When it came to productive action and constructive dialogue to improve race relations in America, Barack Obama, when president, was mostly missing-in-action. (Notice that when Obama had Supreme Court vacancies to fill – and he was presented with three such vacancies – not once did he nominate an African-American. During his eight years in the White House, why was he content to leave Clarence Thomas as the only black member of the High Court?)
Now, as an ex-president, Obama continues to miss the mark. In today’s “Statement by President Obama,” we are told of “another shooting of a Black man, Daunte Wright, at the hands of police.” Notice who has a name and who doesn’t. The victim is a person, but the one who shot him is not. The deceased, Daunte Wright, is named, but the officer who fired the fatal shot, Kim Potter, remains anonymous. Daunte Wright, according to Obama, was not shot by a person – intentionally or mistakenly – but by an institution. The police did it. The institution is guilty.
But how did this tragedy actually happen? It appears from the video as though Officer Potter momentarily confused her gun for her taser. (Notice that she calls out, “Taser! Taser! Taser!”) But Obama completely ignores the specific circumstances of this sad story. To him, this is simply “another shooting of a Black man,” which occurred “at the hands of police.”
"The police" didn't kneel on the neck of George Floyd. Derek Chauvin did. "The police" didn't shoot Daunte Wright. Kim Potter did. If we are to move beyond the demonization of "perps" or police, then I think we need to name names and to recognize personalities, which factors play a part in these lethal incidents.
Beyond that, I have an unverified suspicion that people who are blaming "the police" for the tragic death of Daunte Wright don't want to name Kim Potter because she's a woman, a mother, and very possibly a model police officer and citizen. Derek Chauvin is much easier to dislike and to vilify.