'Trayvon Martin could have been me' - Barack Obama

WASHINGTON: -- President Barack Obama has said that "Trayvon Martin could have been me, 35 years ago", in his first comments on the case since last week's verdict.

The unarmed black 17-year-old was shot and killed in Florida in February 2012.

George Zimmerman, 29, said he opened fire on the teenager in self-defence and was acquitted of murder by a Florida court last week.

In an unexpected press call, Mr Obama said very few black men in the US had not experienced racial profiling.

Mr Obama said the pain that African-Americans felt around the case came from the fact that they viewed it through "a set of experiences and a history that doesn't go away".

He said African Americans were also keenly aware of racial disparities in the application of criminal laws.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23382880


-- BBC 2013-07-20

Haha, do we have any vids of Bama serving a can of whoop ass MMA ground and pound style. Haha, I even scared to type his name thanks to Snowden.

I am sorry, the last sentence above is victim card bs and causes me to lose the last modicum of respect for the man whom I once endorsed.

OMG, a thread for the Obama bashers.

The profile of the US expat at TVF is Obama basher.

Christmas has come early for them this year.

That is the same thing I thought as I heard him give the speech. Yes, Trayvon could have been Obama if Obama attacked and badly beat a man for virtually nothing. The reason that the jury found Zimmerman not guilty is because the evidence left no choice other than self-defence.

Some people wish it was. However I don't have a dog in this fight so I don't care.

OMG, a thread for the Obama bashers.

Not just that: a thread about Obama and race. I've got my burning cross but can anyone lend me a pointy hat?

Some people wish it was.

A lot of people wish that they could ignore the evidence, but, the jury should be commended for not doing that. I have no problem with Obama speaking out on this, but felt that he was interjecting race and politics where they do not belong.

One of the regretful things now, ( maybe always? I don't know ) is that just about every issue in the US starts with a dividing line. Democrats/Republicans, Black/White, you get the idea.

Once the barricades are built no one comes down from them. It's a modern day American tragedy.

One of the regretful things now, ( maybe always? I don't know ) is that just about every issue in the US starts with a dividing line. Democrats/Republicans, Black/White, you get the idea.

Once the barricades are built no one comes down from them. It's a modern day American tragedy.

Tell me a country where dividing lines aren't an issue? True in every country around the world.

Some people wish it was. However I don't have a dog in this fight so I don't care.

Oh c'mon. You gotta appreciate the ridiculous unpresidential like statement. Better than Gore's I invented the Internet.

OMG, a thread for the Obama bashers.

Not just that: a thread about Obama and race. I've got my burning cross but can anyone lend me a pointy hat?

You should expect to have a hundred of 'em on your doorstep by the time you get back from lunch.

Cheers.

One of the regretful things now, ( maybe always? I don't know ) is that just about every issue in the US starts with a dividing line. Democrats/Republicans, Black/White, you get the idea.

Once the barricades are built no one comes down from them. It's a modern day American tragedy.

It is done by political design. Most Americans don't hold such strong views against others, whether we happen to agree with them or not. It is done to curry constituencies by political leaders. Almost all political victories in America come from swinging marginal voters, so it is is very important, politically to foment division. To pit the old against the young, the gay against the straight, the black against the white, the poor against the rich. It is democracy by parsing groups up to get to 50.001% rather than unifying. There's a lot of money in it.

OMG, a thread for the Obama bashers.

Not just that: a thread about Obama and race. I've got my burning cross but can anyone lend me a pointy hat?

You should expect to have a hundred of 'em on your doorstep by the time you get back from lunch.

So far, the only one posting anything bigoted on this thread is you.

Some people wish it was. However I don't have a dog in this fight so I don't care.

Oh c'mon. You gotta appreciate the ridiculous unpresidential like statement. Better than Gore's I invented the Internet.

I agree, very unpresidential. However, I guess a lame duck can say whatever is really on his mind. I doubt a first term Obama would have uttered such a statement...

I've given the thread a few moments thought now.

I'm hoping this thread might show some understanding and empathy for Trayvon and for his family, friends - and to include the larger picture of young black males in the United States whose legacy is 200 years of slavery and another hundred years of Jim Crow laws. Destroyed families from their outset.

However, I see my worst fears of this thread topic are already being realized. The other side is in fact the other side, i.e., it hasn't any feeling for a kid who got very nervous about some little white sh*t following him in silence with eyeballs fixed on him.

The other side is devoid of human feeling, sympathy, caring for the black kid, the deceased. Can't put themselves in the other fellow's shoes and haven't the slightest interest in trying to do so. To them Martin is bad, Zimmerman is good. White is right and if you're black get to the back.

The SOS is polluting this thread too.

Zimmerman is Hispanic, not white. English is his second language. Your whole premise is very flawed.

One of the regretful things now, ( maybe always? I don't know ) is that just about every issue in the US starts with a dividing line. Democrats/Republicans, Black/White, you get the idea.

Once the barricades are built no one comes down from them. It's a modern day American tragedy.

It is done by political design. Most Americans don't hold such strong views against others, whether we happen to agree with them or not. It is done to curry constituencies by political leaders. Almost all political victories in America come from swinging marginal voters, so it is is very important, politically to foment division. To pit the old against the young, the gay against the straight, the black against the white, the poor against the rich. It is democracy by parsing groups up to get to 50.001% rather than unifying. There's a lot of money in it.

Are you talking about our country?

Zimmerman is Hispanic, not white. English is his second language. Your whole premise is very flawed.

Hispanics are Caucasian.

What, do you judge people by the US Government census form?

