Obama on racist fraternity video: '[O]n any given day, somebody is doing something stupid'
President Barack Obama shared his reactions to the video of University of Oklahoma fraternity brothers uttering a violent and racially-charged chant in an exclusive interview with Sam Stein of the Huffington Post released on Saturday.
"Look, at any given point on any given day, somebody is doing something stupid out there," Obama said when asked for his reaction to the viral clip. "In the age of the Internet, it's going to attract attention. I don't think this is the first time that somebody at a fraternity has done something stupid, racist, sexist. It won't be the last."
The discovery of the video spurred the school's decision to kick the fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, off campus. School President David Boren ultimately decided to expel two students over the incident too, a move the president praised.
"What was heartening was the quick response from President Boren, somebody who I know well and I know who has great integrity," he said.
Two weeks after he marked the 50th anniversary of the civil rights marches at Selma with a speech in which he spoke about the advances that have been made in the fight for racial equality, Obama reflected on how a moment like the SAE chant fits into our country's evolution.
"The way we have to measure progress here is not, is there ever going to be an incident of racism in the country. It's how does the majority of our country respond?" he said. "And on that front, there's no doubt that the overwhelming number of students at the University of Oklahoma, and around the country, think that kind of behavior is deplorable and don't accept it.
"Frankly, 30 years ago or 40 years ago, there might have been a different reaction and more tolerance for that kind of racist chant," he added.
More from HuffPost's exclusive interview with the president
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Obama calls on NCAA to rethink the way it protects and punishes athletes
Obama calls Republicans' bluff on government funding
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Obama says workers are being 'cheated' out of overtime pay
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Obama on Loretta Lynch: 'You don't hold Attorney General nominees hostage'
