--- title: President Obama Urges Young Brits to 'Reject Xenophobia' description: One day after speaking out against the so-called "Brexit" canonical: https://time.com/4305723/president-obama-urges-young-brits-to-reject-isolationism-and-xenophobia/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-23T15:37:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:59:10.488Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Urges Young Brits to Reject 'Isolationism' and 'Xenophobia' og:description: One day after speaking out against the "Brexit" og:url: https://time.com/4305723/president-obama-urges-young-brits-to-reject-isolationism-and-xenophobia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt674129365618588e/6988906d428a9e1fa6cd258a/gettyimages-523444134.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: President Obama And The First Lady Attend Town Hall Event In Central London og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Urges Young Brits to Reject 'Isolationism' and 'Xenophobia' twitter:description: One day after speaking out against the "Brexit" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt674129365618588e/6988906d428a9e1fa6cd258a/gettyimages-523444134.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Urges Young Brits to Reject 'Isolationism' and 'Xenophobia' by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 23, 2016 3:37 PM UTC  US President Barack Obama speaks at the 'Town Hall' discussion with British youth at the Royal Horticultural Halls on April 23, 2016 in London, England. The President and his wife are currently on a brief visit to the UK where they visited HM Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle yesterday and later had dinner with Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge at Kensington Palace. Mr Obama also visited 10 Downing and held a joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron where he stated his case for the UK to remain inside the European Union. Christopher Furlong—Getty Images US President Barack Obama speaks at the 'Town Hall' discussion with British youth at the Royal Horticultural Halls on April 23, 2016 in London, England. The President and his wife are currently on a brief visit to the UK where they visited HM Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle yesterday and later had dinner with Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge at Kensington Palace. Mr Obama also visited 10 Downing and held a joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron where he stated his case for the UK to remain inside the European Union. Christopher Furlong—Getty ImagesChristopher Furlong—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 23, 2016 3:37 PM UTC President Obama urged a group of young Britons to reject isolationism and xenophobia at a town hall event in London on Saturday, encouraging them to embrace change rather than run from it. “We see new calls for isolationism or xenophobia,” Obama said. “We see those who would call for rolling back the rights of people…they are reactions to changing times and uncertainty. But when I speak to young people, and I implore them and I implore you to reject those calls to pull back.” He added, “I’m here to ask you to reject the notion that we’re gripped by forces that we can’t control.” The president’s remarks come just one day after he weighed in on the United Kingdom’s upcoming vote on leaving the European Union, speaking out against the so-called “Brexit.” At a joint press conference with Prime Minister David Cameron, Obama said the U.K. is stronger as a part of the E.U. and hinted that leaving could have an adverse impact on trade with the U.S. On Saturday, Obama pitched over 5o0 young people on the importance of inclusion and the opportunities global youth are currently afforded. “Progress requires the harder path of breaking down barriers and building bridges and standing up for the values of tolerance and diversity that our nations have worked and sacrificed to secure and defend,” Obama said. The president’s words come as concerns grow over terrorism and immigration across the globe, amid a burgeoning refugee crisis and recent attacks in Paris and Brussels. British Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to take in 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020 and 3,000 refugee children within the same time period. Obama’s primary message on Saturday, he said was to “reject pessimism and cynicism,” answering one attendee’s question about the difficulty of accepting slow change by urging patience. “If any of you begin to work on an issue that you care deeply about, don’t be disappointed if a year out things haven’t been completely solved,” Obama said, noting that even the election of America’s first black president has not eliminated racism in the country. The president also met with Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn, where he congratulated the leader on his win and discussed the “impact of globalization on labor” and “the need to take steps to reduce inequality around the world,” according to a report on the meeting. He later engaged in a round of golf on Saturday with Prime Minister Cameron, who he is scheduled to have dinner with on Saturday evening alongside U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. Matthew Barzun. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4305723/president-obama-urges-young-brits-to-reject-isolationism-and-xenophobia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4305723/president-obama-urges-young-brits-to-reject-isolationism-and-xenophobia/"},"headline":"President Obama Urges Young Brits to Reject 'Isolationism' and 'Xenophobia'","datePublished":"2016-04-23T15:37:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:59:10.488Z","description":"One day after speaking out against the so-called \"Brexit\"","url":"https://time.com/4305723/president-obama-urges-young-brits-to-reject-isolationism-and-xenophobia/","keywords":["Barack Obama","White House","Obama","london"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt674129365618588e/6988906d428a9e1fa6cd258a/gettyimages-523444134.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt674129365618588e/6988906d428a9e1fa6cd258a/gettyimages-523444134.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama And The First Lady Attend Town Hall Event In Central London","caption":"President Obama And The First Lady Attend Town Hall Event In Central London","creditText":"Christopher Furlong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4305723/president-obama-urges-young-brits-to-reject-isolationism-and-xenophobia/","name":"President Obama Urges Young Brits to Reject 'Isolationism' and 'Xenophobia'"}}]}] ```