The former president Barack Obama hits out at the critics of the culture of cancellation and declared that he has “little sympathy” for them, during an address in Denmark.
“Now I want to be clear. I have little sympathy for reactionaries who cynically condemn identity politics or cancel culture when really all they’re doing is trying to preserve existing privilege or excuse entrenched injustice, or bigotry,” Obama claimed at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.
“The original identity politics is racism and sexism and homophobia. That’s nothing if not identity politics, and it’s done a lot more harm than some tweet from an aggrieved liberal,” he added, per report.
The summit gathers “democratic forces to push back on the authoritarian tide” and was first held five years ago featuring President Joe Biden as “inaugural speaker.”
Obama was delivering a speech in a session “Democratic Organizing in the Digital Age” and discussed “challenges to democracy around the globe, the importance of a positive vision for democracy, and the promise and potential of the next generation of leaders to chart a better course.”
He suggested that sometimes these decisions should be taken at the local and regional levels and that this energy would have to be devoted to building a “democratic culture.”
“Those of us who promote democracy, we’re often progressive, we focus a lot on policy,” Obama said. “That’s not what moves people in the world. Emotions matter. Stories matter. People care about meaning and purpose and belonging and status.”
“Often its authoritarian leaders who understand this, and those who believe in democracy struggle to catch up,” he added.
Some Obama family members were in the news last year.
Michelle Obama’s brother’s sons were kicked out of a famous private school after their parents accused the institution of racism, causing the parents to file a lawsuit.
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Craig and Kelly Robinson allege that a private school in Milwaukee expelled their two young sons after the parents raised concerns about racial and socio-economic bias at the school.
Craig and Kelly Robinson claim in a 25-page lawsuit filed in a Wisconsin court on Monday that the University School of Milwaukee kicked out their two kids, aged 11 and 9, as retaliation for the parents filing racist complaints against the school, said in a report.
Craig Robinson claimed, “They retaliated against two little lads.”
According to Fox 6, the Robinsons also submitted two complaints with the institution in January and March of 2021, expressing concerns about racist attitudes in virtual classroom assignments.
“This all started when we saw what was happening in the classroom due to COVID,” Craig Robinson told Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America.” “There were several instances of racial and ethnic stereotyping in actual assignments. The usage of the term ‘plantation’ and similar terms.”
“In addition to racial and ethnic prejudices, there was insensitivity to financial position, as well as a disrespect for the students who weren’t physically present in the classroom,” Robinson continued.
The Robinsons claim to have made two reports, one in January 2021 and the other in March 2021, using the “Bias Incident Reporting System.” They claim that the school took no action until informing them that their fifth-grade kid had been refused re-enrollment in April 2021. In June 2021, their third-grade student was also denied re-enrollment.