as if prompted…

Just as if prompted, Mr. Obama took the stage yesterday, to voice his view on what to do right now. What a difference to listen to someone, who actually understands and considers a problem and then makes suggestions on possible solutions. Rather than just playing the boring ol’ game of blame-you/great-greater-greatest-me.

Many of his thoughts now publicly voiced, were already published earlier this week in an article on the current situation by Mr. Obama in medium.com, which I highly reccommend.

Yesterday, he summed it up in saying, that there are only few violent folks out, the majority of the protesters are peaceful and have a cause. That structural racism has to be addressed in USA after a long history of racism. That the mindset of the country has changed since the racial protests in the 60ies – now Americans of all colours are out on the streets, protesting for equality of humans. He also highlighted the importance of officials on state and local level, as it is them who appoint police and state attorneys, who then decide who is prosecuted for what. And he said also, it is not a question of either protest or voting and policies, it is a question of both/and. The US was founded on protest, it need peaceful revolutions to change to the better. To highlight problems. But it also needs folks to form the legislative, putting into action the solutions found acceptable in a democratic way.

A good report about his remarks can also be found in the NYT. Here it is suggested, how outraged Mr. Obama is about the latest incidents. Yet, he never lost his nerve. I am awed, how much class he shows.