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The
44th president said that future Obama Presidential Center in
Chicago will aim to strengthen ideals that are vulnerable in a
bitter modern U.S. political environment and address global
economic, social, technological and environmental issues that
major institutions have failed to address.
"In the breach, a culture of cynicism and mistrust can grow,"
the Democratic former president said. "We start seeing more
division and increasingly bitter conflict. A politics that feeds
anger and resentment towards those who are not like us and
starts turning away from democratic principles in favor of
tribalism and might makes right."
Obama did not directly name his successor, Republican Donald
Trump, who has continued since leaving office to push false
claims that his November election defeat was the result of
widespread fraud. Multiple courts, state election officials and
members of Trump's own administration rejected those claims.
Construction of the $700 million center on the city's South Side
began in August despite opposition from local activists.
Donations to the Obama Foundation are paying for the project.
It will house a museum of artifacts from Obama's 2009-2017
presidency and be a public gathering space for cultural and
educational events. Obama made history as the first Black U.S.
president.
"We are about to break ground on the world's premier institution
for developing civic leaders across fields, across disciplines
and, yes, across the political spectrum," said Obama, 60, who
once worked as a community organizer in Chicago.
Obama represented part of the city's South Side in the Illinois
state Senate before being elected to the U.S. Senate and then
the White House.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing by Scott
Malone and Gerry Doyle)
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