Hellobee Boards

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Considering that he is half white and half black I think he is president of all america.
I don't see anything wrong with what he said, so I dont understand all the angry comments underneath. I am always put off by the hateful comments under news stories these days

I applaud what he said. I think he was honest and real. As a white person, I don't know what it feels like to be followed when I'm shopping so someone can keep an eye on me. I think it is good that we have a president that has had those experiences.
I'm so sad that the Trayvon Martin incident happened, but I think this is an important discussion we should have as a nation, as uncomfortable as it can be.

Obama speaks on many things not just racial topics so the implication that he's president of only black america is absurd.

@lisamarieloves: I'm not sure what happened during the confrontation but a black boy or man walking down the street to his home talking on a cell phone most certainly should not be a licence for murder.

I think it's totally appropriate for the president to speak on a matter that has become a national conversation. While violent incidents do happen all the time, this one has generated a lot of thought about race, state laws and how our justice system works. It also has sparked protests all over the country. I think the president should speak about it and the fact that he may have some personal experiences to share just makes his remarks more relevant.

@Maysprout: The trial court's ruling in the GZ case does not indicate in any way that a person can shoot another person who is walking down the street. That isn't what ocurred in the GZ/TM situation.

Recently a clearly mentally unstable homless man was sitting on the curb in my tiny condo community. It was about 6 pm and little kids were riding their bikes and scooters around. My husband approached him to inquire as to his needs and reasons for being there out of concern for the children. The man was very agitated and even more revealed his mental instability during their brief encounter. If a confrontation had ensued, my DH would have defended himself to best of ability. My DH had every right to approach the man. And he would have every right to defend himself as was called for by the situation.

I think it's easy for people who have never experienced racism to dismiss this case and think everyone should just move on. But I'm glad the president is speaking up about this, because race relations are a major problem in this country and ignoring it won't solve things. And...the idea that the president is only president of "black America" is awful...was Kennedy only president of Catholic America?

@TemperanceBrennan: Very well said, I think if we all try to understand things from the other side, we will move forward as a nation. Instead of dismissing the issues and pretending they do not exist

@lisamarieloves: 'I believe that if any adult-looking person of any race was in GZ's neighborhood looking like he was up to no good the same tradjedy could have occurred.'

That's the part of your statement I took issue with. A black boy is not sketchy just because he is black. If I called the cops on every 17 year old of any race walking near my house at 7 pm the cops would probably block my #.

Like I said, no one knows what happened in the confrontation but there is no indication that Trayvon was 'looking like he was up to no good'.

@MsLipGloss: There's tons of kids around where I live. If I was scared of 17 year olds in hoodies I'd be having a panic attack every night. That being said I live in a low crime neighborhood despite the presence of lots of 17 year old boys. A shed on our property was broken into so maybe I should be more vigilant like GZ, but that was done by a 50 year old white guy. I don't try to confront every middle age white guy I see as a potential shed robber though.

Just.....no comment
Thanks for sharing the link!

@lisamarieloves: we do know however that he looked like a teen and not a man, and we know this because GZ himself said so.

As opposed to wishing GZ had the ability to fight TM off, I wish he would have stayed in his car like he was clearly instructed to instead of following him with a loaded weapon. If he was scared of the biy walking to buy candy, he should have locked his door.

I am black so maybe I am biased, but it is refreshing to finally hear someone acknowledging what we all know. People follow me in stores all the time, I am constantly denied entry to nice bars and clubs, taxi drivers constantly swoop by me to pick up the white girl down the street and everyone and their dog assumes that I am in a nice building to clean someone's house or look after their child. I am educated, pretty, well dressed and look like a threat to no one (whatever threatening looks like.)

People who have never experienced this might not see what the big deal is. The big deal is that we are frightened for the lives of our sons and daughters and quite frankly neither the media nor politicians have done enough to get people talking about how we can stop this.

@mrsbookworm: Agreed--this case became national, it's only right for the President to respond.

@mrbee: I feel like he's gotten a lot of flack for not speaking about race, but he's in an interesting situation because when he does talk about race he's "the president of Black America" and when he doesn't talk about race he's not doing enough for Black people (some people think)--so he just doesn't seem to win.

I'm white and I loved what he said. I like to see him being honest and real and speaking from the heart. I think it's valuable for people to see the president talking about being in the receiving end of racial discrimination and I think him saying that Trayvon could have been him 30 years ago is powerful and, unfortunately, absolutely true. Although really, I think the people who would benefit the most from taking his words to heart will likely just dismiss them. So much of politics is an echo chamber these days -- people repeat the things they agree with and ignore the things that don't fit with their worldview. It's unfortunate.

@MrsSCB: You are certainly right about the people who would benefit most from what Obama has to say dismissing it because of politics. It's incredibly frustrating and I wonder how this country will ever change in terms of racial relations if people don't wake up and realize that we are not in a post-racial society yet. There is still so much more work to be done.

@lisamarieloves: +1 I wish they'd focus on doing something positive in his memory. I really feel like he's just stirrrrrrrrring the pot.

"There are probably very few African-American men who have not had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars." Um, if anyone gets remotely near my car, I make sure the doors are locked. Black, white, Asian, boy, girl, business suit, hoodie, doesn't matter. If they seem like they're getting too close, I check the locks!

@septemberlove: Seriously. A white man on meth scares the crap out of me more than anyone!

@lisamarieloves: definitely.