Henry Louis Gates Jr.: A Reaction Roundup

President Obama, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and Vernon Jordan weigh in on the Henry Louis Gates Jr. incident.

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  1 of 5

  The President Speaks ... Again

  "My hope is that as a consequence of this event, this ends up being what’s called ‘a teachable moment' where all of us, instead of pumping up the volume, spend a little more time listening to each other,” he said.

  --President Obama, in a White House briefing today [11]

  Read the full statement here [12].

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  2 of 5

  Speaking for the Unheard

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  "You can't speak out too soon about racism and injustice. I know that Skip Gates is going to be alright ... But I'm thinking about all of those black men out there, unknown, unlettered, unlearned who are daily confronted with police officers ... who did not care and who showed great disrespect for the person and their rights. That's the real issue."

  Vernon Jordan, on MSNBC's The Place for Politics [13]

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  3 of 5

  Pulling Out the Race Card

  "There's no making something about race. Race is not a card that we can pull out..."

  --Touré on MSNBC's Morning Meeting [14] [14]

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  4 of 5

  A Perfect Storm?

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  "It's clear that the handcuffing of Dr. Gates was unneccessary, it seems. He was no threat to anybody."

  --Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. on MSNBC's Morning Meeting [15]

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  5 of 5

  Skip Responds to the President

  AP

  Listen to Henry Louis Gates Jr. on Gayle King's show. He responds to President Obama's comments. [16]