President Barack Obama has
again waded into the controversy that is the death of Trayvon Martin and the
subsequent George Zimmerman verdict.
Last weekend, he urged the public
to honor the deceased, while respecting the verdict. Today's remarks
were more impromptu and less detached.
Speaking at the White
House about the Martin-Zimmerman case, Obama reacted both personally and as a
member of the African-American community.
"When Trayvon Martin
was first shot, I said that this could have been my son," he said.
"Another way of
saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago."
"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."
