Home truths on race - Telegraph Barack Obama took a gamble when he gave some personal reflections on the George Zimmerman verdict, but it is a gamble for which he is to be commended. Mr Zimmerman was prosecuted for killing an African-American youth called Trayvon Martin. The unarmed 17-year-old was shot dead in February last year; Mr Zimmerman said he was acting in self-defence and was acquitted by a Florida court last week. Speaking after the verdict, President Obama speculated that "if a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different." It is unusual for a president to comment on a criminal case in this way, and conservatives have raised some valid concerns. Sometimes Mr Obama is calm and lofty in manner, at other times he is happy to manipulate social divisions to his partisan advantage. But as the first African-American president, it would have been perverse for him to remain silent. Race in America is the wound that will not heal; no amount of colour-blind idealism can escape the long-term effects of slavery and segregation, all of which are reflected in a justice system that operates unevenly. Compare the verdict in Mr Zimmerman's case to that of Marissa Alexander, an African-American who was arrested for firing a gun in the air to ward off her abusive husband. The Florida court sentenced her to 20 years. Speaking with admirable honesty, Mr Obama said: "There are very few African-American men who haven't had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars." With an African-American in the White House, the United States has been presented with a much-needed opportunity to hear some timely home truths.