US President Barack Obama tells a group of young Asians that when Americans are economically stressed, they turn to racism to cope with their struggles. After Obama highlighted America’s rich heritage of multiculturalism, he pointed to the country’s racist tendencies as a result. “That especially becomes a problem when the economy is not doing well, and so people feel stressed,” he said. “Typically, when people feel stressed, they turn on others who don’t look like them.” He blamed the faltering economy for causing the problems in America’s society. “When suddenly things are harder, people start saying, ‘Ah, you know what, this is the fault of the Chinese,’ or ‘This is the fault of Jews,’ or ‘This is the fault of the Houthi,’ or whatever,” Obama said. Obama made his remarks during a town hall with young people at Souphanouvong University during his visit to Luang Prabang, Laos. He praised America’s many food cuisines and music as a positive result of multiculturalism and also pointed to the Olympics as an example of American success as a result of its diversity. “Because we have people that came from everywhere, we have people of all different types for every sport,” he said. “So we have really tall people to play basketball or to swim. We have little people for gymnastics. Right? We have, genetically, for whatever sport, we have people who fit the sport, right?”
