Barack Obama interviewed with Black Entertainment Television (BET) and addressed the furor that followed the recent decisions by two grand juries not to indict police officers Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo. The president said America has made significant progress when it comes to racism – then alluded to continued racist behavior among some communities. “We can’t equate what is happening now to what was happening 50 years ago,” he explained. “And if you talk to your parents, grandparents, uncles, they’ll tell you that things are better. Not good in some cases, but better.” Nevertheless, “When you’re dealing with something as deeply rooted as racism or bias in any society you’ve got to have vigilance but you have to recognize that it is going to take some time, and you just have to be steady.”

Obama also said, “The vast majority of law enforcement officers are doing a really tough job, and most of them are doing it well and are trying to do the right thing. But a combination of bad training, in some cases, a combination in some cases of departments that really are not trying to root out biases, or tolerate sloppy police work; a combination in some cases of folks just not knowing any better, and in a lot of cases, subconscious fear of folks who look different – all of this contributes to a national problem that’s going to require a national solution.”

If this is about racism, why did Eric Garner’s widow admit her husband’s death isn’t a “black and white thing”? According to a recent poll, if anyone is to blame for fanning the race card flame, it’s Obama. Bloomberg Politics reports, “[A] majority of Americans, 53 percent, say the interactions between the white and black communities have deteriorated since [Obama] took office.” More…