President Obama has no problems with the University of Missouri protests. The Commander in Chief tells media that an active student body is a good thing.
“There is clearly a problem at the University of Missouri, and that’s not just coming from students. That’s coming from some faculty,” says the president. “I want an activist student body just like I want an activist citizenry, and the issue is just making sure that even as these young people are getting engaged, getting involved, speaking out that they’re also listening. I’d rather see them err on the side of activism than being passive.”
In desiring activists over submissive individuals who accept anything that comes their way, Obama encourages his daughters to stand against injustice. “We talk about this at the dinner table and I say to them, ‘Listen, if you hear somebody using a racial epithet, if you hear somebody who’s anti-Semitic, if you see an injustice, I want you to speak out.'” At the same time, “I tell ’em: ‘I want you also to be able to listen. I don’t want you to think that a display of your strength is simply shutting other people up.'”
President and First Lady Obama have two teenage daughters named Sasha and Malia. Sasha, the youngest of the two, is well into her high school years while Malia is preparing for graduation and college.
