REX Features President Barack Obama makes a statement at the daily briefing in the White House briefing room.
President Obama on Sunday sought to calm tensions in the wake of racially charged protests in New York and Ferguson, Mo., saying the nation has made progress on race relations but emphasizing that the distrust between minority communities and law enforcement will not be solved overnight.
This is something thats deeply rooted in our society, thats deeply rooted in our history, Obama said in an interview on the cable network BET.
The president was making his first extended remarks on the subject since a New York grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer in the choke-hold death of an unarmed African American man in July. That announcement sparked massive protests just two weeks after a grand jury in Ferguson cleared a white officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black teen, which also resulted in angry demonstrations in that community.
Its important to recognize that as painful as these incidents are, we cant equate what is happening now to what happened 50 years ago, Obama said. If you talk to your parents, your grandparents, theyll tell you things are better. Not good in some cases, but better. The reason its important to understand that progress has been made is that it then gives us hope we can make even more progress.
The deaths of 43-year-old Eric Garner in New York and 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson have frayed civic bonds in those communities and presented a challenge for the Obama administration, which has sought to mount a federal response to the growing crisis. The Justice Department announced civil rights investigations in both cases, and Obama has called for new resources including body cameras for police officers.
Yet the images of protests on the streets have also posed a personal test for the nations first African American president who had so directly addressed his own racial heritage in an autobiography and the nations painful legacy during a much heralded race speech during his 2008 campaign.
If Obamas presidency seemed to carry a unique burden in terms of race relations, rarely since assuming office has he offered a personal or emotional response to match the moment. Last week, in the wake of the New York grand jurys verdict, it was New York Mayor Bill de Blasio who offered the most poignant reaction.
De Blasio referred to a profound and lasting history of racism and confided that he and his wife Chirlane McCray, who is black, have spoken to their 17-year-old biracial son Dante about the dangers he may face in potential encounters with police.
We are dealing with centuries of racism that have brought us to this day, the mayor said. That is how profound the crisis is. And that is how fundamental the task at hand is, to turn from that history and to make a change that is profound and lasting.
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Obama urges persistence in confronting deep roots of racism