Not for the first time the president makes a personal comment on the case, it is obviously too useful a diversion from various scandals to let go lightly. In making his comments did Obama concede that the law, due process and the constitution are what matters, or is he as usual searching for a back door method of ignoring or subverting these?

Zimmerman is Hispanic, not white. English is his second language. Your whole premise is very flawed.

Hispanics are Caucasian.

What, do you judge people by the US Government census form?

You keep insisting that everyone who disagrees with you is a racist. Do you really think that racists consider Hispanics white? There is no reason why racists would prefer a Hispanic man over a black one. That is why your premise is ridiculous.

I've given the thread a few moments thought now.

I'm hoping this thread might show some understanding and empathy for Trayvon and for his family, friends - and to include the larger picture of young black males in the United States whose legacy is 200 years of slavery and another hundred years of Jim Crow laws. Destroyed families from their outset.

However, I see my worst fears of this thread topic are already being realized. The other side is in fact the other side, i.e., it hasn't any feeling for a kid who got very nervous about some little white sh*t following him in silence with eyeballs fixed on him.

The other side is devoid of human feeling, sympathy, caring for the black kid, the deceased. Can't put themselves in the other fellow's shoes and haven't the slightest interest in trying to do so. To them Martin is bad, Zimmerman is good. White is right and if you're black get to the back.

The SOS is polluting this thread too.

Yes, far easier to blame the white man for their problems, instead of facing responsibility. Thankfully many black people where I grew up didn't get the Sharpton/Jackson victim message, and are working succesfully in the banks, restaurants, and government offices.

Zimmerman is Hispanic, not white. English is his second language. Your whole premise is very flawed.

Hispanics are Caucasian.

What, do you judge people by the US Government census form?

You keep insisting that everyone who disagrees with you is a racist. Do you really think that racists consider Hispanics white? There is no reason why racists would prefer a Hispanic man over a black one. That is why your premise is ridiculous.

In a previous post, were you talking about our country?

Our United States of America?

what a stupid statement. as much as how i do not agree with what zimmerman did, there is no racial profiling. anyone could be martin, had any white kids be in the similar scenario with martin, zimmerman would still do what he did.

people are just stirring the racial thing in this case. and even it is true, as the president, he should jolly well know what kind of statement he should be making to ease the tension, not to rub it on and acting based on his personal views

and mr obama, if there is anything more that could be you, that is the innocent children killed by unmmaned drones

In a previous post, were you talking about our country?

Our United States of America?

I'm not sure what post you are refering to, but I am not lannabirth. You asked him the same thing.

I am totally confused, there is a thread about Trayvon Martin and Zimmerman where a huge number of posts were deleted because they were about Obama and were off-topic. Now there's a thread about Obama and posters want to re-argue the trial?

Off-topic posts and replies have been deleted.

Please stay on topic.

Some people wish it was. However I don't have a dog in this fight so I don't care.

Oh c'mon. You gotta appreciate the ridiculous unpresidential like statement. Better than Gore's I invented the Internet.

I agree, very unpresidential. However, I guess a lame duck can say whatever is really on his mind. I doubt a first term Obama would have uttered such a statement...

The statement was black presidential. We'd never had that before, so it may seem stranger to some among us than it does to others.

If you mean Prez Obama didn't have the speech transparencies flanking him, or didn't stand straight upright, didn't act formal or speak authoritatively or forcefully, then it wasn't a presidential style of formatted speech.

Prez Obama spoke extemporaneously, in a quiet voice, a calm tone, used two note cards which the media reports say he may have twice glanced at, didn't gesture much if at all. It wasn't a state of the union style or format of delivery.

It was black presidential, thoughtfully addressing for the first time the point of view of the black population of the United States spoken by a black man twice elected president, who spoke at a time an open wound was festering throughout the country.

Prez Obama is the first president who doesn't need a Booker T Washington to advise him on life in the USA as a black man or from the perspective of the African-American population of the country. Prez Obama is it and has lived it despite the fact some people try to deny him the reality of his existence as a black man.

I'm amazed at what some people can miss about the first black president in the context of both recent events concerning the trial in Florida and the initiating event of 17 months ago in Sanford, Florida.

We are talking about our country, are we not?

What a pity that a big one was missed........ could have made America a better place

Zimmerman is Hispanic, not white. English is his second language. Your whole premise is very flawed.

Hispanics are Caucasian.

What, do you judge people by the US Government census form?

Cool! I've learned something new today!

According to wikipedia, Hispanic is an ethnicity and not a race. Hispanics can be racially divided into while and non-white groups. Supposedly 50% of hispanics in the US are white and 50% are non-white. Now what I don't know is if Zimmerman was a white hispanic or non-white hispanic. I also don't know how to distinguish them other than by color of skin and even there, what is the difference between a somewhat dark white, and non-white. Too confusing for me. Ethnicity is easier.

There are countless black on black murders and does Obama say anything? A black guy is killed by someone not black and it's boohoo ' Martin could have been me.'

It seems a black life is much more valuble when it's taken by a non black.

In a previous post, were you talking about our country?

Our United States of America?

I'm not sure what post you are refering to, but I am not lannabirth. You asked him the same thing.

Thanks for pointing that out, although I had noticed it several minutes ago.

Yeah, I asked the question of lannebirth and now he seems to have disappeared while the question to him remains unanswered. So let me ask him again.

lannebirth, in a previous post to this thread, are you referring to our country?

Were you referring to our United States of America?

Inquiring minds want to know.

I am afraid your question will go unanswered for awhile.