President Obama responded perfectly Friday when asked by
a reporter, "Mr. President may I ask you about this current
case in Florida & the very controversial allegations of
lingering racism within our society. The so called 'Stand
Your Ground Law'… Can you comment on the Trayvon Martin Case,
sir?"
Normally, the president becomes annoyed when off-topic questions
come upand can even become quite
combative with journalists. But, in this case, he commented and
his first words set the appropriate tone:
Well, I'm the head of the executive branch, and the Attorney
General reports to me, so I've got to be careful about my
statements to make sure that we're not impairing any investigation
that's taking place right now. But obviously, this is a
tragedy. I can only imagine what these parents are going
through.
Right from the outset, the President acknowledged the
responsibilities of his office and his duty to stay within certain
constitutional guidelines. Rather than leaving it at that, he
then pivoted toward a carefully worded statement that humanized him
as a private citizen and a parent, justlike millions of his
constituents.
In doing so, President Obama managed to avoid politicizing the
case, choosing instead to use the benefits of his office -
visibility, respect, leadership - to avoid a potential flashpoint
and keep the focus on the personal nature of the tragedy. Although
some have tried to criticize the President for likening Martin to
the son he never had, those claims were met with skepticism and had
a short shelf life in the media.
The President's handling of the Trayvon Martin tragedy shows how
much his messaging and communications skills have improved since
the Henry Louis Gates Jr. incident in
2009. In that case, he commented far too quickly, before all
the facts were in, and ended up having to backtrack. This, of
course, culminated in the awkward
beer summit at the White House.
This time, President's Obama's language was far more
thoughtful. He didn't intensify the issue with the racial
rhetoric that some pundits have attempted touse to an effort to
create a social wedge issue in the presidential campaign. In
fact, the President didn't mention race once. "I think every
parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely
imperative that we investigate every aspect of this," he
said. Not "every Black parent" but "every parent."
I don't think the President could have handled the question any
better.
Watch Obama's entire response here.
Ben Levine is an Account Coordinator at Solomon McCown