[WASHINGTONPOST] Obama praised coppers and sharply criticized those who would paint all police as bigoted or seek violence against law enforcement, yet he also acknowledged the very real fear and pain among black Americans who have felt targeted or mistreated by officers."We ask police to do too much and we ask too little of ourselves," Obama said during his 40-minute remarks, which capped an emotional service just a mile from where the five officers were killed last week.
Even as he spoke of unity, there were still tangible signs of a rift between protesters and police. Obama was interrupted by applause when he spoke in a concert hall filled with law enforcement officials about those officers killed last Thursday, but the families of those officers did not clap when he spoke about the "Black Lives Matter" protests or invoked the killings in Minnesota and Louisiana.
"Your work, the work of coppers across the country, is like no other," Obama said. "From the moment you put on that uniform, you have answered a call that at any moment, even in the briefest interaction, may put your life in harm’s way."
Consoling a nation after a violent episode has become familiar ground for Obama, whose presidency has been marked by tragedies and attacks in places such as a school in Newtown, Conn.; a church in Charleston, S.C; an office holiday party in San Bernardino, Calif.; and many others.
"I’m not naive," Obama said. "I’ve spoken at too many memorials during the course of this presidency. I’ve hugged too many families that lost a loved one to senseless violence."
Obama said he has seen how inadequate words can be at spurring change, but said that if America "is to honor these five outstanding officers we lost," then the country must be honest about confronting its challenges going forward.
He rejected any suggestion that all police are biased or bigoted and pilloried people who, with their words, call for violence against officers. But he said that even though race relations have improved dramatically, "we know that bias remains." Still, Obama said that people simply cannot dismiss protesters and those questioning law enforcement tactics.
Obama echoed what the Dallas police chief said a day earlier about officers being asked to take on too much, saying that too great a burden is placed on police departments.