Considering President Obama's Remarks on the Trayvon Martin Case

To the Teacher 

"I think it's going to be important for all of us to do some soul-searching," said President Obama his remarks about the Trayvon Martin case on July 19, 2013.  "Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago," said the President. "And when you think about why, in the African-American community at least, there's a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it's important to recognize that the African-American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn't go away."

President Obama's comments came a week after a jury in Sanford, Florida, acquitted George Zimmerman of the second-degree murder and manslaughter of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teenager he had pursued and shot in what he said was self-defense. The verdict touched off discussion and protests throughout the country. 

The activity below is intended to help facilitate a classroom discussion about President Obama's remarks. 

For the full transcript and video: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/president-obamas-remarks-on-trayvon-martin-full-transcript/2013/07/19/5e33ebea-f09a-11e2-a1f9-ea873b7e0424_story.html

Tell students that today the class will read and discuss these comments.

Note that in his talk, President Obama did not to criticize the conduct of the trial or the verdict. Instead he focused on some of the larger underlying issues in the case.  He put it this way:

"I did want to just talk a little bit about context and how people have responded to it and how people are feeling. You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago. And when you think about why, in the African- American community at least, there's a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it's important to recognize that the African- American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that -- that doesn't go away."

Now ask for volunteers to read aloud each of the following excerpts from President Obama's comments. After each excerpt, prompt a brief discussion by asking the questions that follow. 

Excerpt 1:  Experiences that inform views of this case

"There are very few African-American men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me.

And there are very few African-American men who haven't had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me, at least before I was a senator. There are very few African-Americans who haven't had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. That happens often.

And you know, I don't want to exaggerate this, but those sets of experiences inform how the African-American community interprets what happened one night in Florida. And it's inescapable for people to bring those experiences to bear.

The African-American community is also knowledgeable that there is a history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws, everything from the death penalty to enforcement of our drug laws. And that ends up having an impact in terms of how people interpret the case."

Discuss: 

• Have you or someone you know had any of the experiences President Obama describes? What did it feel like?
• Do you understand why these experiences have an impact on how people interpret the case?
• Does it have an impact on how you interpret it?

Excerpt 2:  The context 

"Now, this isn't to say that the African-American community is naive about the fact that African-American young men are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system, that they are disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence. It's not to make excuses for that fact, although black folks do interpret the reasons for that in a historical context.

We understand that some of the violence that takes place in poor black neighborhoods around the country is born out of a very violent past in this country, and that the poverty and dysfunction that we see in those communities can be traced to a very difficult history.

And so the fact that sometimes that's unacknowledged adds to the frustration. And the fact that a lot of African-American boys are painted with a broad brush and the excuse is given, well, there are these statistics out there that show that African-American boys are more violent -- using that as an excuse to then see sons treated differently causes pain...

So folks understand the challenges that exist for African- American boys, but they get frustrated, I think, if they feel that there's no context for it or -- and that context is being denied. And that all contributes, I think, to a sense that if a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario, that, from top to bottom, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different."

Discuss: 

• What does President Obama think about using statistics on violence to justify treating African-American boys differently?  
• Do you agree that if Trayvon had a been a white teen, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different? 

Excerpt 3:  Racial profiling 

"Now, the question for me at least, and I think, for a lot of folks is, where do we take this? How do we learn some lessons from this and move in a positive direction? You know, I think it's understandable that there have been demonstrations and vigils and protests, and some of that stuff is just going to have to work its way through as long as it remains nonviolent. If I see any violence, then I will remind folks that that dishonors what happened to Trayvon Martin and his family.

But beyond protests or vigils, the question is, are there some concrete things that we might be able to do? ... So let me just give a couple of specifics that I'm still bouncing around with my staff so we're not rolling out some five-point plan, but some areas where I think all of us could potentially focus.

Number one, precisely because law enforcement is often determined at the state and local level, I think it'd be productive for the Justice Department -- governors, mayors to work with law enforcement about training at the state and local levels in order to reduce the kind of mistrust in the system that sometimes currently exists.

You know, when I was in Illinois I passed racial profiling legislation. And it actually did just two simple things. One, it collected data on traffic stops and the race of the person who was stopped. But the other thing was it resourced us training police departments across the state on how to think about potential racial bias and ways to further professionalize what they were doing.

