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Speaking at the funeral service of the late civil rights pioneer Reverend Jesse Jackson, former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden on Friday urged Americans to hold on to hope and work to continue Jackson’s legacy of pushing for change.
While neither named President Donald Trump in their remarks, Obama alluded to “those in high office” and the state of American leadership, calling the current moment “a time when it can be hard to hope.”
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“Each day we wake up to some new assault on our democratic institutions, another setback to the idea of the rule of law, an offense to common decency. Every day, you wake up to new things you just didn’t think were possible. Each day we’re told by those in high office to fear each other and to turn on each other, and that some Americans count more than others, and that some don’t even count it all,” Obama said.
“Everywhere we see greed and bigotry being celebrated, and bullying and mockery masquerading as strength,” he continued. “We see science and expertise denigrated while ignorance and dishonesty and cruelty and corruption are reaping untold rewards. Every single day we see that, and it’s hard to hope in those moments.”
But Obama cited Jackson as an inspiration not to “compromise with power and grab what you can” or “put your head down and wait for the storm to pass,” but rather to “take a harder path.”
“His voice calls on each of us to be heralds of change, to be messengers of hope,” the former President said.
Read more: Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Leader and Presidential Hopeful, Dies at 84
Jackson, who died last month at the age of 84, was a prominent figure of the Civil Rights movement, and a protégé of the late Martin Luther King Jr. In the 1980s, he twice sought the Democratic nomination for the presidency.
Obama recalled watching Jackson speak in presidential debates during those runs. The former two-term president credited Jackson’s efforts, though…
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