Obama Calls Out Media For Ignoring Baltimore Until The City Started Burning

[babylonsister]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/obama-freddie-gray-media-baltimore


Obama Calls Out Media For Ignoring Baltimore Until The City Started Burning
By Brendan James
Published April 28, 2015, 1:24 PM EDT


President Obama told reporters at a White House news conference on Tuesday that the media ignored peaceful protests in the city until violence erupted, and gave his views on the broader problems facing American cities.

"Frankly it didn't get that much attention," Obama said of the peaceful movement sparked by the death of black man Freddie Gray, who died in police custody. "One burning building will be looped on television over and over and over again. The thousands of demonstrators who did it the right way, I think, have been lost in the discussion."

The President added that unrest in cities like Baltimore will not go away until solutions are found beyond law enforcement.

"This is not new, and we shouldn't pretend that it's new," he said.

"If we think we're going to send police to do the dirty work of containing the problems that arise there — without as a nation and society saying what can we do to change those communities, to help lift up communities, and give those kids opportunity — then we're not going to solve this problem," he added.

"We'll go through the same cycles of periodic conflicts between the police and communities, and occasional riots in the streets. And everybody will feign concern until it goes away," Obama added. "Then we'll go about our business as usual."

The President said that he sensed a lot of police forces have realized "they’ve gotta get their arms around this thing and work with the community to solve the problem,” adding that his administration was looking to help.

"I'm under no illusion that under this Congress we're gonna get massive investments in urban communities," he said, but promised to try and work with the Congress on economic solutions to help cities implement solutions.

He apologized to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for taking so much time during their joint news conference.

"That was a really long answer, but I felt pretty strongly about it," he concluded.

[underpants]

1. Great answer. Damn he treated the Repub Congress like that mom did to her son in Bsltimore

[qwlauren35]

2. Actions speak louder than words.

I'm looking forward to seeing the DOJ bust some balls.

[Fred Sanders]

5. Yes, the DOJ will be able to solve all the problems Obama mentioned........ with prosecutions!

[qwlauren35]

10. There are many things we need

But one of them is to send a message to cops that it is not okay to disrespect, harm or kill civilians, including black civilians, and not be prosecuted for it.

Yes, we need jobs, better schools, community development. But a big thing we need is to be treated with respect by police. And that's definitely not happening right now.

[Vinca]

3. He also mentioned something about people being jobless because industry had left the area.

Gee . . . wonder why that might be? Previous trade agreements perhaps?

[jwirr]

4. Industry left the inner cities many years ago. Read "When Work Disappears" by William Julius

Wilson. This book talks not only about the inner cities but about the continued process of disappearing work.

He starts with work moving out of the inner cities due to aging buildings and infrastructure. It goes to the suburbs and then to the south in search of cheaper non-union wages. And we know the rest of the story. And yes, the end of this moving was the trade agreements like NAFTA.

[libdem4life]

14. And there he was talking to Japan about the Trade Agreement. Japan. Autos. Detroit. Decent Jobs.

Unions. Opportunity. Japan. Not the local SEIU or the AFL-CIO...who are they, again?

Edit: Forgot, WalMart jobs. Made everywhere but the US, wiped out most small businesses in rural areas and on Food Stamps. I'm Pissed.

[bigtree]

6. k&r

Last edited Tue Apr 28, 2015, 03:21 PM - Edit history (2)

It is not enough for me to stand before you and condemn riots without condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions in our society - MLK

[calimary]

17. In the coverage I've heard another Dr. King quote repeated several times - and I really like it.

"Riots are the language of the unheard."

That makes so much sense to me. Nails it. I think the black community feels it's just backed up into a corner, in general. I can only relate, (being white) as a woman. But as a woman, I know how it is to be unheard. I know how it is to have our interests and concerns and needs ignored, nullified, belittled, even laughed at. The whole "little woman" syndrome. That all we need is a good strong man to take us to bed every so often and knock us up and station us at home in the kitchen where we belong, at least at those times when we're not expected to report to the bedroom to "love, honor, and (especially) OBEY." And that's so damn fictitious as to be laughable. I think we women are uniquely positioned to understand the whole notion of second-class citizens because of our history of experience and domination by men and patriarchal societies down through history. Our role was to serve, obey, and breed. And be meek and silent and subservient.

