MOSCOW (Sputnik) — When commenting on the brutal racist tactics used by US police in Ferguson, Obama said it was a common mistake to think that racism had been banished from the United States.
“We don’t need the Ferguson report to know that’s not true… We just need to open our eyes, and ears, and hearts, to know that this nation’s racial history still casts its long shadow upon us,” Obama said.
Pres Obama leads crowd across Edmund Pettus Bridge, marking 50th anniv of "Bloody Sunday" march. pic.twitter.com/yMa563FpjW
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 7, 2015
“We know the march is not yet over, the race is not yet won, and that reaching that blessed destination where we are judged by the content of our character requires admitting as much,” he added.
#Obama family marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in #Selma pic.twitter.com/nUNaKWzPIX
— darlene superville (@dsupervilleap) March 7, 2015The Obama family and Bush family join marchers to cross Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge. pic.twitter.com/fu6lu4ZNe7
— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) March 7, 2015
Earlier in March, the US Justice Department (DOJ) released a report documenting its findings and conclusions in regard to African-American Michael Brown’s death. Brown was shot dead by white police officer Darren Wilson in August 2014, which triggered mass protests across the country.
Read President Obama’s remarks today at #Selma50. http://t.co/s5PkHgazia pic.twitter.com/PqsmmTkdRt
— CNN (@CNN) March 7, 2015
The 100-page DOJ investigative report into Ferguson law enforcement practices revealed many instances of excessive force directed in almost 90 percent of the cases against African Americans.
President Obama walks across The Edmund Pettus Bridge, in Selma, Alabama on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday pic.twitter.com/wxCJe5fuUd
— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) March 7, 2015
Police violence and racism in the United States has been in the spotlight recently after a series of similar incidents with white police officers killing unarmed black men.
