Obama calls for building 'political movement' to help African-Americans

As Baltimore on Wednesday started limping back to normal after two days of riots over the police-custody death of a black man, President Barack Obama called for building "a political movement" around policies to help African-American communities.

In a radio interview aired on Wednesday on "The Steve Harvey Morning Show", Obama tied focusing on the need to broaden the conversation and address the root causes of tensions between police and urban, predominantly black communities.

Striking a balance between empathising with protesters and condemning bad policing, Obama tied neglected and impoverished communities as both the source of frustrations that drew rioters into the streets and "part of the reason police have a tough job".

He stressed the need to go beyond new trainings for police officers and also "build a political movement" around policies to help those communities -- from early childhood education to infrastructure building to drug sentencing reform.

But Obama also focused on police accountability and the need for police departments to build up trust in the communities they operate, which he said would not only make them more successful but keep police officers safer.

Once again sharply condemning the riots over the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray as "counterproductive," and inexcusable, he said the violence, looting and destruction was "not a statement, that's not politics, that's not activism, it's just criminal behaviour".

Obama said those actions shifted the focus away from the injustice surrounding Gray's death and other deaths of black men at the hands of police in New York and Ferguson, each of which he said are "not just an isolated incident".

Obama also stressed the need to build a broad coalition to address issues with policing across the country and the state of poor, urban communities -- and the need to stay focused on that mission.

Meanwhile, schools reopened across Baltimore and tensions seemed to ease on Wednesday after made it through the first night of its curfew without the widespread violence many had feared, CBS News reported.

With 3,000 police and National Guardsmen trying to keep the peace and prevent a repeat of the looting and arson that erupted on Monday, the citywide night curfew ended with no reports of disturbances in the early morning hours, it said.

A group of pastors announced plans to hold a rally and prayer vigil for the city and Gray's family.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)