President Obama said in an interview on National Public Radio with Steve Inskeep that Black Lives Matter is a positive force on policing in America, despite some of the violent overtones emanating from its members.
“Sometimes progress is a little uncomfortable,” Obama said, Breitbart reported.
Specifically, Obama pointed to racism within the ranks of police and the justice system, and said Black Lives Matter did a lot to counter that concern.
“There’s no black family that hasn’t had a conversation around the kitchen table about driving while black and being profiled or being stopped,” he said, adding that while the issue of racism among police might be “uncomfortable” to deal with, America certainly needs to shine more “sunlight” on it.
And Black Lives Matter was doing just that, he said, Breitbart reported.
“You know, during that process there’s going to be some noise and some discomfort, but I m absolutely confident that over the long term, it leads to a fair, more just, healthier America,” Obama said.
Obama also weighed in on the recent protests and rallies at colleges around the nation that were driven largely by the Black Lives Matter crowd, or its supporter wings, calling for more social justice and more minority representation on campuses.
“I think it’s a healthy thing for young people to be engaged and to question authority and to ask why this instead of that, to ask tough questions about social justice,” Obama said, Breitbart reported. “So I don’t want to discourage kids from doing that.”
