U.S. REP. GREGORY W. MEEKS WELCOMES PRESIDENT OBAMA’S REMARKS ON RACE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 19, 2013

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Gregory W. Meeks issued the following statement on President Barack Obama’s remarks on race:

“I welcome President Obama’s remarkable comments today on Trayvon Martin and race. I admire the respect with which he spoke of the quiet dignity and firm determination of Trayvon’s parents. I applaud the President’s courage to step forward in a principled and thoughtful effort to help our nation heal itself in the aftermath of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, an episode that is embroidered with race and racial profiling. The President’s unscripted remarks were poignant, compassionate, and extraordinarily relevant to the common journey we Americans together are making toward a more perfect union.

“The President spoke forthrightly about the pain African Americans feel in the aftermath of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin and the trial acquitting George Zimmerman, his killer. The President noted that this pain is defined by the history of racial disparities in the criminal justice system and in society at large. I believe it is supremely important for those of us who are not African American to reflect on the point that it is through the lens of this history that African Americans interpret what happened when Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman encountered each other.

"It is particularly salient for a President of the United States to talk about racial profiling. He is the only President in U.S. history who could detail his own repeated encounters with racial profiling throughout his professional life up until he became a U.S. senator. As he stated: ‘Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.’

“The President’s experience is the experience of millions of African-Americans. It was certainly my experience growing up and as a grown man — being stopped by the police for no rhyme or reason; not being served in a restaurant or being served last; being followed in a department store; or even as a Member of Congress, receiving hate mail after appearing of on television news programs, or having to sit in silence while a white colleague, completely comfortable yelling 'You lie,' interrupted a speech by President Obama to a joint session of Congress.

“Racial profiling is a particularly onerous experience for young African American males. This is especially the case in New York City where the police annually ‘stop and frisk’ hundreds of thousands of young Black males. President Obama noted that much of the anger and pain the African-American community feels is because so many of these incidents have no justifiable context. This is precisely how millions of African Americans — and not them alone —see the shooting of Trayvon Martin.

“I join the President’s call for a national dialogue of substance and sincerity. I join him in reaching out to all Americans of goodwill. It will be difficult. But it is necessary. We have to confront race in order to heal. Silence about race will not heal our souls or our society. Perhaps the President is right when he says this conversation should start in families, places of worship, workplaces, and campuses. And, as he suggested, perhaps it should also start with each of us asking ourselves ‘if I have wrung enough bias out of myself.’

“We should go forward with the same courage as President Obama exhibited today. All the while drawing strength and inspiration from President Obama’s point that while we have yet to achieve a post-racial society, and despite the difficulties of this moment, ‘things are getting better.’ If we go forward with confidence in our mutual destiny as Americans and have the patience, courage, and compassion to understand the context that governs each other’s concerns we can make things even better.” [END]