And initially, the police departments across the state were resistant, but actually they came to recognize that if it was done in a fair, straightforward way, that it would allow them to do their jobs better and communities would have more confidence in them and in turn be more helpful in applying the law. ... And -- and let's figure out other ways for us to push out that kind of training."

Discuss:

• What does President Obama say about the role of protest? How important do you think protest is in challenging things we view as injustices?
• What do you think about the President's suggestions for addressing racial profiling?
• Do you have other suggestions?

Excerpt 4:  Gun laws

"Along the same lines, I think it would be useful for us to examine some state and local laws to see if it -- if they are designed in such a way that they may encourage the kinds of altercations and confrontations and tragedies that we saw in the Florida case, rather than defuse potential altercations.

I know that there's been commentary about the fact that the stand your ground laws in Florida were not used as a defense in the case.

On the other hand, if we're sending a message as a society in our communities that someone who is armed potentially has the right to use those firearms even if there's a way for them to exit from a situation, is that really going to be contributing to the kind of peace and security and order that we'd like to see?

And for those who resist that idea that we should think about something like these "stand your ground" laws, I just ask people to consider if Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? And do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman, who had followed him in a car, because he felt threatened?

And if the answer to that question is at least ambiguous, it seems to me that we might want to examine those kinds of laws."
 

Discuss:

• What is the Stand Your Ground law? (See our lesson on this issue for more discussion of this.) 
• How would you answer President Obama's question: If Trayvon Martin had been armed, would he be justified in shooting George Zimmerman? 
• What implication does our response to this question have for the case?

Excerpt 5:  Needed programs 

"Number three -- and this is a long-term project: We need to spend some time in thinking about how do we bolster and reinforce our African-American boys? And this is something that Michelle and I talk a lot about. There are a lot of kids out there who need help who are getting a lot of negative reinforcement. And is there more that we can do to give them the sense that their country cares about them and values them and is willing to invest in them?

You know, I'm not naive about the prospects of some brand-new federal program.

I'm not sure that that's what we're talking about here. But I do recognize that as president, I've got some convening power.

And there are a lot of good programs that are being done across the country on this front. And for us to be able to gather together business leaders and local elected officials and clergy and celebrities and athletes and figure out how are we doing a better job helping young African-American men feel that they're a full part of this society and that -- and that they've got pathways and avenues to succeed -- you know, I think that would be a pretty good outcome from what was obviously a tragic situation. And we're going to spend some time working on that and thinking about that."
 

Discuss:

• Do you think we need more of the kinds of programs President Obama mentions? 
• What does he mean when he says he is "not naïve" about the prospects of a new federal program.  What do you think about this?
   

Excerpt 6:  Soul-searching

"And then finally, I think it's going to be important for all of us to do some soul-searching. You know, there have been talk about should we convene a conversation on race. I haven't seen that be particularly productive when politicians try to organize conversations. They end up being stilted and politicized, and folks are locked into the positions they already have.

On the other hand, in families and churches and workplaces, there's a possibility that people are a little bit more honest, and at least you ask yourself your own questions about, am I wringing as much bias out of myself as I can; am I judging people, as much as I can, based on not the color of their skin but the content of their character? That would, I think, be an appropriate exercise in the wake of this tragedy.

And let me just leave you with -- with a final thought, that as difficult and challenging as this whole episode has been for a lot of people, I don't want us to lose sight that things are getting better. Each successive generation seems to be making progress in changing attitudes when it comes to race. I doesn't mean that we're in a postracial society. It doesn't mean that racism is eliminated. But you know, when I talk to Malia and Sasha and I listen to their friends and I see them interact, they're better than we are. They're better than we were on these issues. And that's true in every community that I've visited all across the country.

And so, you know, we have to be vigilant and we have to work on these issues, and those of us in authority should be doing everything we can to encourage the better angels of our nature as opposed to using these episodes to heighten divisions. But we should also have confidence that kids these days I think have more sense than we did back then, and certainly more than our parents did or our grandparents did, and that along this long, difficult journey, you know, we're becoming a more perfect union -- not a perfect union, but a more perfect union."

Discuss: 

• Do you agree that this generation is better than the previous generation on these issues?
• Do you feel you yourself have wrung as much bias out of yourself as you could?  How might you do this?
• Do you think that we can have helpful discussions about race in families, churches and workplaces?  How about at school?
• How might we help contribute to such discussions? 
• Is there an action step you would suggest?

If there is interest, consider helping students develop a project to act on their ideas. 

Closing: 

Ask students:  What is one wish that you take away from today's discussion?