Recall, he spoke out not only about Trayvon Martin, but also about Shirley Sherrod, a former Department of Agriculture official, who allegedly made racial comments, which proved to be untrue, and the 2009 arrest of Harvard University professor Henry Louis “Skip” Gates who was wrongly accused of breaking into his own home. All of these incidents occurred while Obama was President and after each presidential news conference there was a significant and loud backlash from everyone to presidential historians to ordinary Americans.
Most thought it was inappropriate for a president to comment on an ongoing investigation, and others thought is was beneath the office the presidency to comment on local issues.
I suspect the President could care less about the latter, but is sensitive to the former and I have confidence the President will get this one right. Not just because he’s Black, but because he knows that history will judge him if he gets it wrong.
(Contact Robert Traynham @roberttraynham.)
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune)
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