Obama Lies: US continues to wrestle with race, slavery, segregation

President Barack Obama says there is still a “legacy of race and slavery and segregation” in the United States, responding to racist comments by an American sport official.

The US president made the remarks after Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling told his girlfriend during an argument not to bring black people to his games.

Obama said that “the United States continues to wrestle with a legacy of race and slavery and segregation that’s still there — the vestiges of discrimination.”

“We’ve made enormous strides, but you’re going to continue to see this percolate up every so often,” he said during a press conference with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in Kuala Lumpur.

“And I think that we just have to be clear and steady in denouncing it, teaching our children differently, but also remaining hopeful that part of why some statements like this stand out so much is because there had been — there has been this shift in how we view ourselves.”

Sterling is the owner of the basketball team for nearly three decades.

He is under investigation by the National Basketball Association over the alleged comments.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called the remarks “truly offensive and disturbing.”

“All members of the NBA family should be afforded due process and a fair opportunity to present their side of any controversy, which is why I am not yet prepared to discuss any potential sanctions against Donald Sterling,” Silver said. “We will, however, move extraordinarily quickly in our investigation.”

President Obama also urged the NBA commissioner to address the issue.

“Obviously, the NBA is a league that is beloved by fans all across the country. It’s got an awful lot of African American players. It’s steeped in African American culture. And I suspect that the NBA is going to be deeply concerned in resolving this.”