President Obama Speaks Out: Trayvon Martin “Could Have Been Me”

by Patrick H. Moore

In what may well go down in history as one of his finer moments, on Friday, President Obama, during a surprise appearance in the White House press room, made his first extensive comments on the issue of race that has been in the news as a result of George Zimmerman second-degree-murder case. Rather than commenting on the jury verdict — saying he would leave that to the legal analysts — the President spoke in personal terms about his own experience growing up as a black youth in America. His purpose in this impromptu address — in which he spoke without the aid of a teleprompter — was to to explain the lens through which black Americans may see the case, and how their own experience with race informs their view of what happened to Trayvon Martin.

The president’s remarks included the following statements:

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 doesn’t go away.

There are very few African American men in this country who haven’t had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me. There are 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. That happens 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.

In an online Wall Street Journal article, Colleen McCain Nelson writes:

The remarks…were a striking example of America’s first black president seeking to guide the country’s thinking on race without inflaming racial tensions or undermining the judicial system. They also amounted to Mr. Obama’s most pointed comments about race since his 2008 presidential campaign.

Mr. Obama issued a brief statement the day after the Martin verdict was handed down. He urged calm and compassion, noting that “a jury has spoken.” Missing, though, was any personal reflection from a president with a unique perspective on the matter.

The George Zimmerman verdict was on Saturday, July 13th. Since then, Mr Obama has fielded numerous requests from civil-rights groups to weigh in on the case. In his typically deliberate fashion, the President — according to White House spokesperson Jay Carney — had private conversations with a number of people as he gathered and refined his thoughts on this critically important matter:

“He knows what he thinks, and he knows what he feels, and he has not just in the past week, but for a good portion of his life, given a lot of thought to these issues,” Mr. Carney said.

Benjamin Todd Jealous, the president and chief executive of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), called Mr. Obama’s remarks a powerful moment, stating:

“That our president has been profiled should encourage all Americans to think deeply about both the depth of this problem and how our country moves beyond it.”

Abigail Thernstrom, vice chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, took a contrary view saying that Mr. Obama’s original statement on the case struck the right tone and that he should have said no more:

“Mr. President, you said what should have been said: A verdict has been rendered. Leave it at that.”

Colleen McCain Nelson believes that in Friday’s remarks, Mr. Obama’s goal “was to affect the national discussion” of race, and particularly “to infuse it with a greater appreciation of African-American viewpoints.” He did not address whether his administration has any plans to pursue a case against George Zimmerman based on an alleged violation of federal civil rights laws.

He did suggest, however, that state and local laws may “encourage altercations such as the one that took Mr. Martin’s life.” He also stated that in the long term, “more needs to be done to support African-American boys.”

The President expressed skepticism as to whether “stand your ground” laws in general actually contribute to the peace and security of communities.

Mr. Obama also said that dialogue about race issues were likely to be most effective in churches and workplaces and within families, rather than in a national forum.

In his measured and essentially balanced manner, Mr. Obama noted:

Now, this isn’t to say that the African American community is naïve about the fact that African American young men are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system; that they’re disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence. 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.

And, in a remark that very much reflects my own personal experience with my children, the President stated:

“Each successive generation seems to be making progress in changing attitudes when it comes to race,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that we’re in a postracial society. It doesn’t mean that racism is eliminated. But you know, when I talk to [daughters] Malia and Sasha and I listen to their friends and I see them interact, they’re better than we are.”