Trayvon Martin could have been me, says Barack Obama in stirring speech
President candidly speaks of plight of young black men after outrage at Trayvon Martin ruling
"Wow" is what Joseph Jones of Baltimore said after watching US President Barack Obama's unexpected and deeply personal plea on race and crime on Friday.
Like many African-Americans, Jones, who is the president of the Centre for Urban Families in Baltimore, felt a surge of pride, recognition and hope, he said, when he heard the first African-American president speak so candidly about race relations in the US.
Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago
"We've grown in our society to a place where the leader of the free world can come out in the bully pulpit and talk honestly about race and young black men," Jones said. But the true test of progress would be if another, non-black president can be so honest, he added.
On Friday, reading an unusually personal, hand-written statement, Obama tackled the Trayvon Martin verdict, laying out his message of why the not-guilty ruling had caused such pain among African-Americans, particularly young black men accustomed to arousing the kind of suspicion that led to the shooting death of Martin in a gated Florida neighbourhood.
"Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago," Obama said simply.
That line was shared more than 6,700 times on Twitter in the first three hours after the speech.
