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President Barack Obama said in his weekly address on Saturday that the process of building trust between U.S. police forces and communities still has a long way to go, one year after the police killing of unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
“Over the past year, we've come to see, more clearly than ever, the frustration in many communities of color and the feeling that our laws can be applied unevenly,” said Obama in his address.
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"Over the past year, we’ve come to see more clearly than ever the frustration in many communities of color." —@POTUS: http://t.co/MIrjXT7tr3
— The White House (@WhiteHouse)
August 15, 2015
Obama said the task force convened in the wake of Mike Brown’s killing aimed to develop “common sense steps” to increase trust between communities and police. Based on 59 recommendations the group put forward in May, the government has been “working with communities across America to put these ideas into action,” the president said.
But despite claimed improvements in policing practices, including increased communication with the public, cases of police brutality have continued unabated across the country and the details of acts of violence by police remain far from transparent.
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Last month, vocal Black activist Sandra Bland died in police custody under highly suspicious circumstances, and details of her arrest and death were actively hidden by authorities. Two days before the anniversary of Mike Brown’s murder earlier this month, unarmed Black teenager Christian Taylor was also shot dead by police. At rallies commemorating Mike Brown last weekend, Brown’s former classmate Tyrone Harris was shot by police and seriously wounded. Family members say Harris was running for his life.
According to data gathered by the Washington Post, 24 unarmed Black people have been killed so far this year, 40 percent of the total unarmed people, even though they make up 6 percent of the population. .
Obama act like police are killing unarmed black men in another country. Meanwhile its happening a rocks throw from his bedroom. #Oakland @AP
— TruthBeTold (@Big6domino)
August 13, 2015
While Obama did not speak to specific instances of police brutality, undue use of force, and discriminatory police practices that disproportionately target Black people and members of other marginalized communities, he did acknowledge that the problems brought to light by the case of Mike Brown and many others are far from resolved.
“The issues raised over the past year aren't new, and they won't be solved by policing alone,” said Obama, adding that the society as a whole must be involved in tackling such problems. “That starts with reforming a criminal justice system that too often is a pipeline from inadequate schools to overcrowded jails, wreaking havoc on communities and families all across the country.”
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Last month, Obama was the first sitting president to visit a federal prison after making calls for urgent reform to the broken U.S. criminal justice system.
While criminal justice activists have welcomed the surge in interest in the issue and push for judicial reform, some have also cautioned that Obama's proposals are only one part of a wider structural change needed to rewind and remedy decades of deepening state incarceration.
You can't say #BlackLivesMatter and accept money from private prison institutions that profit off of our bodies filling the cells.
— The Dream Defenders (@Dreamdefenders)
August 12, 2015
In a statement last week, the Black Lives Matter movement wrote that it is an “ideological and political intervention” that is “not controlled by the same political machine” that it aims to hold accountable.
“Historically, all political parties have participated in the systematic disenfranchisement of Black people,” the movement wrote in a statement. “Anti-black racism, especially that sanctioned by the state, has resulted in the loss of healthy and thriving Black life and well-being.”
“Given that, we will continue to hold politicians and political parties accountable for their policies and platforms,” the statement added. “We will also continue to demand the intentional dismantling of structural racism.”
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Obama said that the United States must deal “honestly with issues of race, poverty, and class that leave too many communities feeling isolated and segregated from greater opportunity.”
As the Black Lives Matter movement and a number of incidents including the recent mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina have highlighted, the U.S. is still plagued by structural racism and discrimination.
Activists have called a protest in Washington, D.C. outside the White House later in the day on Saturday.
Photo: Twitter / #Blackout DC
