Bill Clinton: Leaders must remember ‘our common humanity’

Clinton said political leaders need to keep humanity in mind. (Photo: Ralph Alswang/Center for American Progress Action Fund/Flickr/CC BY-ND 2.0)

SAN ANTONIO – Former President Bill Clinton says the key to political leadership is remembering “our common humanity.”

Clinton’s comments came Wednesday night during the NAACP Convention in San Antonio, where he presented Texas native Willie Brown with the 2018 NAACP Springarn Medal for outstanding achievement by an African-American. Brown is the former California House speaker and former San Francisco mayor.

Clinton said political leaders need to keep humanity in mind. He said it’s important at a time “when voting rights, when family security and the best interests of children, when the bonds of our neighbours and the friendships of our oldest allies are being strained.”

He said “we have begun again to think that our differences matter more than our common humanity.” He said public servants should ask themselves if people are “better off” from the time they started leading until when they stopped.