President Obama addressed Thursday the two fatal shootings where police officers shot black men, and urged Americans to recognize that it was an “American issue” that everyone should care about.
“This is not just a black issue,” Obama said, speaking from Warsaw. “It’s not just a Hispanic issue. This is an American issue that we should all care about.”
“We can do better,” he said. “And I believe we will do better.”
Video circulated Wednesday showed Alton Sterling being wrestled to the ground by police officers in Louisiana where he was fatally shot. A live stream on Facebook documented the aftermath of a police officer in Minnesota fatally shooting Philando Castile.
Obama noted that police officers had a tough job, but that to be “concerned” about these issues is “not to be against law enforcement.”
But Obama said that there were biases — conscious and subconscious — that needed to be “rooted out.”
“When people say ‘Black Lives Matter,’ it doesn’t mean blue lives don’t matter, and all lives matter, but right now the big concern is that the data shows black folks are more vulnerable to these kinds of instances,” Obama said.
He said that being concerned about these types of shootings wasn’t being “politically correct,” but “being American.”
This post has been updated.
