President Obama made a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room Friday to share his thoughts on the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, saying it is important to look at the case through the lens of past discrimination. 
 
 "Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago," Obama said, during extensive and deeply personal remarks that lasted for 18 minutes. "And when you think about why, in the African American community at least, there’s a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it’s important to recognize that the African American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that -- that doesn’t go away." 
 
 Obama continued: "And I don't want to exaggerate this, but those sets of experiences inform how the African American community interprets what happened one night in Florida. And it's inescapable for people to bring those experiences to bear." 
 
 Obama spoke in a quiet and sometimes halting voice, without notes, touching on both his own experience as a black man and what he sees in his daughters, Sasha and Malia, and their relationship to children of other races. "There are very few African American men who haven't had the experience of being followed in a department store. That includes me," he said. 
 
 But he also struck a hopeful note, saying, "As difficult and challenging as this episode has been, things are getting better." 
 
 The president said that his daughters and their friends are "better than we are, they’re better than we were, on these issues. And that’s true at every community I’ve visited across this country." 
 
 “We should also have confidence that kids these days, I think, have more sense than we did back then, and certainly more than our parents did or our grandparents did," Obama said. "And along this long journey, we’re becoming a more perfect union, not a perfect union, but a more perfect union.” 
 
 Obama said he and his deputies were considering a few concrete policy options in the wake of the Zimmerman verdict, such as trying to train state and local law enforcement officials how to better deal with issues of racial bias, and exploring whether state laws such as "Stand Your Ground" might "encourage the kinds of altercations and confrontations" rather than defuse them. 
 
 More broadly, he said he wanted to pursue a "long-term project" of "thinking about, how do we bolster and reinforce African American boys? And this is something that Michelle and I talk a lot about. There are a lot of kids out there that need help, that are getting a lot of negative reinforcement." 
 
 It is important, Obama said, for individual Americans to "do some soul-searching" about their own inherent racial biases, and ask, "Am I wringing as much bias out of myself as I can?" 
 
 "That would, I think, be an important exercise in the wake of this tragedy," he said. 
 
 More on this story: 
 
 Full video of Obama's remarks 
 
 Full transcript 
 
 The Fix: President Obama's remarkably personal speech on race 
 
 Robert Zimmerman: 'I'm glad he spoke out today' ||||| CLOSE President Obama made a statement about the George Zimmerman trial verdict saying that he could have been Trayvon Martin 35 years ago. He said that the country needs to stop racial disparities. VPC 
 
 In his most extensive comments on race since the 2008 campaign, Obama asks nation to "wring" bias out of themselves 
 
 Barack Obama at his high school graduation, left, and slain teen Trayvon Martin. (Photo: Obama photo via the Obama Presidential Campaign; Trayvon Martin family photo) Story Highlights President Obama urges Americans to respect the verdict in the George Zimmerman case 
 
 Obama also said whites need to understand the realities of racial discrimination 
 
 The nation should do soul searching in the wake of the case, Obama says 
 
 President Obama said Friday that all Americans should respect a jury's acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin, but white Americans should also understand that African Americans are pained by Trayvon's death and continue to face racial discrimination. 
 
 "Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago," the nation's first African-American president said during a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room. 
 
 Obama, who last year said the 17-year-old Florida shooting victim could just as easily have been his son, talked about how he has been subjected to casual prejudice. He also said African Americans need to address the problems of violence in their own communities. 
 
 African-American males know they are more likely to be both "victims and perpetrators of violence," Obama said, and "somebody like Trayvon Martin was probably statistically more likely to be shot by a peer than he was by somebody else." 
 
 The problem is that so many people paint with a "broad brush" and see all black young men as potential criminals, Obama said. 
 
 A Florida jury acquitted Zimmerman on Saturday night of murder in the 2012 death of 17-year-old Trayvon. This was Obama's first on-camera comments on the case since the verdict was handed down Saturday night. He had had issued a written statement calling for calm on Sunday. 
 
 Obama has generally avoiding discussing racial issues -- today was probably his most extensive comments on the issue as president, reminiscent of his speech on race relations during the 2008 campaign. 
 
