He began by acknowledging that this year's graduates are facing unprecedented challenges, but encouraged them to remember this situation is transient.
"It's fair to say that your generation is graduating into a world that faces more profound challenges than any generation in decades; it can feel like everything's up for grabs right now. A lot of this uncertainty is the direct result of Covid-19, 100,000 lives it's taken, the economic disruption that's caused. No one can say for sure how much longer the crisis will last, a lot of that will depend on the choices we make as a country," he said.
"But, you know, it will eventually end. Vaccines and treatments will emerge, the economy will begin to heal, and life will start returning to normal. And you'll still have your whole life ahead of you."
Obama said that the past few weeks, however, have also shown us that "the challenges we face go well beyond a virus, and that the old normal wasn't good enough." His comments follow protests across the country that at times have turned violent over the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man who died at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis.
"In a lot of ways the pandemic just brought into focus problems that have been growing for a very long time, whether it's widening economic inequality, the lack of basic health care for millions of people, the continuing scourge of bigotry and sexism or the divisions and dysfunction that plague our political system," Obama said.
"Similarly, the protests in response to the killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor aren't simply a reaction to those particular tragedies, as heartbreaking as they are. They speak to a decade's worth of anguish and frustration over unequal treatment, and a failure to reform police practices in the broader criminal justice system."
As a result, Obama urged graduates not to accept the world as it is.
"You can make it into the world as it should be, and could be you can create a new normal. One that is fairer and gives everybody opportunity and treats everyone equally and builds bridges between people instead of dividing," he said.
"Just as America overcame slavery and civil war, recessions and depression, Pearl Harbor and 9/11, in all kinds of social upheaval. We can emerge from our current circumstances, stronger than before. Better than before.
But as has always been true at key moments in history. It's gonna depend on young people like you to go out there and rewrite what is possible."
Obama said it was "unbelievably inspiring" to see "so many of you participating in peaceful protests, to see so many of you of every race and background, raise up your voices on behalf of justice for all."
"You make me optimistic about our future."
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Obama tells graduating students, 'You make me optimistic about our future' - CNN
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