Obama makes RACIST comment about "typical white person"

[Herman Munster]

Imagine if Hillary talked about a "typical black person."?

Don't tell me there's not a double standard. He's basically saying all white people are scared of the angry black man and makes racist comments like his grandmother.

Fuck him.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/03/obama-talks-mor.html

In an interview with sports radio 610 WIP in Philly early this morning, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, said "the point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person, who, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know, well there's a reaction that's in our experiences that won't go away and can sometimes come out in the wrong way. And that's just the nature of race in our society. We have to break through it."

[2rth2pwr]

1. Many Obama supporters are defending that statement.

[Danger Mouse]

21. you're damn right i am.

[2rth2pwr]

28. funny thing is his campaign is spinning away from it, and the other half

of the Obama supporters are saying that he didn't really mean it.

[Danger Mouse]

35. well, i disagree with them...and of course his campaign is spinning away from it...

it wasn't exactly smart to say it the way he did.

[Drachasor]

69. I agree with you, Elrond

[Life Long Dem]

41. Hillary, what is your policy on healing racial divide in the future as president?

Because I don't hear anything of that talk from you today.

[gayron]

57. Her policy is this

learning from Obama's mistakes.

[gayron]

55. Defend it by saying "words don't matter"

But when it was going good, words do matter. How can you spin this.

[Drachasor]

68. Words matter, and Obama was right

It's controversial, but true. Are you saying that isn't a very typical reaction to a white person seeing a stranger who is black on the street? I've certainly felt that way from time to time (nearly all times at night in the city or on campus). I feel guilty about feeling that way at that moment, but the feeling is certainly there. I think he had a very good point about our society.

Jesse Jackson, himself, has said he has felt unease in similar circumstances. So is this really so outrageous?

[IndianaJones]

2. c'mon thats not racist. his granny...now she is a racist. nt.

[gayron]

59. I guess he heard it from both sides

At home and at church.

[LaurenG]

3. If Hillary said that she had better have a black grandmother

that's all I'll say because the rest is just a way to bring him down for misspeaking. Kind of like the r/w and certain "others" did to Kerry. Winning at any cost huh.

[2rth2pwr]

14. It's ok if you have a black relative?

[LaurenG]

23. What the fuck is he supposed to say he is BOTH races

It was the WHITE grandmother who said it. I live in a mixed race neighbor hood, my work place is mixed and none of us give a flying fuck because he is white and black. He can say what he wants and he gets a pass from me.

Any more questions?

[2rth2pwr]

25. ok, would it make a difference if he said "typical Asian" about somebody?

[LaurenG]

If he was Asian he can say what he wants. Are you offended because you're white?

This is the nastiest way to try to bring someone down. Low life human beings JUDGING someone who is of mixed race because you don't like him referring to his white granny in that way. Suck it up.

I can barely stand the hypocrisy here anymore.

[gayron]

53. Why can it not be his grandmother!

[yardwork]

92. That's a very good point. Anyway, I'm white and it didn't offend me.

Many white people have exactly the reaction that Obama mentions. I'm white, I hang out with white people, and they have exactly that reaction when they see a "scary black guy" coming down the street. Most of them won't say or do anything, but damn right they're keeping a close eye on the black guy. Several black men have related stories to me about being singled out for scrutiny, even when they were dressed in professional clothes.

What Obama said is true.

[faithfulcitizen]

15. exactly.

[Mags]

4. What do we really know about BO? He has been given a

long polishing by the media, now just a little incite and the shit is hitting the fan. Wonder what else is out there or what fills that empty suit? Maybe he is just the typical black man. What ever that is.

[FrenchieCat]

9. Let's hang him!

Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us -- the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes.....The pundits, the pundits like to slice-and-dice Videotapes, people, words, hopes and ideals, the constitution, and anything else that gets in their corporate master's way --That's how we went to war with a country that did nothing to us

[Mags]

13. I don't believe in hanging, I will leave that to you guys.

[Hottest Housewife]

22. You're not going to believe what else is out there, Mags!

There's more yet to come.

[Mags]

29. I just hope we know before the guy is given a free pass to the nomination

[here_is_to_hope]

64. Enjoy your stay...n/t

[baldguy]

5. Ya' think you got enough outrage there, stretch?

[TahitiNut]

86. It's a shame ... apparently so few places to put it, too.

:shrug: :eyes:

[Dogmudgeon]

6. I'm cutting him a break on this

There has been WAAAAY too much of this "gotcha" stuff happening, and even if it is mainly Obama's surrogates who excel in it, it's time someone called it for what it is -- crap. I don't care about their slips of tongue or isolated errors. We have an election to win.

--p!

[lisa58]

7. Hillary isn't half black...

...Obama has a knowledge and experience I don't have - I'll trust his opinion on this.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

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[Ron Green]

10. Welcome to the most important conversation of our time. I hope your anger mellows.

[nonconformist]

11. I gasped out loud when I heard this.

This is a gaffe he is probably already regretting.