 FIRST TAKE: Obama leading from behind on race 
 
 In an extraordinary 19-minute appearance, Obama spoke personally and at times emotionally about the frustrations African-Americans have with the justice system, and the continuing racial divides that shadow the nation. 
 
 "I think it's important to recognize that the African American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn't go away," Obama said, and "it's going to be important for all of us to do some soul-searching." 
 
 Obama told reporters that, like other African Americans, he has been followed by security guards while shopping, and has seen motorists lock their doors or women hold tighter to their purses as he walked near them. While didn't want to "exaggerate," Obama said "those sets of experiences inform how the African-American community interprets what happened one night in Florida." 
 
 He cited racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and how blacks tend to be charged more often with drug offenses and sentenced to longer prison terms than whites. He also said it's fair to wonder what would have happened in Florida if the shooter had been a young African-American. 
 
 Obama said he respects the different views of the verdict, but the trial was conducted professionally, and "once the jury has spoken, that's how our system works." While demonstrations and peaceful protests are understandable, he said violence "dishonors what happened to Trayvon Martin and his family." 
 
 Said Obama: "Now, the question for me at least, and I think for a lot of folks, is where do we take this?" 
 
 While the Justice Department investigates whether to charge Zimmerman with civil rights violations in the case, Obama said state and local levels should examine whether changes to laws can head off violent confrontations. He cited laws to ban racial profiling, and proposed new kind of training for law enforcement in order "to reduce the kind of mistrust in the system that sometimes currently exists." 
 
 The president also questioned the wisdom of Florida's "stand your ground" law, which, in the view of critics, all but encourages confrontation that could turn deadly. 
 
 Obama also suggested people consider whether Trayvon also had the right to stand his ground, adding: "Do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman who had followed him in a car because he felt threatened?" 
 
 The nation should also think about ways to "bolster and reinforce our African American boys," Obama said, saying there are too many kids out there who need help, but "are getting a lot of negative reinforcement." 
 
 Obama said all Americans should do "soul-searching" in the wake of the verdict and the reactions to it, but questioned whether a full-blown "national conversation" would do much good if too many politicians or pundits were involved. 
 
 "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?" Obama said. 
 
 Borrowing a quote from Abraham Lincoln, Obama said political leaders should do whatever they can to encourage ''the better angels of our nature." rather than "using these episodes to heighten divisions." 
 
 Obama also said that Americans should realize that, over the course of decades, American race relations have improved, citing his daughters and their friends as examples. While that doesn't means "we're in a post-racial society," Obama said there is progress. 
 
 "I don't want us to lose sight that things are getting better," Obama said. 
 
 Obama also paid tribute to Trayvon's parents, saying that "I can only imagine what they're going through and it's remarkable how they've handled it." 
 
 In a statement, Trayvon's parents Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton said Friday, "we are deeply honored and moved that President Obama took the time to speak publicly and at length about our son, Trayvon. The President's comments give us great strength at this time." 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/12PhEZT ||||| Several people who have had conversations with Mr. Obama’s top aides said a president who has rarely spoken about America’s racial tensions from the White House was particularly torn about appearing to force the hand of Eric H. Holder Jr., the attorney general, when it comes to any investigations in the case. 
 
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 The White House’s original plan — for Mr. Obama to address the verdict in brief interviews on Tuesday with four Spanish-language television networks — was foiled when none of them asked about it. 
 
 Instead, he appeared in the White House briefing room with no advance warning and little of the orchestration that usually accompanies presidential speeches. Mr. Obama spoke for 18 minutes, offering his own reflections and implicitly criticizing gun laws and racial profiling methods — both of which, critics say, played a role in Mr. Martin’s death. 
 
 Mr. Obama continued to avoid criticizing either the conduct of the trial or the verdict, in which a jury found a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla., George Zimmerman, not guilty of all charges in the killing of Mr. Martin in February 2012. 
 
 But in the most expansive remarks he has made about race since becoming president, Mr. Obama offered three examples of the humiliations borne by young black men in America: being followed while shopping in a department store, hearing the click of car doors locking as they cross a street, or watching as women clutch their purses nervously when they step onto an elevator. The first two experiences, he said, had happened to him. 
 
