Obama: ‘Pet Peeve’ of Mine that Successful People ‘Don’t Realize They’ve Been Lucky’

Barack Obama told graduates of Howard University today that one of his pet peeves is successful people not believing they're lucky. "It wasn't nothing you did," Obama said ungrammatically.  

"And that means we have to not only question the world as it is, and stand up for those African Americans who haven’t been so lucky — because, yes, you’ve worked hard, but you’ve also been lucky. That’s a pet peeve of mine: People who have been successful and don’t realize they’ve been lucky. That God may have blessed them; it wasn’t nothing you did. So don’t have an attitude. But we must expand our moral imaginations to understand and empathize with all people who are struggling, not just black folks who are struggling — the refugee, the immigrant, the rural poor, the transgender person, and yes, the middle-aged white guy who you may think has all the advantages, but over the last several decades has seen his world upended by economic and cultural and technological change, and feels powerless to stop it. You got to get in his head, too."