Obama at Poverty Summit

More than a week after streets in Baltimore erupted in violence, President Barack Obama attempted on Tuesday to pinpoint the roots of the unrest there, which he says include a lack of opportunity for inner-city youth and laws that make it difficult to escape a cycle of crime.

Joining prominent policy experts to discuss the roots and potential solutions to poverty, Obama identified what he said was a troubling trend toward social stratification that separates the well-off from the poor.

"What used to be racial segregation now mirrors itself in...

During two campaigns and most of his time in office, President Obama has portrayed himself as the champion of a middle class fighting to recover from a devastating economic collapse.

But eruptions of racial tensions in Baltimore; Ferguson, Mo.; and Staten Island have accelerated a shift in the later stages of Mr. Obama’s presidency, as the nation’s first black president begins to refocus his administration’s attention on the plight of the poor, especially in African-American communities.

On Tuesday, the president extended that effort by participating in a panel discussion at...