In National Review, John R. Lott Jr. accuses President Obama of repeatedly "interjecting" race into law-enforcement issues, including George Zimmerman's trial for the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and the arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, even as he ignores cases where blacks violently attack whites because of their race.
There isn't much I like about Obama's presidency. But the way he handles race and racial controversy is one of them.
Race is among the most contentious subjects in America. Many people are going to disagree with any president's particular take, whatever it happens to be. But agree or disagree with Obama, he deserves credit for expressing his decidedly moderate racial views in a measured, responsible fashion. His speeches on race are among the finest of his presidency not because every idea expressed is necessarily correct, but because he makes an earnest effort to understand and air the perspectives of Americans with very different life experiences and world views.
Critiquing his analysis is totally legitimate. Taking offense at it is a sign that you take offense too easily. And it's especially absurd to write as if Obama himself is the one "interjecting" race into stories that were already national news and racially fraught before he ever commented on them.