Obama: Teach children to love and cherish differences
In weekly address after Orlando massacre, president urges parents to speak up, demand gun control
US President Barack Obama asked parents on Saturday to teach their children to love, not hate, and to appreciate differences as something to cherish, not fear.
In his weekly radio and internet address, Obama said he’s thought a lot about parents who’ve had to explain last week’s shooting deaths of 49 people at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub to their kids.
He lamented that moments of silence observed after deadly mass shootings have given way to months of “inexcusable” silence and inaction. He called on parents who want their children to reach adulthood in a safer, more loving world to speak up for it — and to speak out about the dangers guns present.
“They need to hear us say these things even when those who disagree are loud and are powerful,” Obama said in the pre-Father’s Day address. “We need our kids to hear from us why tolerance and equality matter, about the times their absence has scarred our history and how greater understanding will better the future they will inherit.”
The president, who has two teenage daughters, said being a parent teaches that some things can’t be controlled.
“But as parents, we should remember there’s one responsibility that’s always in our power to fulfill: our obligation to give our children unconditional love and support, to show them the difference between right and wrong, to teach them to love, not to hate, and to appreciate our differences not as something to fear, but as a great gift to cherish,” Obama said.
“To me, fatherhood means being there. So in the days ahead, let’s be there for each other,” he added. “Let’s be there for our families, and for those that are hurting. Let’s come together in our communities and as a country. And let’s never forget how much good we can achieve simply by loving one another.”
Obama characterized easy access to weapons as “unconscionable” and said that “even after we see parents grieve for their children, the fact that we as a country do nothing to prevent the next heartbreak makes no sense.”
The shooting at the Pule nightclub in Orlando was perpetrated with a legally bought assault rifle.
The gunman, 29-year-old Omar Mateen — a Muslim American of Afghan descent — ran amok in the packed gay club, pledging allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State group before being killed in a police raid.
“Being tough on terrorism, particularly the sorts of homegrown terrorism that we’ve seen now in Orlando and San Bernardino, means making it harder for people who want to kill Americans to get their hands on assault weapons that are capable of killing dozens of innocents as quickly as possible,” Obama said.
In a similar incident, a man and wife opened fire in San Bernardino, California, on a Christmas party in December, killing 14 people in a separate mass shooting.
“Like all dads, I worry about my girls’ safety all the time. Especially when we see preventable violence in places our sons and daughters go every day — their schools and houses of worship, movie theaters, nightclubs, as they get older.”
“It’s unconscionable that we allow easy access to weapons of war in these places,” Obama said.
On Thursday the president traveled to Orlando, where he met with the families of the victims and demanded that the Republican-controlled Congress pass gun control.