Within two days, two black men were fatally shot by police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota, and broadcast across a nation historically divided by racial lines. President Barack Obama addressed the incidents on Thursday saying that all Americans should be troubled by the shootings.

“These are not isolated incidents,” President Obama said. “They’re symptomatic of a broader set of racial disparities that exist in our criminal justice system. And I just want to give people a few statistics to try to put in context why emotions are so raw around these issues.”

He was restricted on what he could say about the first killing, which took place on Tuesday morning in Baton Rouge, because the Justice Department’s civil rights division has taken the lead on the investigation. But he continued on, citing statistics that are heavily relied upon by activists groups against police violence.

“African Americans are 30 percent more likely than whites to be pulled over,” he continued.” After being pulled over, African Americans and Hispanics are three times more likely to be searched. Last year, African Americans were shot by police at more than twice the rate of whites.”

Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Show all 19 1 /19 Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protestors demand justice for Philando Castile on July 7, 2016 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Stephen Maturen/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protestors lie in an intersection during a demonstration for Philando Castile on July 7, 2016 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Stephen Maturen/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protestors lie in an intersection during a demonstration for Philando Castile on July 7, 2016 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Stephen Maturen/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protestors demand justice for Philando Castile on July 7, 2016 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Stephen Maturen/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protesters march throughout New York City. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protesters march throughout New York City. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protesters are arrested by NYPD as they call for justice throughout New York City. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protesters are arrested by NYPD as they call for justice throughout New York City. AFP/Getty Images Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protestors rally outside the White House in Washington, DC on July 7, 201. Black motorist Philando Castile, 32, a school cafeteria worker, was shot at close range by a Minnesota cop and seen bleeding to death in a graphic video shot by his girlfriend that went viral Thursday, the second fatal police shooting to rock America in as many days. / AFP / PAUL J. RICHARDS (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protestors rally outside the White House in Washington, DC on July 7, 201. Black motorist Philando Castile, 32, a school cafeteria worker, was shot at close range by a Minnesota cop and seen bleeding to death in a graphic video shot by his girlfriend that went viral Thursday, the second fatal police shooting to rock America in as many days. / AFP / PAUL J. RICHARDS (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Demonstators rally in the middle of Times Square after they march through the city and call for justice for Alton Sterling and Philandro Castile on July 7, 2016 in New York. Black motorist Philando Castile, 32, a school cafeteria worker, was shot at close range by a Minnesota cop and seen bleeding to death in a graphic video shot by his girlfriend that went viral Thursday, the second fatal police shooting to rock America in as many days. / AFP / TIMOTHY A. CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protestors gather outside the White House in Washington, DC on July 7, 201. Black motorist Philando Castile, 32, a school cafeteria worker, was shot at close range by a Minnesota cop and seen bleeding to death in a graphic video shot by his girlfriend that went viral Thursday, the second fatal police shooting to rock America in as many days. / AFP / PAUL J. RICHARDS (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Demonstators march through the city to call for justice for Alton Sterling and Philandro Castile as they rally in the middle of Times Square July 7, 2016 in New York. Black motorist Philando Castile, 32, a school cafeteria worker, was shot at close range by a Minnesota cop and seen bleeding to death in a graphic video shot by his girlfriend that went viral Thursday, the second fatal police shooting to rock America in as many days. / AFP / TIMOTHY A. CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Demonstators march through the city to call for justice for Alton Sterling and Philandro Castile as they rally in the middle of Times Square July 7, 2016 in New York. Black motorist Philando Castile, 32, a school cafeteria worker, was shot at close range by a Minnesota cop and seen bleeding to death in a graphic video shot by his girlfriend that went viral Thursday, the second fatal police shooting to rock America in as many days. / AFP / TIMOTHY A. CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Demonstrators gather at the Governor's Mansion in St. Paul, Minnesota, on July 7, 2016, to protest the latest shooting of a black man by police in Falcon Heights, Minessota. Philando Castile, 32, a school cafeteria worker, was shot by police after being pulled over while driving. The incident was captured in a video viewed by some two million people Thursday, as civil rights investigators probed a similar incident in Louisiana. / AFP / Joy Powell (Photo credit should read JOY POWELL/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police BATON ROUGE, LA -JULY 06: (EDITORS NOTE: Image contains profanity.) Protesters dance in the street near the convenience store where Alton Sterling was shot and killed, July 6, 2016 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Sterling was shot by a police officer in front of the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge on Tuesday, July 5, leading the Department of Justice to open a civil rights investigation. (Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images) (Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images) Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police BATON ROUGE, LA -JULY 06: Protesters march to the convenience store where Alton Sterling was shot and killed, July 6, 2016 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Sterling was shot by a police officer in front of the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge on Tuesday, July 5, leading the Department of Justice to open a civil rights investigation. (Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images) Getty

“African Americans are arrested at twice the rate of whites; African Americans defendants are 75 percent more likely to be charged with offenses carrying mandatory minimums. They receive sentences that are almost ten percent longer than comparable whites arrested for the same crime.”

Adding these numbers up, he said, are exactly why the African-American and Hispanic population, who make up 30 percent of the general population, “make up more than half of the incarcerated population.”

While speaking in Poland, he asked Americans to try and consider this perspective because this is why people of color believe they are not being treated the same as the white population.

President Obama Delivers a Statement.mp4

“To be concerned about these issues is not political correctness. It’s just being an American,” President Obama said. “And to recognize the reality that we got some tough history and we haven’t gotten through that history yet.”

The address came one day after Philando Castile was killed in Minnesota as his girlfriend live streamed the aftermath of the shooting on Facebook. Governor Mark Dayton requested that the Justice Deparment take over the investigation but the department said that it would only monitor the shooting instead of conducting its own probe.

“Would this have happened if the driver were white, if the passengers were white?” Governor Dayton asked reporters on Thursday. “I don’t think it would have.” Police departments across the country have been heavily condemned by critics if they refused to work the Justice Department.

President Obama also addressed the protests following the incidents, which grew in Baton Rouge, New York City and several others cities across the country as he gave his speech.

“I would just ask those who question the sincerity or the legitimacy of protests and vigils and expressions of outrage, who somehow label those expressions of outrage as ‘political correctness,’ I just ask folks to step back and think,” he said. “What if this happened to somebody in your family? How would you feel?”

“We can do better,” he said, "and I believe we will do better."