Race & the Understanding of Race Relations

Many on the hard right are belittling the President for weighing in with thoughts on Trayvon Martin.  They say he is politicizing a jury decision.  I think he was showing leadership and trying to educate the country as to why African Americans were upset by the decision.  Obama did not question the verdict.  He questioned the law, which I have done also, and urged protests to be non-violent.  That is responsible leadership.

Most of us (and I include myself) have no idea what it is like to grow up as an African American male.  Most White American's accepted the verdict and wanted to move on.  We don't understand the simmering resentment that persists within the African American community because it is not part of our experience.  Most African American's I have known well grew up in white America.

I golfed yesterday with 3 African American's who, to me, did not grow up in white America.  It was cordial, but a really different experience from my normal golf outing in that the interest in sharing information in light conversation was limited.  We did not have much in common other than golf.
This difference in experience will take decades to disappear.   My son's generation will have less of it than the Baby Boomer generation.  Perhaps, we will have a post racial society by the time my grandchildren are middle aged adults, but we do not have that today.

The President used his position as a successful person in society to show the African American community that he cares about their concerns and that there is a proper way to change things they don't like about America and an improper way that should not be pursued.  That is leadership, and perhaps political in the sense that anything that mobilizes a community to vote is political.  It is not improper politics because Politicians are supposed to lead.  The legality of a killing of an unarmed person should be questioned by authorities and a prosecution considered.  Then a jury decides quilt or innocence under the law.  Then society moves on.  But if a substantial percentage of the population takes issue with situation, someone needs to address their concerns and that is what the President did in a responsible way.