Don’t Ruin Obama’s Speech By Making It About Trump
The former President gave the Class of 2020 valuable words of wisdom. Take them at face value.
This spring’s canceled high school graduation ceremonies have become one of those difficult casualties of life in the COVID-19 era. In most years, these events would largely be forgotten within months; in 2020, their absence creates another reminder that everyday life is temporarily full of regular sacrifice.
If you’re one of this year’s seniors, you’re not just missing a high school graduation, you’re missing your graduation — your only high school graduation. High school commencement ceremonies may be overblown and trite; in a perfect world, graduates should have the chance to learn that for themselves.
A consortium of media companies tried to lessen the sting with “Graduate Together: America Honors the Class of 2020,” which was simulcast across various broadcast and streaming networks last Saturday night. (If you’re an 18-year-old nervous about your future, maybe an hour of sanitized music and over-the-top words of encouragement from celebrities comes off as maudlin and lame. But hey, they tried. That’s worth something.)
The production’s centerpiece was, of course, a very nice “virtual commencement address” from former President Barack Obama.
Like every speech ever delivered at every graduation ceremony at every level in the history of humankind, Obama told this year’s graduating class that they are the future, they get to shape the world they live in, it’s all up to them, blah blah blah. Unsurprisingly, Obama delivered these boilerplate ideas better than most could — after all, he went from being a state senator to President in five years so the guy knows how to talk. He even managed to weave in some references to the gravity of life under lockdown without it getting too heavy.
The post-speech commentary found a little bit more of an edge in Obama’s words, though, frequently conflating it with some more direct language in another, earlier speech. The New York Times interpreted his words as a rebuke of the federal government’s COVID-19 response.
You can see what many observers latched onto by looking at how Obama urged students to take on existing power structures:
“Doing what feels good, what’s convenient, what’s easy — that’s how little kids think. Unfortunately, a lot of so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy titles and important jobs, still think that way — which is why things are so screwed up. I hope that instead, you decide to ground yourself in values that last, like honesty, hard work, responsibility, fairness, generosity, respect for others. You won’t get it right every time, you’ll make mistakes like we all do. But if you listen to the truth that’s inside yourself, even when it’s hard, even when its inconvenient, people will notice. They’ll gravitate towards you. And you’ll be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.”
Those references to “so-called grown-ups” with “fancy titles and important jobs” sure seem like a dig at current President Donald Trump, don’t they? Even if Obama didn’t include the passage on purpose, surely he must have known how it would be interpreted.
But it’s worth setting aside our assumptions and looking at what Obama said. These words are relevant right now in a way that eclipses politics and elections.
For all the weight we give the Presidency, the resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue reflects culture more than he or she drives it. Sam Walton and Jeff Bezos have had more to say about how we buy things than any national leader in the past 50 years. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs helped define how we interact with technology; Mark Zuckerburg and other social network pioneers helped define how we interact with other people.
These people and their successors had tremendous influence over everyday life by contributing to social structures — business, technology, entertainment, etc. — that define our lives and behaviors. The stakes are obvious when one considers the less positive examples; Just think of how much popular culture was framed on our screens or in our earbuds by the likes of Harvey Weinstein.
Right now, America is grappling with what life looks like on the other side of a pandemic. Throw that new challenge on top of a pile that feels like it grows by the day. The Rust Belt wonders how manufacturing jobs and the communities built around them will survive the availability of cheap overseas labor. Main Street shops and erstwhile retail giants alike wonder how to survive in a world dominated by digital commerce and discount megastores. Yesterday’s power brokers of the entertainment industry have had to adapt to the business reality of on-demand media and, more recently (and more importantly), the cultural reckoning of the #MeToo movement.
New challenges require new ways of thinking about old problems. Each generation has to bring fresh ideas and perspectives to the table for any kind of progress to continue. Unfortunately, too many old leaders — the “so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy titles and important jobs” — cling to old, comfortable patterns.
Trump will leave the Presidency, either this coming January or, at the latest, in January 2025. The Oval Office will pass to someone else, as it always does, lugging in their own trunk full of ideology and preconceived notions. The people who run the media companies that produce the entertainment that contextualizes our world will retire and be replaced by a new generation of successors who want to shape a new generation of stories. Business empires that remake commerce in their image will find new emperors with new priorities.
That adds up to a lot of room for new leaders in areas that define how we live our lives.
So President Obama is right: Someone will have to stand up to the old ways of thinking. That won’t end in November 2020. It won’t end until the sun goes red giant and eats the Earth.
Another quote from Obama’s address drove the point home a little better (albeit with less juicy, clickbait-worthy asides to his successor):
“[A]ll those adults that you used to think were in charge and knew what they were doing? Turns out that they don’t have all the answers. A lot of them aren’t even asking the right questions.”
Authority — official or unofficial, political or cultural — must always beget skepticism. That concept is much too critical to be boxed into something as small and limited as the next election.
Those who heard Obama’s words Saturday night and immediately cheered the perceived burn of a political foe fell into the trap of limited thinking. Standing up to Trump is all well and good for the next eight months or five years. Obama said something much more important to the Class of 2020: Think for yourself, rise to meet the challenges ahead of you, and don’t be afraid to drive the change you think the world needs, in whatever area that may be.
Politics aside, that’s great advice for today’s graduating class — or any other.
