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Obama: 'Trayvon Martin Could Have Been Me'

Jacqueline Jackson |
July 19, 2013 | 11:53 a.m. PDT

Executive Producer

President Obama | Wikimedia
President Obama | Wikimedia

At a press conference on Friday morning President Obama said that Trayvon Martin could have been him 35 years ago. The president reflected on the century-old wounds of African Americans who have grown up in what many say is a post racial society. A society in which Obama said Friday has not reached that point.

The speech was one of Obama's most extensive comments on U.S. race relations since entering the White House.

"There are very few African-American men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed when they were shopping at a department store, and that includes me," he said. He spoke about hearing the locks click on car doors while crossing the street -- something Mr. Obama said he experienced before he was senator -- or seeing a woman nervously clutch her purse while in an elevator with an African-American man.

He reinforced that there is still work to be done in America and the many people who are protesting throughout the country, especially African Americans, have felt first hand how stereotypes in this country affect how people interact with them on a daily basis.

SEE ALSO: Hundreds Of Trayvon Martin Protestors Close L.A. Streets

Citing that he himself has experienced racial stereotypes prior to serving as sentaor, the President said that as a nation we have a long way to go before we are fully healed from the effects thats racism had on the country.

President Obama ended with reminding everyone that children today are "better than we were" decades ago and the nation will be different soon. 


 

Watch the CNN clip below for more

 



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