Eugene Robinson: "Sometimes it’s good to be proved wrong & Well, the president did just that."

Obama’s race challenge — and ours

I’m not sure I know an African American man who hasn’t had these experiences. What’s new is the idea that the president of the United States knows what it feels like to be eyed warily, to be presumed guilty of malicious intent. That gets your attention.

Sometimes it’s good to be proved wrong. Last week, I wrote a column doubting that President Obama could speak powerfully and effectively about the racial issues raised by the Trayvon Martin case. Well, the president did just that.

Obama’s remarks Friday — a surprise to reporters expecting the usual daily press briefing — were brief and informal. But they amounted to the most important speech about race our first African American president has delivered in office.


My skepticism about whether Obama should even try to say anything meaningful about Martin’s death and the acquittal of his killer, George Zimmerman, had nothing to do with the president’s thoughtfulness or eloquence. I simply feared that whatever he said would be misconstrued — deliberately, by some — in a way that robbed his words of their intended meaning.

But Obama began by talking about himself. It was disarming to hear the most powerful man in the world speak of powerlessness.

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MUCH MORE (wish i could post it all today):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-obamas-race-challenge--and-ours/2013/07/22/91a9b580-f2fd-11e2-bdae-0d1f78989e8a_story.html?hpid=z3