It is not wise for a public figure, such as the President of the United States, to make a comment that might fire up racial tensions. With president Obama's approval rating dropping due to the health reform issues, making a remark about racism will not serve to help those ratings.
The incident occurred when black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested for disorderly conduct at his home by police officer Sgt. James Crowley following a burglary investigation. Gates believed that he was racially profiled by the white officer. The issue grew bigger and bigger following Obama's comments on this matter during a press conference. Obama said that he thought the police "acted stupidly." Later, regretting his remarks, Obama invited the two men over to the White house for beer and to talk it over.
I don't have a problem with the president's attempts to make amends with the two men. What I do not understand is how come this issue became so big that the president has to be personally involved. This issue was poorly handled on the president's part when he made that kind of remark to the police officer. It is true that he was asked for his opinion during the press conference, but he should not have commented like that. Critics think that the president is being vocally involved way too much. He holds many press conferences, talks about his health reform plans, and now, talks about racism. It would be wise if the president does less talking and takes more action. There is nothing to be gained by encouraging the media. Hopefully, from now on, the president will choose not to make comments on these kinds of problems and just focus on the real issues of our country.
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The Wall Street Journal writes, "President Barack Obama tried to step back from the contretemps over the arrest of African-American scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., saying he "could have calibrated" his words differently when he said police had "acted stupidly" in handling the situation. The racial firestorm surrounding the country's first African-American president came as a shock to the White House, which had spent the prior two days dismissing it as a media creation." My classmate's blog about all the media hype over Obama's reaction to Gates is right on point. "It is not wise for a public figure, such as the President of the United States, to make a comment that might fire up racial tensions." When President Obama make a nerve-racking comment on the situation involving Gates and the police, it became like a giant elephant in the living room. I strongly agree with what my classmate said, "What I do not understand is how come this issue became so big that the president has to be personally involved." This whole issue should not have turned into such a huge deal, in my opinion. The media blew this incident up to something it wasn't. I also strongly agree with my classmates point she brings up, "Critics think that the president is being vocally involved way too much." Overall my classmate wrote a very good and thought provoking blog that I strongly agree and side with. "There is nothing to be gained by encouraging the media. Hopefully, from now on, the president will choose not to make comments on these kinds of problems and just focus on the real issues of our country."
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