“I believe he would be asking us to come together and move on, that human lives matter”.
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Lt. Thomas Glover, president of the Dallas chapter of the Black Police Assn., called Obama’s speech “magnificent”.
Mr Obama was introduced by David Brown, the Dallas police chief who, in the days since the attack, has emerged as an impressive force for calm and conciliation.
“From the moment you put on that uniform, you have answered a call that at any moment, even in the briefest interaction, may put your life in harm’s way”, Obama said.
Ken Nwadike traveled from San Diego to Dallas to attend events in recent days for one simple goal: to give free hugs to anyone who wanted one – politicians, media members and those just standing outside.
The scene unfolded at a memorial service after a week when Americans were jarred by video images of angry crowds protesting police killings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota and heard the screams of Thursday’s sniper attack on police in Dallas by a black former USA soldier who had said he wanted to “kill white people”.
Addressing Dallas officers directly, he said: “We mourn fewer people today because of your fearless actions”.
No one expressed his appreciation for the men more memorably than Brown, who has emerged as the steady and charismatic face of the Dallas police.
The US president emphasized that race relations have improved dramatically during his lifetime, citing 20th Century US laws that ended legal discrimination on the grounds of race such as the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. If Americans were honest with themselves, he said, they would admit that they had “heard prejudice in our own heads, and felt it in our own hearts”.
Obama cut short a European trip following the attack and the shootings days earlier by police of two black men in Louisiana and Minnesota which prompted the Dallas march and similar protests in other US cities. “We flood communities with so many guns that it is easier for a teenager to buy a glock than get his hands on a computer or even a book”. “Can we do this?”
“The soul of our city was pierced”, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said as he welcomed Obama to the memorial service. It was organized to help combat “a common disease” of violence and honor those who fight it, “our men and women in blue, our peacemakers in blue”.
Rawlings spoke steps from five empty chairs and portraits of the dead officers. Former President George W. Bush also spoke at the ceremony. “We may weep, but we will never whine”.
“‘At times it seems like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together'”, he said.
“Too often we judge others by their worst example”, Bush said, “and ourselves by our best intentions”.
Black Americans protesting police racism, he said, must understand how hard the police’s job can be. To renew our unity, we only need to remember our values.
Obama has denounced the shooting as a “vicious, calculated and despicable attack on law enforcement” by a “demented” individual. And he has argued that, despite the heated public outcry of the past week, the country is not as divided as it may seem.
Obama’s choice of traveling companions underscored the theme.
Obama, Michelle Obama, Biden, Jill Biden and several members of Congress, including Texas Republican Sens. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California both joined Obama on Air Force One for the flight to Dallas. He said the attack was deeply personal.
“I’m not naive”, he said.
The White House said Obama worked late into the night on his speech, consulting Scripture for inspiration.
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He said policing is made harder because the nation fails to fund mental health and drug abuse efforts.
