Obama blames racism, guns for Zimmerman acquittal in emotional, rambling
surprise speech
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama took the White House podium
Friday to offer marginal fixes to the problems raised by last week’s acquittal
George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla.
The president ran through a host of topics in an emotional,
somewhat rambling speech, including the higher-than-average murder rate by
young black men.
Obama acknowledged that black males have a
higher-than-average crime rate, but dismissed that as an “excuse” for treating
blacks youths differently. He tried to blame the problems on racism by the
majority of Americans.
To fix the problem of racism, as Obama described it during the
unscheduled, surprise event, he suggested states pass laws to curb “profiling”
and reduce the “stand your ground” legal defenses. He also urged people to talk
about the issues in their communities and churches.
On “profiling,” Obama said African-American communities recognize
that African-American youths are more likely to be involved in crime.
However, he suggested that people should ignore the data and not
treat it as an “excuse” for treating African-Americans differently.
Obama he repeatedly stressed the role of racist attitudes in
society as a contributing factor for the February 2012 shooting of Martin
during a nighttime fight with Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer.
Overall, people should ask themselves “am I wringing as much bias
out of myself as I can?”
Overall, he suggested, younger people are less racist that older
people.
“Things are getting better. … Each successive generation seems to
be getting better in changing attitudes when it comes to race,” Obama said.
However, unlike previous generations of leftists, Obama did not
suggest any economic fixes.
Many left-wing advocates blame blacks’ high-crime rate on economic
factors, such as free-trade, which has reduced well-paying manufacturing jobs
in Detroit and other cities.
Obama also did not offer any proposals that contradict
progressives’ preferences for mass immigration and reduced status for the nuclear
family and marriage.
Many centrists and social-conservatives say the high crime rate
among younger blacks is partly caused the collapse of African-American
families. Roughly 70 percent of blacks are now born outside marriage.
Obama’s association of the Zimmerman case with racism and “stand
your ground” laws also appear to be contradicted by the facts of the case.
Martin’s family, Department of Justice investigators, the jurors in the case
and even the prosecutors, who declined to accuse Zimmerman of racism, all
concluded that race did not factor into the tragedy.
Zimmerman also waived his right to a defense under Florida’s
expansive “stand your ground” law. Some details of the law were included in
jury instructions, but it played no role in the decision, according to jurors.
Florida’s “stand your ground” law has, however, been widely used
by black defendants who have in many cases successfully pleaded self-defense in
criminal cases. (Related: Blacks benefit from Florida ‘stand your ground’ law at
disproportionate rate)
Journalists were unable to quiz Obama about these larger issue. He
quickly stepped away from the podium at the end of his statement, and ignored
at least one shouted question.
Article printed from The Daily Caller: http://dailycaller.com
URL to article: http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/19/obama-blames-racism-guns-for-zimmerman-acquittal-in-emotional-rambling-surprise-speech/
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