President Obama Works to Unify the Nation after Dallas

07-12-2016
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A standing ovation erupted before Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings could even finish his introduction of Chief David Brown at the memorial service in Dallas Tuesday. Through his grace under fire Chief Brown has become a national hero and role model.

"When I was a teenager and started liking girls I could never find the words that I needed to express myself," Chief Brown told the crowd.

Instead he said he relied on the lyrics of the songwriters of the 1970s, turning to the legend Stevie Wonder when he really needed something deep.

"We all know sometimes life hates and troubles
Can make you wish you were born in another time and space
But you can bet your lifetimes that and twice it's double
That God knew exactly where He wanted you to be placed"

"So make sure when you say you're in it, but not of it," Brown said as he recited the words to Stevie Wonder's "I'll Be Loving You Always" dedicated to his fallen officers.

The memorial was an emotional and heart-warming scene designed to honor the five fallen Dallas Police and DART officers killed, comfort the community, and unify the country.

President Barack Obama had the toughest task as he worked to use his unique role as the first black president to bridge the racial divides that have deepened as they've laid exposed.

He also had the task of following Dallas resident and former President George W. Bush who left the podium in tears as he told the families of the fallen, "We can promise that God will comfort you."

Those who love Dallas and call it home, he said, had five deaths in the family. He also called on Americans to examine themselves.

"Too often we judge other groups by their worst examples and ourselves by our best intentions," he said.

"At our best we recognize the image of God that we see in each other," he continued.

A White House official says Obama worked late into the night Monday writing his speech and consulting scripture for inspiration.

"Scripture tells us that in our sufferings there is glory because suffering produces perseverance which produces character and hope," he said.

He took time to honor each fallen officer before declaring the shooter acted "not just out of demented violence, but out of racial hatred."

He praised the Dallas PD for "doing it the right way" generally and especially last week.

"We mourn fewer people today because of your brave actions," he told them.

The president says race relations have improved drastically over his lifetime. Those who deny that fact, he says, "dishonor the struggles that have helped us achieve progress."

At the same time, he says we all must acknowledge that unjust biases, prejudice and hatred persist.

"Can we do this? Can we find the character as Americans to open our hearts to each other? Can we see in each other a common humanity and a shared dignity and recognize how our different experiences have shaped us? I don't know. I confess that sometimes I too experience doubt," he said.

But "America gives us the capacity to change," he said.

And as the fallen officers honored know too well, he says, we can't take the blessings of this country for granted.

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