President Barack Obama said goodbye to the nation last night and delivered his farewell speech in Chicago where he kicked off his political career. President Obama told the crowd,
“Tonight it’s my turn to say thanks. Every day, I learned from you. You made me a better President, and you made me a better man.”
President Obama gave the speech to a crowd of over 18,000 inside Chicago’s McCormick Place and also thanked his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, his daughters Sasha and Malia, Vice President Joe Biden, and all the organizers and supporters who worked on his campaigns over the years and helped champion him to success. Speaking to The First Lady, The President said,
“Michelle – for the past twenty-five years, you’ve been not only my wife and mother of my children, but my best friend…You made the White House a place that belongs to everybody. And a new generation sets its sights higher because it has you as a role model. You’ve made me proud. You’ve made the country proud.”
In the empowering speech, The President stated,
“And so we must forge a new social compact – to guarantee all our kids the education they need; to give workers the power to unionize for better wages; to update the social safety net to reflect the way we live now and make more reforms to the tax code so corporations and individuals who reap the most from the new economy don’t avoid their obligations to the country that’s made their success possible.
We can argue about how to best achieve these goals. But we can’t be complacent about the goals themselves. For if we don’t create opportunity for all people, the disaffection and division that has stalled our progress will only sharpen in years to come.”
Taking the cover completely off the elephant in the room, Obama also addressed race issues in his speech and some of his remarks included:
“There’s a second threat to our democracy – one as old as our nation itself. After my election, there was talk of a post-racial America. Such a vision, however well-intended, was never realistic. For race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society. I’ve lived long enough to know that race relations are better than they were 10, or 20, or 30 years ago – you can see it not just in statistics, but in the attitudes of young Americans across the political spectrum.
But we’re not where we need to be. All of us have more work to do. After all, if every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a hard-working white middle class and undeserving minorities, then workers of all shades will be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves. If we decline to invest in the children of immigrants, just because they don’t look like us, we diminish the prospects of our own children – because those brown kids will represent a larger share of America’s workforce. And our economy doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. Last year, incomes rose for all races, all age groups, for men and for women.
Going forward, we must uphold laws against discrimination – in hiring, in housing, in education and the criminal justice system. That’s what our Constitution and highest ideals require. But laws alone won’t be enough. Hearts must change. If our democracy is to work in this increasingly diverse nation, each one of us must try to heed the advice of one of the great characters in American fiction, Atticus Finch, who said, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
In case you missed it and even if you saw it, watch Greatness again below. Also check out R&B singer BJ The Chicago Kid who sang The National Anthem prior to President Barack Obama delivering his swan song.
Salute President Obama and thanks for your service, inspiration and giving us the Audacity Of Hope…Respect!!!
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