Obama feels 'great urgency' 1 year after Ferguson

Black Lives matter protest
(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

One year after Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, was fatally shot in Ferguson, Missouri, by a white cop, NPR sat down with President Barack Obama. Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep suggested Obama would not have put such an emphasis on race in his first term for political reasons, an idea the President pushed back against.

"I feel a great urgency to get as much done as possible," Obama said. "And, there's no doubt that after over six and a half years on this job, I probably have an easier time juggling a lot of different issues. And, it may be that my passions show a little bit more."

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.