An unusually candid Barack Obama appeared on Marc Maron's WTF podcast this week, and spoke passionately about a number of issues.
One of them was the recent shooting in South Carolina which claimed the lives of nine people, and further highlighted the continuing racial tensions that have intensified in recent times, bringing with them protests and outbreaks of violence, as well as tragedy.
Speaking to Maron just two days after the shooting, Obama talked frankly and openly about the attack, and gun laws in America. Sounding less like a politician than usual, he said "we are not cured of it [racism]. And it's not just a matter of it not being polite to say n****r in public. That's not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It's not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don't, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior".
He also added that he wants to push for tighter laws on guns in America, saying that the all too frequent attacks are part of a bigger issue: "this is unique to our country, there is no other advanced nation on earth that tolerates multiple shootings on a regular basis and considers it normal."
You can hear the whole podcast here, and it's well worth a listen.
Via Mashable. Main pic via Marc Maron/Instagram
