that Jay is prepared for all your questions

and is very much looking forward to the session.

The second thing is I want to let you know

that over the next couple of weeks,

there's going to obviously be a whole range of issues --

immigration, economics, et cetera --

we'll try to arrange a fuller press conference

to address your questions.

The reason I actually wanted to come out today

is not to take questions,

but to speak to an issue that obviously has gotten

a lot of attention over the course of the last week --

the issue of the Trayvon Martin ruling.

I gave a preliminary statement

right after the ruling on Sunday.

But watching the debate over the course of the last week,

I thought it might be useful for me to expand

on my thoughts a little bit.

First of all, I want to make sure that, once again,

I send my thoughts and prayers, as well as Michelle's,

to the family of Trayvon Martin,

and to remark on the incredible grace and dignity

with which they've dealt with the entire situation.

I can only imagine what they're going through,

and it's remarkable how they've handled it.

The second thing I want to say

is to reiterate what I said on Sunday,

which is there's going to be a lot of arguments

about the legal issues in the case --

I'll let all the legal analysts and talking heads

address those issues.

The judge conducted the trial in a professional manner.

The prosecution and the defense made their arguments.

The juries were properly instructed

that in a case such as this reasonable doubt was relevant,

and they rendered a verdict.

And once the jury has spoken, that's how our system works.

But I did want to just talk a little bit about context

and how people have responded to it and how people are feeling.

You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot

I said that this could have been my son.

Another way of saying that is

Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.

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 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.

There are very few African American men

who haven't had the experience of walking across the street

and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars.

That happens to me -- at least before I was a senator.

There are very few African Americans

who haven't had the experience of getting on an elevator

and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath

until she had a chance to get off.

That happens often.

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.

The African American community is also knowledgeable

that there is a history of racial disparities

in the application of our criminal laws --

everything from the death penalty

to enforcement of our drug laws.

And that ends up having an impact

in terms of how people interpret the case.

Now, this isn't to say that the African American community

is naïve about the fact that African American young men

are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system;

that they're disproportionately both victims

and perpetrators of violence.

It's not to make excuses for that fact --

although black folks do interpret the reasons for that

in a historical context.

They understand that some of the violence that takes place

in poor black neighborhoods around the country

is born out of a very violent past in this country,

and that the poverty and dysfunction

that we see in those communities

can be traced to a very difficult history.

And so the fact that sometimes that's unacknowledged

adds to the frustration.

And the fact that a lot of African American boys

are painted with a broad brush and the excuse is given,

well, there are these statistics out there

that show that African American boys are more violent --

using that as an excuse to then see sons treated differently

causes pain.

I think the African American community is also

not naïve in understanding that, statistically,

somebody like Trayvon Martin was statistically more likely

to be shot by a peer than he was by somebody else.

So folks understand the challenges that exist

for African American boys.

But they get frustrated, I think, if they feel

that there's no context for it

and that context is being denied.

And that all contributes, I think,

to a sense that if a white male teen was involved

in the same kind of scenario,

that, from top to bottom, both the outcome

and the aftermath might have been different.

Now, the question for me at least,

and I think for a lot of folks, is, where do we take this?

How do we learn some lessons from this

and move in a positive direction?

I think it's understandable that there have been demonstrations

and vigils and protests,

and some of that stuff

is just going to have to work its way through,

as long as it remains nonviolent.

If I see any violence,

then I will remind folks that that dishonors

what happened to Trayvon Martin and his family.

But beyond protests or vigils, the question is,

are there some concrete things that we might be able to do?

I know that Eric Holder is reviewing

what happened down there,

but I think it's important for people to have

some clear expectations here.

Traditionally, these are issues of state and local government,

the criminal code.

And law enforcement is traditionally done

at the state and local levels, not at the federal levels.

That doesn't mean, though, that as a nation

we can't do some things that I think would be productive.

So let me just give a couple of specifics

that I'm still bouncing around with my staff,

so we're not rolling out some five-point plan,

but some areas where I think all of us could potentially focus.

Number one, precisely because law enforcement

is often determined at the state and local level,

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,

and it actually did just two simple things.

One, it collected data on traffic stops

and the race of the person who was stopped.

But the other thing was it resourced us

training police departments across the state

on how to think about potential racial bias

and ways to further professionalize

what they were doing.

And initially, the police departments across the state

were resistant, but actually they came to recognize

that if it was done in a fair, straightforward way

that it would allow them to do their jobs better

and communities would have more confidence in them

and, in turn, be more helpful in applying the law.

And obviously, law enforcement has got a very tough job.

So that's one area where I think

there are a lot of resources and best practices

that could be brought to bear

if state and local governments are receptive.

And I think a lot of them would be.

And let's figure out are there ways

for us to push out that kind of training.

Along the same lines, 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.

I know that there's been commentary about the fact

that the "stand your ground" laws in Florida

were not used as a defense in the case.

On the other hand, if we're sending a message as a society

in our communities that someone who is armed potentially

has the right to use those firearms

even if there's a way for them to exit from a situation,

is that really going to be contributing

to the kind of peace and security and order

that we'd like to see?

And for those who resist that idea

that we should think about something

like these "stand your ground" laws,

I'd just ask people to consider,

if Trayvon Martin was of age and armed,

could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk?

And 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?

And if the answer to that question is at least ambiguous,

then it seems to me that we might want

to examine those kinds of laws.

Number three -- and this is a long-term project --

we need to spend some time in thinking about

how do we bolster and reinforce our African American boys.

And this is something that Michelle and I talk a lot about.

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?

I'm not naïve about the prospects

of some grand, new federal program.

I'm not sure that that's what we're talking about here.

But I do recognize that as President,

I've got some convening power,

and there are a lot of good programs that are being done

across the country on this front.

And for us to be able to gather together business leaders

and local elected officials and clergy

and celebrities and athletes,

and figure out how are we doing a better job

helping young African American men

feel that they're a full part of this society

and that they've got pathways and avenues to succeed --

I think that would be a pretty good outcome

from what was obviously a tragic situation.

And we're going to spend some time working on that

and thinking about that.

And then, finally, I think it's going to be important

for all of us to 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?