WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama says it’s going to take time and vigilance to tackle problems as “deeply rooted” as racism and bias.
He says gains have been made, and that gives hope for more progress. Obama is advising young people to be persistent because he says progress usually comes in steps.
The president says in an interview with BET that he’s advising young Americans to be “steady” and not give up “when you don’t get all the way there.”
Obama met with youth civil rights activists at the White House last week. He says he told them that as painful as some recent incidents have been, “we can’t equate” what’s happening now with what was happening 50 years ago.
The full interview is set to air this Monday night.