enhanced_deficit
08-19-2014, 12:04 AM
No. Michael Brown Couldn’t Have Been Obama’s Son (http://colorlines.com/archives/2014/08/no_michael_brown_couldnt_have_been_obamas_son.html )
President Obama addresses reporters on August 14, 2014 Photo: Getty News Images
Thursday, August 14 2014, 1:21 PM EST
Last July President Obama addressed (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/07/19/remarks-president-trayvon-martin) the nation about the shameful George Zimmerman verdict delivered in Sanford, Florida. He famously claimed that Trayvon Martin could have been his son and went into detail about how “very few African-American men” could say that they haven’t been racially profiled:
“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.”
A little over a year later the president addressed the nation about the Ferguson, Missouri, police killing of 18-year-old, unarmed Michael Brown. .
...
The answer may lie in two factors: 1) Unlike Martin, Brown was killed by a police officer rather than a random neighborhood watch fanatic. And 2) There has been rioting in response to Brown’s slaying. From the former we see how Obama won’t take on the intersection between race and police violence as an issue, even in urgent situations. From the latter we see what appears to be the politics of respectability at work.
President Obama addresses reporters on August 14, 2014 Photo: Getty News Images
Thursday, August 14 2014, 1:21 PM EST
Last July President Obama addressed (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/07/19/remarks-president-trayvon-martin) the nation about the shameful George Zimmerman verdict delivered in Sanford, Florida. He famously claimed that Trayvon Martin could have been his son and went into detail about how “very few African-American men” could say that they haven’t been racially profiled:
“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.”
A little over a year later the president addressed the nation about the Ferguson, Missouri, police killing of 18-year-old, unarmed Michael Brown. .
...
The answer may lie in two factors: 1) Unlike Martin, Brown was killed by a police officer rather than a random neighborhood watch fanatic. And 2) There has been rioting in response to Brown’s slaying. From the former we see how Obama won’t take on the intersection between race and police violence as an issue, even in urgent situations. From the latter we see what appears to be the politics of respectability at work.