quite a bit but it was very powerful because of that. do you think, though, as i know you ve scoured all the news headlines. i m looking at this one from politico today where it says obama weighs in on race reluctantly. that interpretation. do you see how politico reached that interpretation? do you think there was any reluctance? i think part of this has been the sort of standard trope about president obama that he has not discussed race enough. every time i hear that i always ask, as compared to whom? as compared to jesse jackson, reverend al sharpton, other people who are civil rights leaders, activists, advocates? or as compared to other american presidents? as compared to other american presidents he has spoken about as much as most other democrats and quite a bit more than american presidents in general about race. he has invoked african-american lives as part of the way that he tells the american narrative when he is telling that broad reach of history story. and in a few
i think all of that was factored in to president obama s decision to speak out on friday. officials here saying that he consulted with family members and with friends. then on thursday he called a meeting with some of his top advisers to tell them that he had made his decision that he wanted to address this publicly. i think it is striking because of course it was a surprise we keep going back to that point but it can t be over stated how rare that is. usually this white house gives the press corps here some type of heads up when the president is about to come to the briefing room. that didn t happen yesterday in part because according to one white house official they didn t want reporters sitting around speculating about what the president might be talking about. they wanted these comments to stand on their own. they certainly had a big impact because it was such a surprise. i think the comments were also striking because they were so deeply personal. take a listen to a little bit mor
past if he makes any mention of race. you remember the criticism he received when he said that if he had a son he would look like trayvon but it was wonderful to hear him speak from the heart, to talk about his own personal experience. and to mirror the fact that he knows that african-american boys, men go through this experience on a daily basis. and a lot of women, too. how important is it, representative bass, do you think for people to understand that perspective? how much do you think many people in this country don t even think about that? well, i mean, i know that people don t. and here is what i always say. because a lot of people will listen to this and say, well, i ve never experienced that. people who aren t african-american. i always say, for one moment can you just take a deep breath and say, it isn t my experience but is there something i can learn here? instead of just being dismissive. which is what i hear all the time. people say, i don t believe
i actually don t buy the narrative that he is someone who doesn t address race but i understand that it comes for people because there is an expectation that he as a black man would talk about it more frequently. of course what we saw over the past 12, not even 24 hours yet, is that when an african-american, particularly one of the power that he has, speaks on race, many people have a lot of difficulty hearing it. yeah. and i want to let you all know as melissa and david have been talking christmas when you re looking at live pictures, new york, los angeles we re keeping it on that, chicago, miami. miami is just wrapping up now. but, david, are you hearing anything from the white house on what the president hopes to accomplish with his remarks? i mean, is there something tangible, palatable, some specific thing he wants to achieve? he himself said yesterday we have to respect the verdict. the jury has spoken. you know, from his statement earlier in the week, a written statement, he
african-american on african-american crime as though people in communities are not working to stop this on a daily basis. but, you know, the projects, the programs that fight the problems that really tried to address what s going on with african-american males alsop rate on a shoe string budget and i think more resources needs to go. there needs to be a commitment in this country for our youth, period. and especially our vulnerable youth. african-american males certainly fall into that category. congresswoman karen bass, many thanks for your time. thanks for having me on. president obama s comments are resonating across this country and of course making the front pages. a sampling of the headlines. this from the san jose mercury news. president obama gives voice to pain. the atlanta journal-constitution headlines the story this way. president obama says martin could have been me. and in the news journal in wilmington, delaware, president obama, we must search our souls. now back