[attach id=267435 size="medium"]President Barack Obama. Photo: Reuters[/attach]

President Barack Obama has called on Americans to do some soul searching over the death of black teenager Trayvon Martin, delivering an emotional public reflection on race that was rare for the country’s first black President.

Empathising with the pain of many black Americans, Mr Obama said the slain 17-year-old “could have been me 35 years ago.” He said the case conjured up a hard history of racial injustice “that doesn’t go away”.

Although Mr Obama has written about his own struggles with racial identity, the surprise speech marked his most extensive discussion of race as President and an unusual embrace of the longing of many African-Americans for him to give voice to their experiences.

“I think it’s important to recognise that the African-American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn’t go away,” Mr Obama said.

In many ways, it was the frank talk on what it can be like to be black in America that many African-Americans had been waiting to hear.

“Black people and brown people everywhere feel like they’ve been heard,” said Angela Bazemore, 56, an administrative assistant who lives in New York City.

A Florida jury last week acquitted George Zimmerman of all charges in the February 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin, who was unarmed.

The verdict was cheered by those who agreed that Zimmerman was acting in self-defence, while others protested the outcome.