Obama Delivered One of the Best Damn Speeches of His Presidency at the Dallas Police Memorial

The president has had to do this too many times, and he's sick of it. He's given speeches at too many funerals and had to call too many families to express condolences as a result of what he calls "senseless violence."

Today he did it again, this time at a memorial for the five police killed last week during a sniper attack at a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas, TX. After former President Bush and Dallas Police Chief Brown gave comments, Obama began his talk with a poignant tribute to the fallen officers. One by one, he said their names and gave a story of how they "answered that call" to serve their communities. Speaking about officer Lorne Ahrens, for example, Obama said, "The night before he died, he bought dinner for a homeless man."

Obama is outstanding in moments like this in Dallas. Unfortunately it's a skill he has had a chance to practice. A lot.

— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) July 12, 2016

But Obama also used the opportunity to speak about racial tensions in the country, taking a no-bullsh*t approach.

"America, we know that bias remains. We know it, whether you are black, or white, or Hispanic, or Asian, or Native American, or of Middle Eastern descent, we have all seen this bigotry in our own lives at some point. We've heard it at times in our own homes. If we're honest, perhaps we've heard prejudice in our own heads and felt it in our own hearts . . . Although most of us do our best to guard against it and teach our children better, none of us is entirely innocent.

It's OK to admit that we all have some bias in us, he told us. But we should should recognize it and use that understanding to listen to the countless minorities who speak out about being racially profiled. We must hear the girlfriends who are still here to tell the story of their boyfriends killed by police after being pulled over for a broken taillight. Obama went on:

"When all this takes place, more than 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, we cannot simply turn away and dismiss those in peaceful protest as troublemakers or paranoid. We can't simply dismiss it as a symptom of political correctness or reverse racism. To have your experience denied like that, dismissed by those in authority, dismissed perhaps even by your white friends and co-workers and fellow church members, again and again and again, it hurts. Surely we can see that, all of us."

This would be a powerful statement coming from the president of the US no matter what he or she looked like — but having a black man say this, a man who has also been pulled over by the police for no good reason, makes it all the more meaningful. It's as if he made an unabashed personal plea on behalf of efforts like the Black Lives Matter with zero fear of offending those who still believe in "All Lives Matter."

Obama eloquent and frank on ongoing racial inequity as whites and blacks encounter criminal justice system very differently.

— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) July 12, 2016

And just when those listening felt dejected about living in this country that seemingly reflected 1957 more than 2017, Obama delivered a message of optimism.

"Hope does not arise by putting our fellow man down; it is found by lifting others up. And that's what I take away from the lives of these outstanding men. The pain we feel may not soon pass, but my faith tells me that they did not die in vain. I believe our sorrow can make us a better country. I believe our righteous anger can be transformed into more justice and more peace. Weeping may endure for a night, but I'm convinced joy comes in the morning."

Of course, faith alone won't stop violence. But passing laws will. And that starts with conversation and awareness, like what Obama encouraged today.

Watch his full speech: