Days after its release and on the eve of the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma,
President Obama spoke out on the recently released
Ferguson report.
"I don't think that is typical of what happens across the country, but it's not an isolated incident," Obama told The Joe Madison Radio Show on Sirius XM radio's Urban View channel. "I think that there are circumstances in which trust between communities and law enforcement have broken down, and individuals or entire departments may not have the training or the accountability to make sure that they're protecting and serving all people and not just some."
While it's okay to hear the president acknowledge that the report exists, his words fell far short of acknowledging just how horrible the problems are in the Ferguson report and just how widespread they are across the country.
Nineteen major police departments, ranging from Seattle and Albuquerque to Cleveland and Newark, have been the subject of scathing DOJ reports—most with hundreds of incidents per report.
The problems in Ferguson are not the exception, but the rule. Police brutality and the overcharging of African Americans are not isolated, but widespread from coast to coast in America. It just sounds as if President Obama consistently feels the need to hedge his bets when discussing the issue.