Barack Obama on Dangers of Cancel Culture: "We're Just Going To Be Condemning People All the Time"
However, the former president also acknowledged that certain ideologies are no longer being tolerated by the younger generation.
Barack Obama recently sat down with Anderson Cooper and reflected on the dangers of going overboard with cancel culture.
The former U.S. president, who has two young daughters with former first lady Michelle Obama, explained that the younger generation is not tolerating the same harmful ideologies his and Cooper’s generation may have while growing up. He added that while Obama and Cooper’s generation accepted that those were the norms, the younger generation usually asked why and preferred to challenge it. “And that’s among, not just my daughters, but it’s among their white friends, right. There’s this sense of ‘Well, of course it’s not acceptable for a criminal justice system to be tainted by racism,’ ‘Of course you can’t discriminate against somebody because of their sexual orientation.’ They’re things they take for granted that I want them to take for granted,” he said. “But what I find interesting is that they’re also starting to be very strategic about how to engage the system and change it. They’re not just interested in making noise, they’re interested in what works.”
“And at least in conversations with my daughter, I think that a lot of the dangers of cancel culture and we’re just going to be condemning people all the time,” 44 continued, adding, “At least among my daughters, they’ll acknowledge that sometimes, among their peer group or in college campuses, you’ll see folks going overboard.”
Obama further stated, however, that they have a good understanding of the controversial topic. “They have a pretty good sense of ‘Look, we don’t expect everybody to be perfect. We don’t expect everybody to be politically correct all the time, but we’re going to call out institutions or individuals if they are being cruel, if they are discriminating against people. We do want to raise awareness,’” he said, continuing, “…when people talk about how do I think about my legacy, part of it is the kids who were raised during the eight years that I was president — there are a bunch of basic assumptions they make of what the country can and should be, that I think are still sticking. They still believe it and they’re willing to work for it.”
In related news, Katt Williams shared his own thoughts on cancel culture in comedy.