Well, I'm SORRY. I'm Not Playing! That's just too damn bad! As a woman, I don't view myself as being held hostage to those roles and those alone! I've got a LOT more to contribute than that. As does every other woman I know! And I don't care WHO tries to take away our right of sovereignty over OUR OWN BODIES. I won't be playing along, OR cooperating. Until men can get pregnant, that is. When men can get pregnant, and understand completely what that is, and what it's like and how it can hurt and even threaten a woman's life (as BOTH my pregnancies did), ONLY THEN can they tell me all about it.

And I see the same domineering and uncaring, unsympathetic, intolerant, judgmental shit imposed and reinforced even to this late date upon the African American community in this country. The demeaning. The lessening. The dismissiveness. The "other"-ness. They're made to feel that they don't count. Their concerns don't count. Their very LIVES don't count! That they're somehow less. And maybe they're probably even just making it all up. They complain and rally and march and write letters and lobby and email and petition and try to effect positive change - and they remain unheard. I can just imagine the frustration! Because, regarding women's issues and women's reproductive rights, I FEEL THAT FRUSTRATION! I feel it intensely! Mere lip service paid FOR DECADES to their issues (if they're LUCKY enough even to merit some lip service!!!!), and nothing ever actually concretely done about it. To hear the complaints articulated from Baltimore about the promises made to that community that were NEVER kept, NEVER lived up to, just forgotten about and dismissed and demeaned and knocked all the way down the priority ladder to the very bottom - that just SUCKS. SUCKS!!! Being seen and not heard - and more often than not, NOT EVEN SEEN!!!! As a woman, it allows me to identify more acutely with the justifiable grievances of the African American community. I mean - look at the SHIT our President has to deal with! NO OTHER President, EVER, had to face that kind of disrespect. Even Bill Clinton didn't have it THAT bad, and hell, they broke all land speed records to impeach him, even. It just makes me SEETHE.

[Pooka Fey]

7. This will be a good beginning if these words are followed by Government actions

"I'm under no illusion that under this Congress we're gonna get massive investments in urban communities," he said, but promised to try and work with the Congress on economic solutions to help cities implement solutions.

He's not wrong about this. I'm glad to see that he has at least addressed this, and will wait to see what's to come of it in the immediate future.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

8. Republican congress will do their best to strip the poor of all funding

until we have a plan - action not words

[MuttLikeMe]

9. Thank you, President Obama

[calimary]

19. Welcome to DU, MuttLikeMe!

Glad you're here! I agree. Thank you, President Obama. Your words certainly ring true. I'm glad he spoke out like this. We need more of this. And more from him on this. More like that remarkable statement from that Baltimore Orioles VP. MORE.

[Hekate]

11. Bam! 6-point answer, bing bing bing

The man cares, he's deeply informed, and he's pissed off. Mentioned Congress, too -- as in, doesn't believe much of anything will get through this one.

[captainarizona]

12. If they do nothing would change

The problems are so overwhelming a few news stores would make no difference. The police control the poor to protect the corporate state and the establishment so they are not forced to make social changes. That is why the court of last resort for the black community is not the supreme court but the street!

[HenryWallace]

13. Photoshop Request

Can someone photoshop the Verizon guy in the middle of this?

"Can you hear me now?"

[calimary]

21. Welcome to DU, BOTH of you! captainarizona and also HenryWallace!

Good to have each of you with us! Good point - "Can you hear me NOW????"

I know I mentioned it above, but still it rings PROFOUNDLY true - the Martin Luther King Jr. quote that's been referenced several times in the past day-and-a-half: "Riots are the language of the unheard." That is an AMAZING quote. This kind of civil disruption is what happens when needs are consistently and relentlessly IGNORED, and even actively thwarted. It's what happens when people are desperate, when they feel as though they're simply OUT of options, that NO ONE hears them or even cares to listen.

[SunSeeker]

15. If it bleeds, it leads.

MSM is basically The Enquirer without Bat Boy.

[spanone]

16. our media is a non-funny joke.

[treestar]

18. President Obama nails it again. nt

[ohheckyeah]

20. Did president Obama

address the protests and I missed it? I hope so.