As I write this 3 police officers have been murdered in Baton Rouge. The question is, after the nation's first half-black president was elected, why are race relations worse? Picture the following scenario...
A black man is accused of raping a white woman in an ambiguous situation. She claims she was raped; he says they had several drinks together and sex was consensual. A video of the two at a club that night goes viral: some claim it shows her fighting him off, others say the two are dancing, or perhaps arguing, which is no proof of rape.
Racial tensions are heightened, so the president goes to the microphone and urges calm. At this point, he says, it's unclear what exactly happened. Everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence, and rather than leap to judgment, we should patiently wait until all the facts are known. If the incident goes to trial, we should respect the jury's decision.
That is what a normal president would say. That is Americans' expectation of a president. But what if the president does something else? Suppose he goes to the mic and says...
"My fellow Americans, incidents like this are all too common. In this country there's a long history of this type of thing. [The president names two other white women who claim to have been raped by black men.] When certain communities are afraid to go out at night, something is wrong. We know that statistically whites are far more likely to be victims of interracial rape. If I had a daughter, she'd look like the victim."
What might happen to race relations?
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