Why Has Obama Already Taken a Side in the Brown Case?
by Keith Koffler on August 13, 2014, 1:41 pm
White House DossierHere we go again. It’s very depressing.
This was supposed to be a president who united the country and helped heal racial divisions. Post-racial, post-political. Of course, he’s been anything but.
As he did in the Trayvon Martin case, President Obama is jumping right into the fray of a racially charged incident with an opinion about what happened.
Sure, in a statement released Tuesday, he called for calm, but only indirectly – i.e. we need “healing” instead of “wounds” – and only as a sideshow to his main point, which was empathy for Brown and the clear suggestion that the killing was wrongful and racially motivated
“The death of Michael Brown is heartbreaking, and Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family and his community at this very difficult time,” Obama wrote, adding that Brown and his family need “our prayers.”
Let me be clear: I have no idea why Michael Brown was shot. BUT NEITHER DOES OBAMA.
The police say it was self defense. A witness says Brown was shot for absolutely no reason. An investigation by federal authorities is underway. It’s very important to find out what happened, because we can’t have police shooting black men for no reason, OR, we have to allow police to protect themselves.
Actually, if we truly live in a nation whose judicial system and culture is predicated on a presumption of innocence, then once this officer’s name is out, it’s going to be him and his family who needs our prayers, you can be sure.
But this doesn’t occur to Obama. Because Obama’s race apparently defines his worldview to a far greater extent then he let on.
I don’t begrudge Obama having emotions and passions derived from being a black man in a society that can still exhibit racism – and that certainly did during his youth. Walking around as a young man in black skin, you are defined by many, often negatively – even by those who are not racist – before you’ve even open your mouth. Although he did grow up in Hawaii, which I imagine was a far more benevolent place than most others.
What I object to is Obama’s failure, both as president as the chief enforcer of laws, to put those passions away and take an objective view that represents everyone and at least awaits EVIDENCE before making judgements.
