The presidential visit to the historically Black college in Columbia, S.C., kicked off a historic weekend in which the president commemorated the 50-year anniversary of the 1965 march for civil rights in Selma, Ala., that came to be known as “Bloody Sunday.”
As a precursor to the speech he had been set to give at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma the next day, Obama told the enthusiastic crowd at Benedict that the meaning of Selma for its generation is “not just about commemorating the past.”
“It’s about honoring the legends who helped change this country through your actions today in the here and now. Selma is now,” Obama said. “Selma is about each of us asking ourselves what we can do to make America better, and historically it’s been young people like you who helped lead that march.”
After highlighting key accomplishments under his administration—record low unemployment rates and steady job growth—he gave shout-outs to programs such as CityYear AmeriCorps and noted the “outstanding work” of Benedict College, which earned the college a spot on the president’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.
He also touted the White House’s My Brother’s Keeper Challenge, launched just over a year ago to encourage local and state governments and the private sector to remove barriers and provide opportunities for young men of color.
During a Q&A after the purposefully brief speech, Obama fielded mostly softball questions but also a few more pointed ones that dealt with issues of the cost of higher education and matters of justice.
