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Obama Urges Protesters to Use Momentum to Participate in Local Politics

VOA News

   Former U.S. President Barack Obama said Americans protesting the death
   of George Floyd must use momentum from the demonstrations to achieve
   real change by participating in local politics.

   "I've heard some suggest that the recurrent problem of racial bias in
   our criminal and justice system proves that only protests and direct
   action can bring about change," Obama wrote in an article published
   Monday on the website Medium.

   "I couldn't disagree more," he said.

   Obama said, "eventually, aspirations have to be translated into
   specific laws and institutional practices -- and in a democracy, that
   only happens when we elect government officials who are responsive to
   our demands."

   While the former president argued that it is important to elect a
   president, Congress and federal judiciary that recognize the "ongoing,
   corrosive role that racism plays in our society," he said, "the elected
   officials who matter most in reforming police departments and the
   criminal justice system work at the state and local levels."

   He noted that voter turnout in local races is usually "pitifully low,
   especially among young people" which, he said, "makes no sense given
   the direct impact these offices have on social justice issues."

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