In his final remarks to the United Nations General Assembly of his presidency, President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned against “strongmen” and authoritarianism and urged acceptance and inclusion across the globe.
Obama focused his address on the need for unity in not only America, but all around the world. Rallying against populism and division, he made a reference to the danger of building up walls, which Donald Trump has made a centerpiece of his campaign.
“Today, a nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself,” he said. “So the answer cannot be a simple rejection of global integration. Instead, we must work together to make sure the benefits of such integration are broadly shared. And that the disruptions, economic, political, and cultural that are caused by integration are squarely addressed.”
Obama also stressed the need to fight racism and discrimination, arguing that the “strongman” approach to governing societies divided by ethnic differences is not the correct path.
“In countries held together by borders drawn by colonial powers with ethnic enclaves and tribal divisions, politics and elections can sometimes appear to be a zero sum game,” Obama said. “And so given the difficulty in forging true democracy in the face of these pressures, it’s no surprise that some argue the the future favors the strongman. A top-down model rather than strong democratic institutions. But I believe this thinking is wrong.”
“We must reject any forms of fundamentalism or racism or a belief in ethnic superiority that makes our traditional identities irreconcilable,” he added. “We need to respect tolerance from all human beings. That’s a truism that global integration led to a collision of cultures. Trade, migration, the Internet, all of these things can challenge and unsettle our most cherished identities.”
In the wake of the weekend’s bombings in New York City and New Jersey, the debate about admitting refugees to the U.S. and the vetting of immigrants has been reignited. Obama emphasized the need for inclusion and connection, not just tolerance, of those other cultures.
“We have to follow through even when the politics are hard. Because in the eyes of innocent men and women and children who through no fault of their own have had to flee everything that they know, everything that they love, we have to have the empathy to see ourselves,” he said. “We have to imagine what it would be like for our family, for our children if the unspeakable happened to us and we should all understand that ultimately our world will be more secure if we are prepared to help those in need.”
The President also urged people not to wield their religious beliefs to oppress women, LGBT people or those of other faiths.
“We must respect the meaning that people draw from their own traditions, from their religion, their ethnicity, from their sense of nationhood,” Obama said. “But I do not believe progress is possible if our desire to preserve our identities gives way to an impulse to dehumanize or dominate another group. If our religion leads us to persecute to those of another faith, if we jail or beat people who are gay, if our traditions lead us to prevent girls from going to school, if we discriminate on the basis of race or tribe or ethnicity, then the fragile bonds of civilization will fray.”
