
“This idea of purity and never compromise and you’re always politically woke, and all that stuff — you should get over that quickly,” Obama said. “The world is messy. There are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws. People who you are fighting might love their kids.”
WATCH:
Former President Obama to young people: “This idea of purity and you’re never compromised and you’re politically woke, and all that stuff — you should get over that quickly”
Obama goes on to slam people who engage in cancel culture and who look to create constant online outrage pic.twitter.com/qQPdeJb7nV
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) October 30, 2019
Obama continued, “One danger I see with young people, particularly on college campuses … there is the sense sometimes of, the way of me making change is to be as judgmental as possible about other people and that’s enough. Like, if I tweet or hashtag about how you didn’t do something right, or used the wrong verb, then I can sit back and feel pretty good about myself.”
“That’s not activism. That’s not bringing about change,” he said. “If all you’re doing is casting stones, you’re probably not going to get things done.”
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The former president previously slammed college students who wish to be “coddled” from ideas they disagree with during a speech in 2015.
“I don’t agree that you, when you become students at colleges, have to be coddled and protected from different points of views,” he asserted.