 “Those sets of experiences inform how the African-American community interprets what happened one night in Florida,” Mr. Obama said. “And it’s inescapable for people to bring those experiences to bear.” 
 
 For black leaders who had beseeched the president to speak out — inundating White House officials with phone calls — his remarks were greeted with a mixture of relief and satisfaction. 
 
 The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Mr. Obama had no choice but to confront mounting concern among African-Americans about the Martin case and recent Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action and voting rights. 
 
 “At some point, the volcano erupts,” Mr. Jackson said. 
 
 From the moment the verdict was announced on Saturday night, black activists had called on Mr. Obama to express the anger and frustration of their community. The pressure only increased after he issued a carefully worded statement urging respect for the jury’s decision. 
 
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 “We needed this president to use his bully pulpit,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights activist and host on MSNBC, who urged Mr. Obama’s advisers to have him speak out. 
 
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 The parents of Mr. Martin, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, said they were “deeply honored and moved” by Mr. Obama’s comments. “President Obama sees himself in Trayvon and identifies with him,” they said in a statement on Friday. “This is a beautiful tribute to our boy.” 
 
 For some black activists, however, Mr. Obama’s remarks were too little, too late. Tavis Smiley, a radio host who has long been a critic of the president, said the president has chosen to “lead from behind” on race issues. 
 
 The president’s advisers selected the White House briefing room as the location for Mr. Obama’s remarks during the Thursday meeting, calculating that it would be less formal than a full-dress speech — but would shield him from the questions he would likely face in a longer interview about why he had waited days after the verdict to speak. 
 
 The advisers said Mr. Obama was anxious to confront the issue of race in a way that he has not since he ran for president in 2008. In a landmark speech to defuse the political storm over his Chicago pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., Mr. Obama spoke about what he called “the complexities of race” in America. 
 
 As president, Mr. Obama has only periodically returned to the subject. And on the few occasions that he has, it has often been in reaction to an event — a black Harvard professor’s arrest, or Mr. Martin’s death. A month after Mr. Martin was killed, Mr. Obama said, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” 
 
 The president’s remarks on Friday were different: more expansive, more personal and more reflective of the concerns of fellow blacks. His comments mirror public opinion among African-Americans, according to polls. 
 
 A telephone poll conducted June 13 to July 5 by Gallup found that blacks were “significantly less likely now than they were 20 years ago to cite discrimination as the main reason blacks on average have worse jobs, income, and housing than whites.” It found that 37 percent of blacks today blame discrimination. In 1993, 44 percent said the same. 
 
 Mr. Obama has also shown more willingness to speak in personal terms. At Morehouse College in Atlanta in May, he told graduates, “Sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down.” 
 
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 His remarks Friday were also reminiscent of the tone in his speeches during his trip to Africa earlier this month. After standing in the cell that Nelson Mandela occupied for 18 years, Mr. Obama told a South African audience, “You’ve shown us how a prisoner can become a president.” 
 
 On Friday, Mr. Obama brought that message home, urging Americans to be honest with themselves about how far this country has come in confronting its own racial history. 
 
 “Am I wringing as much bias out of myself as I can?” he asked. “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.”
– When the Trayvon Martin shooting took place, President Obama made headlines by saying that Trayvon could have been his son. Today, he took it further: "Trayvon could have been me 35 years ago," he said during an unscheduled stop in the White House briefing room to talk about the case. Some highlights, as noted by USA Today, the New York Times, and the Washington Post: “I think it’s important to recognize that the African-American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that—that doesn’t go away. There are very few African-American men in this country who haven’t had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me.” "I don’t want to exaggerate this, but those sets of experiences inform how the African-American community interprets what happened one night in Florida. And it’s inescapable for people to bring those experiences to bear.” But: "I don't want us to lose sight of the fact that things are getting better." Referring to his daughters and their generation: "They’re better than we are, they’re better than we were, on these issues," and that should instill confidence that things will change. He asked all Americans to do some "soul-searching," asking themselves, "Am I wringing as much bias out of myself as I can."