President Barack Obama defends his legacy and warns against threats to democracy in emotional farewell speech

'My fellow Americans, it has been the honour of my life to serve you. I won't stop'

President Barack Obama all but closed the book on his eight-year presidency during an impassioned farewell speech, touting the successes of his two terms in the White House, but warned against impending threats against democracy rooted in fear.

Mr Obama gave his forceful speech amid an a corrosive political climate as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office. Mr Trump campaigned on overturning many of the progressive policies the President enacted – the first of which being the Affordable Care Act; the fate immigration, environmental, and women’s issues hang in the balance.

The speech had somewhat of a cautionary tone throughout, as Mr Obama leaves office with a rather high approval rating at 56 per cent, he urged Americans that much work still lies ahead despite the progresses he made while in office. Amid the uncertainty, hostility, and aggressive push from the GOP to erase Mr Obama’s legacy, he took the opportunity to the sold out arena in his hometown of Chicago to defend his administration’s work, and espoused American ideals that many believe Mr Trump’s incoming administration – as well as the partisan rift in US government – threaten.

“Democracy can buckle when it gives into fear. So just as we as citizens must remain vigilant against external aggression, we must guard against a weakening of the values that make us who we are,” he said.

“That’s why I reject discrimination against Muslim Americans who are just as patriotic as we are. … That’s why we cannot withdraw from big global fights to expand democracy and humans rights and LGBT rights.”

He called out the tensions dividing Americans living in their ideological bubbles, making them susceptible to politicised inaccuracies – like false claims on social media, disinformation and propaganda, and other media based on beliefs rather than evidence.

“In the rise of naked partisanship and increasing economic and regional stratification, the splintering of our media into a channel for every taste, all this makes this great sorting seem natural, even inevitable,” he said. “And increasingly, we become so secure in our bubbles that we start accepting only information, whether it’s true or not, that fits our opinions, instead of basing our opinions on evidence that is out there.”

Mr Obama called on discussion between opposing voices, to reach compromise, and to step away from the computer screens and to speak to each other face-to-face: “If you’re tired of arguing with strangers on the Internet, try talking with one of them in real life.”

But the President, 10 days away from no longer holding that title, used the platform to confront the persistence of racism in the US – an experience that critics of racial discourse often wrote off because a black man took his seat in the Oval Office.

“After my election there was talk of a post-racial America. And such a vision, however well intended, was never realistic,” he said. “Race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society.”

“If every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a hardworking white middle class and an undeserving minority, then workers of all shades are going to be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves,” Mr Obama added.

He continued: “If we’re unwilling to invest in the children of immigrants, just because they don’t look like us, we will diminish the prospects of our own children – because those brown kids will represent a larger and larger share of America’s workforce.”

The President made references to his historic 2008 campaign, reciting “Yes we can” amid his call to action to Americans to help rebuild and restore democracy in the country.

“It falls to each of us to be those anxious jealous guardians of our democracy,” he said. “Embrace the joyous task we have been given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours because, for all our outward differences, we in fact all share the same proud type, the most important office in a democracy: citizen. Citizen.

“We must guard against a weakening of the values that make us who we are.” —@POTUS #ObamaFarewell https://t.co/pRwmeNAWmg

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 11, 2017

“So, you see, that’s what our democracy demands. It needs you. Not just when there’s an election, not just when your own narrow interest is at stake, but over the full span of a lifetime.”

In his final curtain call, Mr Obama grew more emotional when he gave thanks to his wife, Michelle; daughters, Malia and Sasha, to his staffers; and to his vice president, Joe Biden, to whom he referred as a brother.

When the first black president of the United States left the stage, he assured Americans, his supporters, and the many marginalised people to whom he has devoted his entire political career that began in Chicago that his work was not done – and neither was theirs.

“My fellow Americans, it has been the honour of my life to serve you,” he said. “I won’t stop; in fact, I will be right there with you, as a citizen, for all my remaining days. …

“But for now, whether you are young or whether you’re young at heart, I do have one final ask of you as your president — the same thing I asked when you took a chance on me eight years ago.

“I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change — but in yours.”