--- title: This is What President Obama Tells His Daughters About Civil Rights description: "This is an unfinished project," the President said Friday canonical: https://time.com/3735459/selma-obama-civil-rights-unfinished-project/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-06T16:50:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:05:11.085Z article:section: Politics og:title: This is What President Obama Tells His Daughters About Civil Rights og:description: "This is an unfinished project," the President said Friday og:url: https://time.com/3735459/selma-obama-civil-rights-unfinished-project/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56eb99e2c434cfaf/6987828c8e060112ac45aac0/barack-obama-5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during an exclusive interview with Reuters in the Library of the White House in Washington on March 2, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This is What President Obama Tells His Daughters About Civil Rights twitter:description: "This is an unfinished project," the President said Friday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56eb99e2c434cfaf/6987828c8e060112ac45aac0/barack-obama-5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Says Civil Rights in U.S. 'Unfinished Project' Ahead of Selma Speech > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=53f5e578-1baf-4727-bb97-97fcc0edfe89&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 6, 2015 4:50 PM UTC  U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during an exclusive interview with Reuters in the Library of the White House in Washington on March 2, 2015. U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during an exclusive interview with Reuters in the Library of the White House in Washington on March 2, 2015. Kevin Lamarque—Reuters by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 6, 2015 4:50 PM UTC President Obama said Friday that the work begun by civil rights activists in Selma, Alabama fifty years ago is still not complete, as he prepares to visit the town this weekend on the anniversary of the historic march. “This is an unfinished project,” the President said in an interview on the [_Tom Joyner Morning Show_ ](http://blackamericaweb.com/2015/03/06/president-obama-talks-selma-50-ferguson-and-the-legacy-he-wants-to-leave-his-daughters/2/)on Friday. “I say to my daughters the same thing I say to the young people who work for me, and that is it is a glorious task that we are given to continually try to improve this great country of ours.” The President cited the the Department of Justice’s [scathing report](http://time.com/3730894/ferguson-investigation-justice-racism/) on the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department released this week as evidence that the country still had work to do on civil rights for black Americans. In the report, patterns of racial bias and unfair treatment of black residents was brought to light in the wake of the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer. “There is, you know, work to be done right now,” Obama said. ### How LIFE Magazine Covered the Selma Marches in 1965  'Selma Starts the Savage Season,' LIFE, March 19, 1965 LIFE Magazine  'Selma Starts the Savage Season,' LIFE, March 19, 1965 LIFE Magazine  'Selma Starts the Savage Season,' LIFE, March 19, 1965 LIFE Magazine  'Selma Starts the Savage Season,' LIFE, March 19, 1965 LIFE Magazine  'Selma Starts the Savage Season,' LIFE, March 19, 1965 The President gave the interview as the First Family prepares to travel to Selma to commemorate the half-century anniversary of the historic march that helped push lawmakers to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965\. The anniversary is being met with much fanfare: the President will speak on Saturday and lead a march on the Edmund Pettus bridge. Luminaries and politicians, including former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush, will be in attendance. In his Saturday speech, the President is likely to discuss Ferguson and the lingering battle to protect voting rights in the wake of the Supreme Court decision that struck down a part of the very act that will be celebrated. He’ll note the work of Congressman John Lewis, who was a student organizer and on the front lines on March 7, 1965, also known as Bloody Sunday. Yet, the President said Friday the great thing about Selma is “it celebrates all those folks who don’t have their name on a plaque or a statue.” “It wasn’t just Dr. King making a great speech, although I think he is an icon for the ages. It wasn’t just John Lewis, although I don’t know of a more courageous or a sweet man than him,” Obama said. “But it was also just people who went back to their lives after it was done.” And though the President said he talks to his daughters about what work needs to be done to improve the U.S., he doesn’t think they’ll take the same route he took to get it done. “I am very doubtful that they will want to run for public office, you know,” said Obama. “Partly because they’ve been listening to their mother.” ### The March on Washington: Power to the People  Martin Luther King Jr. addresses the crowd during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. Francis Miller—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Lena Horne at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Joan Baez sings during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Odetta sings during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Actress and activist Ruby Dee, who with her husband, Ossie Davis, served as "master and mistress" of ceremonies at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Overalled couple with New York delegation, reminiscent of famous Grant Wood painting, join crowd which packed mall before Lincoln Memorial. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. 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