by Deona Hooper, MSW
Today, President Obama gave an impromptu speech on his thoughts regarding the George Zimmerman trial and the death of Trayvon Martin. When the President first inserted himself into the Trayvon Martin case, conservatives were outraged when he made the statement, “If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon”.
The White House press core was expecting Press Secretary, Jay Carney, when President Obama entered the room with roughly a 90 second announcement that he would be giving a speech. After having discussions with his friends, family, and advisors, President Obama stated that it was important for him to ask the country to do some soul searching on race relations in America.
According to NBCNews:
“You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago. And when you think about why, in the African- American community at least, there’s a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it’s important to recognize that the African- American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that — that doesn’t go away,” he said.
Making a surprise appearance in the White House press room, President Obama discusses his views on the Trayvon Martin verdict, and how it feels as an African American to have these “inescapable” experiences.
Obama addressed the issue personally as well, saying, “There are very few African-American men in this country who haven’t had the experience of being followed when they are shopping at a department store. And that includes me.” Read Full Article
President Obama talked about the racial disparities in the application of the death penalty as well as the application of our laws in arrest and incarceration. The President also talked about some concrete strategies addressing issue of race such as reviewing Stand Your Ground Laws. He also encourage these conversations to occur around the dinner table, in our places of worships, and schools in order to continue to move our country towards a post-racial society. Most importantly, President Obama stated, “We are moving towards a more Perfect Union, not a Perfect Union, but more Perfect Union”.
View President Obama’s Speech in its entirety:
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