Obama says US protests offer chance to change America as he voices support

Former US President Barack Obama has voiced his support for the "profound" protests by Americans demanding racial justice, saying the protests offer opportunity for people to be "awakened" and "change America".

Obama said demonstrations, which erupted over killing of a black man at the hands of a white police officer, could spark nationwide reforms.

In his first video comments since George Floyd's death on May 25 in Minneapolis triggered nationwide protests, the former US president urged authorities to review their policies on use of force.

President Donald Trump had threatened to deploy the military and called on the authorities to "dominate" the protesters.

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Obama said in a webcast with activists that, "I want you to know that you matter. I want you to know that your lives matter, your dreams matter."

"Young protesters in particular have been galvanized, and their motivation could serve as inspiration for broader change," President Donald Trump's predecessor noted.

Obama also said Americans have witnessed "the kinds of epic changes and events in our country that are as profound as anything that I've seen in my lifetime."

America's first black president also struck a note of optimism even as he acknowledged the despair and anger powering the anti-racism protests in the US.

"In some ways, as tragic as these last few weeks have been, as difficult and scary and uncertain as they've been, they've also been an incredible opportunity for people to be awakened to some of these underlying trends," Obama said via livestream from Washington on Wednesday.

The address was part of a discussion hosted by My Brother's Keeper, a program Obama founded in 2014 in the wake of the police shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, to address deep-seated racial inequities in the US, Reuters said.

Obama rejected the notion that one must choose between "voting versus protests" or "politics and participation versus civil disobedience."

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