--- description: In an interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep, Obama addresses his response to Michael Brown's death title: President Obama Feels 'Great Urgency' a Year After Ferguson image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b376d6e75019c4e/69885e6ecd1bbad4616fca3c/obama3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Race](/tag/race/) ## Race Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Obama Feels 'Great Urgency' a Year After Ferguson  by [Tanya Basu](/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 9, 2015 3:36 PM CUT  U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during an event at the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Aug. 6, 2015 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during an event at the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Aug. 6, 2015 in Washington, DC.Alex Wong—Getty Images  by [Tanya Basu](/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 9, 2015 3:36 PM CUT President Obama took the occasion of the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s shooting death by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., to say that he felt “a great urgency to get as much done as possible” before he leaves office. He dismissed criticism that he tabled race issues in his first term “because other things had to be dealt with first, other ground had to be covered first … for political reasons.” “That I don’t buy,” Obama said in an [interview](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/08/09/430760774/a-year-after-ferguson-obama-tells-npr-he-feels-great-urgency "undefined") with NPR’s Steve Inskeep on _Weekend Edition Sunday_. “I think it’s fair to say that if, in my first term, Ferguson had flared up, as president of the United States, I would have been commenting on what was happening in Ferguson.” Obama noted that heading into his second term has allowed his “passions” to take precedence. “I’ve been around this track now for a while,” he told Inskeep. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3989941/ferguson-one-year-anniversary-president-obama-npr/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3989941/ferguson-one-year-anniversary-president-obama-npr/"},"headline":"President Obama Feels 'Great Urgency' a Year After Ferguson","datePublished":"2015-08-09T15:36:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:01:38.796Z","description":"Obama says he feels a \"great urgency\" regarding race and police brutality in an interview with NPR","url":"https://time.com/3989941/ferguson-one-year-anniversary-president-obama-npr/","keywords":["Race","President Obama","justice","Police Brutality","Ferguson topic","Michael Brown"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b376d6e75019c4e/69885e6ecd1bbad4616fca3c/obama3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tanya Basu","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b376d6e75019c4e/69885e6ecd1bbad4616fca3c/obama3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama","caption":"President Obama","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/race/","name":"Race"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3989941/ferguson-one-year-anniversary-president-obama-npr/","name":"President Obama Feels 'Great Urgency' a Year After Ferguson"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Several Arrested at Ferguson Protests","description":"A man opened fire on police officers during a protest on the anniversary of Michael Brown’s death. Watch Know Right Now to find out more.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/SuP2A1AC/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-08-10T14:04:53.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SuP2A1AC.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3989941/ferguson-one-year-anniversary-president-obama-npr/","duration":"PT1M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3989941/ferguson-one-year-anniversary-president-obama-npr/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```