PRESIDENT OBAMA DELIVERS SCHOOL SPEECH TO KIDS
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, daughters Malia and Sasha(not pictured) return to the White House after five days at Camp David in Washington, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2009.
President Barack Obama delivered his controversial school speech to school children at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va this afternoon(Tuesday). Here is an excerpt of the speech:
“...And no matter what you want to do with your life — I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.
And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.”
Click here to read the President’s school speech in its entirety
In the past week, many conservative parents opposed the president’s speech and accused the president of trying to “indoctrinate their children with socialist ideas and are asking school officials to excuse the children from listening.”Read More
20 Comments to “PRESIDENT OBAMA DELIVERS SCHOOL SPEECH TO KIDS”
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I love this family. I can’t believe that some people in this country continue to say such horrible things about the president and about his family. The way he has been treated as President of this country has gone far beyond disrespectful. I’m still waiting to see action taken on people who have stepped over the “Yelling fire in a crowded theater” law. While I feel that the right to free speech is wonderful, but there are people who have said things and chanted lies about this man that should truly be questioned by authorities as”inciting to riot”. It is just out of hand and in all my years on earth, I have never heard or seen a leader of this country who has had to deal with the low level of respect given this President. I am waiting for it to end before some wingnuts takes matters into their own hand. It has gone way over the line.
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YOUR WORDS ARE RIGHT ON THE MONEY!! I remember sitting in school and hearing the President’s speeches and not once did anyone think to get permission from parents. This man has been disrespected since day one and its really a crying shame. I knew racism existed i was no fool but it hurts my heart to see it out on front street. knowing that the sole purpose of these protests are based in racism and hatred. how can you be mad at the president and say he is pushing is agenda when the parents are pushing their agenda? the republicans are pushing their agenda fueling these protest with fear. knowing that small minded people will not ask questions because they are white men? and they say terrorist use fear tactic. well, i think i am seeing the samthing right here in my own country and its really sick
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Thank you Mr President for taking the time out of your busy schedule to speak to the youth of our nation. Letting them know how to deal with the problems of our society through education is a-kin to historic in my opinion. Thank you again sir.
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The president and his family are so wholesome and inspirational. I appreciate how this site frequently shows pictures of them.
It really offsets some of the other irrelevant madness that people find worthy of arguing about at this site.
Education is the key!
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I’m mad my daughter’s school didn’t even bother letting any of the students watch President Obama’s speech. And we live on a freakin’ military installation… I’ll have to take matters into my own hands & show her myself…
How can people seriously be proud to be an American. *sigh*
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i saw it at school today. Just wonderful!
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oh and when i heard about it in the news, it had this one white female who was all mad and was like, “Nuh uh, no way!” How do you say, HATER?! We had a choice to watch the speech and the majority of our school did watch it. So beat that Ms. Nuh Uh woman!!!
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American kids need to know their president, whether they support his policy agenda or not
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I really love that speech and if I were still in school and heard that on the first day, I really do think that it would make an impact on me, especially coming from a man who is living proof that hard work and dedication are important and rewarding.
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His speech was very inspirational, and I give kudos to the schools that took the time out of their busy schedules to give their children an opportunity to hear words of wisdom and advice from our president. Good job!
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For those of you who think this president was disrespected, I guess you weren’t around when George Bush (41) made a similar speech to American school children. Democrats denounced the speech and asked the GAO to investigate to see how much taxpayer money was spent; Democrats also held Congressional hearings about the speech and members of the White House staff were forced to go to Congress to testify. The National Education Association criticized Bush for bringing politics to our children; on the other hand, the same NEA commended Obama for his speech. The NY Times praised Obama, criticized Bush.
Unfortunately, Bush was white, so he couldn’t claim his treatment was due to racism. Too bad.
Compared to how Bush was treated, I think the reaction to Obama’s speech was pretty tame. For Obama’s speech, people complained for, what, about a week? With Bush’s speech, with the hearings and investigations, Democrats dragged their outrage out for months. Poor Barack.
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Amen!! Some people look for any reason to scream racism.
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Living in America, you never have to look very hard or far to find racism for it is ever present. It’s in your face everyday. Even those suffering from Stockholm Syndrome can’t escape it. But don’t worry, I’m certain that the “party of no” will be asking for records on the speech since he has to show expenses for everything each and every time he deigns to leave the White House.
Nothing you say can change the fact that I’ve never heard people on TV networks and radio calling the president dirty names and at liberty to tell all kind of lies about him, with no verifaction required. When was the last time people showed up at a place where the President was speaking with guns strapped to their hips. Whether you agree with his policies or not the office should be respected. Most who show up couldn’t tell you what the policies are anyway unless it’s written down for them to memorize. When you rail against Government healthcare and rant about socialism, then yell to leave your medicare or Social Security along, and my health insurance has 5,000.00 deductible and I want to keep it….that speaks volumns. They are mere parrots willing to say and do anything just to show their dislike for this president. That’s why the speech to the students made them again appear stupid. I rest assured that because they so adamately opposed their children hearing the speech, their children will make it their BUSINESS to hear the speech. Anyone with the least bit of parenting skills should know that. Yet The President rises above all of these demagogues and the ignorant and continues on with his agenda. Reminds me a lot of the old song during the Civil Rights day “AIN’T GON’ LET NOBODY TURN ME ROUND”. Carry on Mr.President as they fall, like flies, by the wayside. For we know that courage trumps fear everytime.
