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Barack Obama, the first African-American president in U.S. history, told members of the NAACP Thursday evening that while the government "must be a force for equality," black Americans "have to seize our own future, each and every day."

The president stressed personal responsibility in his speech at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's 100th anniversary convention, saying that black parents must tell their children that their disadvantages in an unequal society are not an excuse for personal failures.

"No one has written your destiny for you," he said. "Your destiny is in your hands – you cannot forget that. That's what we have to teach all of our children: no excuses. No excuses."

In his first speech directly addressing race since taking office, Mr. Obama said "there probably has never been less discrimination in American than there is today."

"But make no mistake: the pain of discrimination is still felt in America," he said, specifically citing discrimination against African-Americans as well as Latinos, Muslims and gays and lesbians.

The president lauded civil rights leaders W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King, Jr. and others who "began the journey" that led to his appearance before the nation's oldest civil rights organization as president. Yet he said "too many barriers still remain" for African-Americans, who face higher unemployment and incarceration rates than "just about anyone else."

Mr. Obama also said AIDS has hit the African-American community "with disproportionate force" and lamented that blacks "are more likely to suffer from a host of diseases but less likely to own health insurance" than other Americans.

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Produced in partnership with American University.

It’s been called America’s inauguration, but for many African Americans, Barack Obama’s ascendancy to the country’s top post has special meaning. From a woman whose great grandparents were slaves to a military mom proud to serve the new president, many were filled with joy, hope and a sense of new found responsibility for the future.

You can watch the video below:



Reported by Annie Aho, Manuel Bewarder, and Caroline Stetler, all graduate journalism students at American University. You can see more work by some of these students at the American Observer.