Obama Says “Trayvon Martin Could Have Been Me…” Will Somebody Please Pass Me A Vomit Bag?

Once again Barack Obama has waded into the Zimmerman-Martin issue by saying that :

“Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.”

In what some are calling the most emotional speech he has made on racial issues since taking office, he spoke for 20 minutes during an unscheduled appearance in the White House briefing room.

Not using a teleprompter, he spoke about racial profiling and said that most black American men, including himself, had experienced this at some point.

He went on to point out that African Americans are aware that there are racial disparities in the application of criminal law .

“That all contributes to a sense that if a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different,” He said.

“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. 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 has a chance to get off,” (source)

Many see the speech as a president sympathizing not only with the family of a dead teenager but with African American males as a whole. Others see a president that knows and is stating publicly that much of law enforcement in his country is prejudiced against African American men. He made no suggestions of how that could be dealt with.

It’s unbelievable that the President of the United States has stood up and said that the result would have been different if a white teenager had been shot.

There is way more than racial politics or securing the future black vote going on here. This man, the Commander in Chief of the United States armed forces, the President of the United states of America, has unequivocally announced that white teenagers get a better deal with law enforcement. He  might as well have just given a one armed fist salute and declared open season on white male teenagers.

Will he comment when the next white male is shot by a security guard, police officer or black store owner trying to prevent a robbery? No, I don’t think he will.

As a man he is entitled to his opinion.  As a man he is allowed to make mistakes. As the president of this country he is not, in my opinion, allowed to bring those private beliefs  into the public arena. If he truly believes there is institutionalized racism in law enforcement and the judicial system  he should be vowing to do something about it rather than stand there bleating about his own experiences.

Let’s look at it another way.

Would Obama have stood there, getting involved on a personal level if a white kid had died? No.

If a Hispanic kid had died? No

If an Asian kid had died? No

If a Muslim kid had died? No. ( Okay maybe on that one. Religious politics might be good for a few votes next time around.)

Regardless of what he thinks and feels privately, this man is the President and he has now stood up and taken sides. The whole world has seen him publicly take sides and that is unacceptable.

He has called into disrepute the legal system of the United States and he did it with just 27 words:

“If a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario, from top to bottom, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.”

As the President he should speak out for the rights of ALL Americans not just those that share his skin color and/or heritage. By constantly commenting on this case he has proved himself to hold views on race that are, at the very least, questionable for the man in charge of this great country.