More than a thousand people waited all morning on Sunday to watch former president Barack Obama speak during an in-person question-and-answer keynote at San Diego’s annual L’ATTITUDE conference at the Manchester Grand Hyatt.
The 44th President of the United States spoke on issues such as the racial wealth gap, immigration reform, the pandemic, pop culture, voting, and his thoughts on the future generation.
“Success of the country economically is going to depend on how well the Latino community does and other quote-unquote minority groups because they’re growing in importance and in strength,” Obama told moderator Gerry Acosta, L’ATTITUDE Co-Founder and CEO of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.
Former President Obama said one solution to the racial wealth gap is for politicians to acknowledge the gap that exists in the first place and to create equal and better representation across all industries.
“We need the government to root out discrimination. We also have to have private sectors and institutions that control capital to recognize that our diversity is an opportunity and a strength, not something to celebrate during Hispanic Herratafe month or in February during Black history month. Fill that into your buisness model, and you will succeed,” Obama said.
“You have to cast a wider net rather than everyone chasing the same thing. That net requires some geographic diversification in the areas you are looking at. You have a lot of tremendous Latino entrepreneurs, but they may not be in Silicon Valley. They may have different kinds of businesses that have just as impressive potential growth rates as a tech start-up, but maybe aren't as familiar,” Obama said.
According to the former president, simply having awareness can have some impact. He told Acosta that one thing organizations like Latitude can do is get businesses to raise their sites a little more “because sometimes we inhibit our own ambitions.”
“We aren't sure that we can get that big, and we can be satisfied with just making a good living. A part of the disadvantage that we have sometimes is that we don't have people ahead of us who have done it before to make us believe that we can do it,” said Obama.
In addressing the issue of immigration reform, Obama said that the Republican Party is standing in the way and embracing rhetoric that is dangerous for the country.
“There have been times in U.S. History where the democratic party was full of segregationists so it is not as if xenophobia and anti-immigrant seminists are restricted to one party. But I will say that right now, the biggest fuel behind the Republican agenda is related to immigration and the fear that somehow America’s character is going to be changed if, people of darker shades, there are too many of them here.”
“I wish I could be more euphemistic about it except (they’re) not that subtle about it — they’re just kind of saying it,” Obama said. “You hear it on hard-right media, you hear it from candidates and politicians, you hear things like ‘great replacement theory’ — I mean, this is not subtle. Unless we’re able to return to a more inclusive vision inside the Republican Party, it’s going to be hard to get a bill done.”
According to the National Immigration Forum the “Great Replacement” is a conspiracy theory that states that nonwhite individuals are being brought into the United States and other Western countries to "replace" white voters to achieve a political agenda. Multiple iterations of the “great replacement” theory have been used in anti-immigrant groups, such as white supremacists and others.
“When you have that kind of rhetoric floating around out there, we’ve seen in history that is dangerous rhetoric. It’s dangerous wherever it appears and it’s dangerous here in the United States,” Obama said.
Obama noted some ambivalence among the Latino community on the issue of immigration.
“There have to be some conversations internally so there is a united front around a smart agenda, market it and counteract the misinformation and the lies that exist. That is going to be a long-term project.”
He said what makes him feel “modestly optimistic” is young people generally understanding common humanity.
“That expresses itself through music, culture, sports, and that expresses a mindset where future voters are going to want to see a smarter approach to immigration. That does require for Latinos to vote,” Obama said.
According to Obama, Latino voting rates in Texas are lower than that of Colorado and California Latinos.
“If Latinos in Texas voted at the same rate as Latinos in Colorado, Texas would be a blue state,” Obama said. “Culturally, we haven’t built up voting habits and connected that to power. In no other parts of your life do you just give your power away,” Obama said.
The conference came to an end Sunday evening, but organizers have opened pre-registration for the next L’ATTITUDE event, which will take place in Miami next year.
