CHICAGO — Former President Barack Obama called out divisiveness and polarization as “one of the greatest challenges of our time,” as he avoided any specific political references in his first public remarks since the election.
In a speech Thursday at his foundation’s Democracy Forum, Obama urged his audience to embrace pluralism and celebrate people’s differences – the closest he came to a political message in his remarks.
“It’s about recognizing that in a democracy, power comes from forging alliances and building coalitions… not only for the woke, but also for the waking,” Obama told the crowd of about 650 participants at the Obama Foundation event on Chicago’s South Side, just a few miles from where Obama’s presidential center is under construction.
Obama didn’t utter the names of Donald Trump or Kamala Harris in remarks that ran about 45 minutes, and his nonprofit organization stays away from politics. But Obama’s underlying message about pluralism and building bridges across divides has obvious relevance to the political moment in a divided country.
“Building bridges is not contrary to equality and social justice. In fact, it is our best tool for delivering lasting change,” Obama told the crowd that included Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett, who worked in his administration and Penny Pritzker, the Commerce secretary during his administration.
A few folks in the predominantly Democratic crowd of political and policy wonks nodded at Obama’s remarks of extending a hand across the aisle, though most sat stoically as Obama spoke.
The former president said he understands the “skepticism… But to produce free and fair and more just societies, I cannot think of a better time to talk about it,” he said of the post-election malaise.
Obama said there are still lines that can’t be crossed — such as when the other side uses “the judiciary or criminal justice system to go after opponents,” he said, hinting at Trump’s threats to go after his enemies.
“In those circumstances, a line has been crossed,and we have to stand firm and speak out and organize and mobilize as forcefully as we can,” he said.
Obama also invoked Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, saying pluralism or trying to work with the other side isn’t about “holding hands and singing kumbaya” or “abandoning your convictions.”
The former president said, “If you want to create lasting change, you have to find ways to practice addition rather than subtraction.”