The Trayvon Martin shooting required us as a society to “wake up,” former President Barack Obama told a wide-ranging panel discussion on race, values, pop culture, wealth, and stereotypes Wednesday in Oakland, California, The Washington Post reports.  

“As somebody who is the head of federal law enforcement, I could not comment on the particulars of the case, but what I could say was that Trayvon could have been my son,” Obama said alongside Golden State Warrior basketball star Steph Curry.

“It required us as a society to wake up and find ways in which we could come together and say to all of our young people, but particularly young men of color who on a whole bunch of indicators were having a more difficult time in this society for a whole range of historical reasons, we had to say you matter,” he added.

The event was held to mark the fifth anniversary of My Brother’s Keeper, an initiative Obama started after Martin’s shooting in 2012. Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old, was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain in Sanford, Florida.

Obama also stressed treating women with respect and criticized flaunting wealth.

“We live in a culture where our worth is measured by how much money we have and how famous we are,” he told a crowd of mostly young black men. “I will tell you, at the end of the day, the thing that will give you confidence is not that. I know a lot of rich people that are all messed up!”