"Trayvon Martin could have been me." President Obama speaks out on Zimmerman verdict.

Courtesy of Mediaite:

 The President sent his thoughts and prayers to Trayvon Martin’s family, and praised them for the “incredible grace and dignity with which they’ve dealt with the entire situation.” 

But he quickly got into the heart of the matter, explaining that “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.” 

He discussed the shared ways in which the black community senses racial suspicion. “There are, frankly, very few African-American men who haven’t had the experience of walking across the street, and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars,” he said. “That happened to me, at least before I was a senator. There are very few African-Americans who haven’t had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. That happens often. And I don’t want to exaggerate this, but those sets of experiences inform how the African-American community interprets what happened one night in Florida.” 

The President also addressed the “history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws,” while also pointing out that “African-American young men are disproportionately involved in criminal justice system, that they’re disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence,” adding that “It’s not to make excuses for that fact, although black folks do interpret the reasons for that in a historical context. They understand that some of the violence that takes place in poor black neighborhoods around the country is born out of a very violent past in this country, and that the poverty and dysfunction that we see in those communities can be traced to a very difficult history.” 

President Obama said that the missing context in discussions about the criminal justice system “contributes, I think, to a sense that if a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario, that from top to bottom both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.” 

He then outlined a series of broad goals, including training law enforcement to be conscious of racial bias, examining laws such as “Stand Your Ground,” and supporting young African-American boys. 

The President also talked about starting a conversation about race, but may have surprised some by saying “You know, there has been talk about should we convene a conversation on race? I haven’t seen that be particularly productive. When politicians try to organize conversations, they end up being stilted and politicized, and folks are locked into the positions they already have.” 

Instead, he urged citizens to look to each other, and inwardly, to ask “Am I bringing as much bias out of myself as I can? Am I judging people not based on the color of their skin but the content of their character?”

This is why the election of President Obama has been immeasurably important to the closing the racial divide and educating people as to why we still see each other, and judge each other, based on the color of our skin.

I thought this was a very important speech, and one that should inspire all of us to take a moment for self reflection.