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Racism is in your face every day? Don’t you think that’s an exaggeration? When you are looking for something, it appears everywhere you look. Negative people see negative, positive people see positive. If as many white folks were racist as you claim, don’t you think we would still be slaves? Especially when black folks ONLY make up 14% of the population in America. It wouldn’t take much for white folks to enslave black folks again. Especially when the majority of black folks are enslaved to the government as it is.
If you really knew your history you would know that the Republican party has always been the party that fought against slavery and fought for civil rights. The first president to have the most amount of black folks in office was George W. Bush.
You don’t have to look hard to see the last time people showed up with guns was at a rally with our former president. Have you forgotten the Black Panther Party?
As much as you want to deny it, Obama is taken this country towards a socialist state. When the government takes over healthcare…that socialism, when the government rescues big business and takes over those companies…that socialism.
Black folks can scream racism when white folks oppose Obama, but what can they say when they meet other black folks that oppose Obama? The race card doesn’t work then.
Most black folks would support Obama even if he killed his wife…just like O.J.
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BLACKREPUBLICAN: If you really are BLACK. I don’t have to look negatively to confront racism in this country. Know my history? I have lived a lot of this history. The angry faces that I see in those crowds today were the same angry faces that I saw in the 50s and 60s; people who will deny themselves rather that allow anything better for anyone else. I do remember Republicans moving away when Civil Rights came into play as something more than verbage. I remember Dick Nixon who started to undo many changes, Ronald Reagan, King of Greed and the rest of your beloved Republicans who continue to work so hard to make this country a selfish division of the haves and have nots. How wonderful they make you so proud. I do remember dogs being let loose on people, Whites who were working to change things as well as Blacks. As our election showed, there are less whites who still concern themselves with the divide in this country because they are astute enough and progressive enough to know that this country must come together to achive a better nation for all. I don’t care how many people of color Bush had, it’s not quantity, it’s quality and from what I have see carrying the flag for Blacks from the Republican Party are the people who didn’t pull themseles up by their boot straps but who gained the positions they held by climbing from the backs of the people who wanted better for the nation, white and Blacks. And these people want to deny that same opportunity to others. How can you be content when basic human rights are denied others. Contrary to popular belief, all Black people don’t think alike, nor react to the same things; but how people who are the recipients of the struggle of many can today join with people who are so desparate to take this country backwards is absolutely deplorable. You need to refresh my memory of when the Black Panthers showed up where a sitting President was speaking armed with guns? And please don’t include the 2000 protest There was no sitting president speaking. If you note, I posted on those who have turned up to these events only to protest the President simply because they dislike him. I never said white people as I did notice and watched the report on the Black male who was interviewed with his gun. My emphasis was not color but motive. Would you suggest that I am ignorant enough to think that Mr. Obama would be president if there were no white votes included. Stick with me here and remember people in question are those who are unhappy with Mr. Obama as President and if you are, indeed, a BlackRepublican, who’s obviously anti the Obama presidency, then you must be included in that bunch. If you have such a problem with socialism then I suppose that you will refuse your SS check as well as your medicare when and if you reach age 65?
Of course I am aware that all Blacks don’t rally around President Obama, well there’s you and many that I watch everyday on MSNBC and CNN. My quandry is their support for Birthers, and all the other wingnuts of which these Blacks consider themselves a part. I don’t apologize for my pride in President Obama. I don’t appoligize for my pride of people, old and young, Black and white who have educated themselves, academically and socially to work towards a better United States of America. I see them as the positive result of all the struggle for a more perfect union, A BETTER AMERICA.
Number 2, a whole other subject: I didn’t laud Mr.Simpson, but I do have a love for the law. And the law said that in a verdict for a trial of a murder, you must prove “BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT” that the defendant is guilty. I do applaude Mr. Cochran as a superb attorney because he held the courts to that standard. You nor I know whether Simpson killed his wife and her friend or not and we never will hence renders your accusal assumptive.
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Unfortunately, your dislike for President Obama and the comments posted is doing nothing more than shining a bright light on your negative attitude.
Let’s face it…It burns people up inside to see that there are people of color in positions of power. People are mad as hell & they just don’t know what to do, although I do have a few suggestions LOL….
Eat your heart out! =]
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Go President Obama!
I’m so happy that he didn’t get scared off from doing this speech w/ all the ridiculous negativity surrounding it. We have school district in Texas that have as much 40% dropout rates and that is astounding to me. What happen to getting out of high school? I never felt like i had a choice,but there are so many parents that are overwhelmed w/work and everyday life they aren’t paying attention to what is goin on w/their children. They don’t interact w/their children or their teachers and ask questions and make sure they’re getting what they need from their child as far as behavior is concern. Teachers can only do so much parents have to help them so their children get the bests education possible.
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Thank you Mr. President!
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Okay so can someone please explain to me what was all the hoopla about with these people pulling their children out of school or refusing to allow them to attend the speech……I’m convinced these are a bunch of beet faced hysterical mental cases still pissed that a Black man is president!
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Hope everyone heard the presidents speech tonight. It was right on the money.
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