Obama’s Blueprint to Avoid Another Trayvon Tragedy
President Obama talked about stopping racial profiling.
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The President's Plan - In moving forward from George Zimmerman’s verdict, which became a racially charged issue for many Americans, President Obama presented a blueprint to prevent another tragedy like the Trayvon Martin shooting. In his own words, here are five areas the president wants to focus on. — LaToya Bowlah (Photo: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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One: Reduce Racial Profiling in the Justice System - I think it would be productive for the Justice Department, governors, mayors to work with law enforcement about training at the state and local levels in order to reduce the kind of mistrust in the system that sometimes currently exists. When I was in Illinois, I passed racial profiling legislation. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Two: Review the Use of Stand Your Ground Laws - I think it would be useful for us to examine some state and local laws to see if it — if they are designed in such a way that they may encourage the kinds of altercations and confrontations and tragedies that we saw in the Florida case, rather than diffuse potential altercations. (Photo: Jordan Silverman/Getty Images)
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Three: Reinforce the Value of African-American Boys - “We need to spend some time in thinking about how do we bolster and reinforce our African-American boys...There are a lot of kids out there who need help who are getting a lot of negative reinforcement. And is there more that we can do to give them the sense that their country cares about them and values them and is willing to invest in them?” (Photo: quavondo/Getty Images)
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Four: Do Some Soul-Searching - There has been talk about should we convene a conversation on race. I haven't seen that be particularly productive when politicians try to organize conversations. They end up being stilted and politicized, and folks are locked into the positions they already have. On the other hand, in families and churches and workplaces, there's the possibility that people are a little bit more honest, and at least you ask yourself your own questions about, am I wringing as much bias out of myself as I can? Am I judging people as much as I can, based on not the color of their skin, but the content of their character? That would, I think, be an appropriate exercise in the wake of this tragedy. (Photo: Marcy Maloy/Getty Images)
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Five: Don't Lose Sight of Progress - Each successive generation seems to be making progress in changing attitudes when it comes to race. It doesn’t mean we’re in a post-racial society. It doesn’t mean that racism is eliminated. But when I talk to Malia and Sasha, and I listen to their friends and I seem them interact, they’re better than we are — they’re better than we were — on these issues. And that’s true in every community that I’ve visited all across the country. (Photo: John Moore/Getty Images)
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