[shayes51]

24. As well he should.

[Drachasor]

71. Nonetheless, what he said was true.

Most white people DO have a reaction like that. Hell, even Jesse Jackson said he felt like that at times.

[closeupready]

12. He is describing a typical "white person who has a reaction [to black people]..."

That is not racist.

[JorgeTheGood]

30. what world does he live in?

I know many white people that don't react that way and I don't mean just today ... Obama needs to apologize to all white people for that broad brush.

nah -- forget it ... it's obvious he will never apologize ... he figures he can still win it with only the black vote and a few college students bussed in from Illinois.

He's toast.

[nonconformist]

54. The problem is the "typical white person" label, and saying that means being a racist

He said his grandmother had racist tendencies, because she is a "typical white person".

Maybe he worded it wrong, but it does come across as offensive and painting with a very broad brush.

I'm actually a little shocked he said it.

Even though I'm not an Obama supporter, I almost feel sorry for him, because this was a really stupid gaffe at a time when he couldn't afford it.

[Seeker30]

73. Of course, nothing he or Wright says is racist, only anyone who speaks against him is

[The_Casual_Observer]

16. Obama - typical "stupid" person.

[Blue_State_Elitist]

36. Yeah

Typical worthless person.

[Zhade]

17. As a mostly white person - he's right.

Sure, I don't cross the street - but as a liberal pansexual atheist, I'm hardly the typical whitey. He was talking about the typical white person WHO HAS A REACTION, not all white persons.

You fail.

(Btw, clinton's still losing.)

[Drachasor]

I've had that reaction from time to time

I'm not proud of it, but I've had it. I believe all of us are equal, but I think that reaction speaks strongly of our culture and the inequalities we still must deal with. Let me be clear, I don't think less of someone because of their skin color, but I can certainly experience that instant, unthinking reaction -- after which the rational part of my brain must reassert control.

[durrrty libby]

18. He's a real gem, ain't he?

:eyes: :dunce:

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Danger Mouse]

19. Fuck him? I won't say what I'm thinking because it'll probably get my post deleted but..

he was RIGHT.
Why are people so afraid of this discussion?
Are you trying to tell me you've never had the kind of reaction that Obama's grandmother had? You've never said or thought anything that might be conisdered racist?
It's the nature of our society!
Can the fake outrage.

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

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[B2G]

27. That comment didn't sit well with me

Not one little bit.

[IndianaJones]

32. are you a typical white person? nt.

[Petrushka]

60. Ooh, ooh! Like: Is Jesse Jackson a typical white person when he breathes a sigh of relief

because the footsteps following him don't belong to a black man?

:crazy:




:hide:

[sudopod]

31. Disingenuous bullshit.

You don't believe a word of this.

[IndianaJones]

33. probably just a typical white person. nt.

[Emit]

34. Another hit and run post by Herman Munster

Stirring up the shit on DU with hit and run crap posts.

[BuyingThyme]

37. So you're saying that if a typical person sees somebody on the street that s/he doesn't know,

that there won't likely be a reaction in his or her experiences that won't go away and can sometimes come out in the wrong way?

How atypical of you.

[LulaMay]

38. The important point is that he is showing his inexperience. That is not a smart comment.

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

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[rodeodance]

51. You forgot to tell folks that Hillary apologized. (not not racist)-they was your smut

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized for joking that Mahatma Gandhi used to run a gas station in St. Louis, saying it was "a lame attempt at humor."

The New York Democrat made the remark at a fund-raiser Saturday. During an event here for Senate candidate Nancy Farmer, Missouri's state treasurer, Clinton introduced a quote from Gandhi by saying, "He ran a gas station down in St. Louis."

[cali]

61. It was at least as racist as Obama's comment

or course neither was racist- in Hillypoo's case, it was simply tasteless and dumb, in Obama's case it was inartful. YOU can't have it both ways. She said it, apology or not. Don't choke on hypocrisy, hon.

[joshcryer]

72. Where's Obama's apology?

All we got was a "clarification."

[barb162]

79. Obama apologize?

We may get another speech on race, but probably not an apology.

[rodeodance]

93. Will BO apologize? His comment was tasteless and dumb. Hillary's was inartful

[desi]

42. Ever so slowly but surely I am left with no option

but to conclude that both Barack and his wife are nothing more than radical Black Nationalists. It is not just his embracing the racist America hating Rev Wright but there are also too many videos out there where Michelle was clearly playing the race card before the SC primary. I agree Fuck Him!

[FVZA_Colonel]

47. Really? Black Nationalists?

Isn't that a bit hyperbolic?

[desi]

Tell me who your friends are

...you know the drill...if it quacks like a duck!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHzYl8Rg8C0&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EEQV4K1eFjI&watch_response

[FVZA_Colonel]

52. Hmm?

I'm sorry, I don't really post in here all that much, I don't know how things usually go in here.

[Name removed]

63. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[bagimin]

96. Extra! Extra! our next president is a "Black Nationalist"

so says desi. oy!

[NOLALady]

43. Would you consider the comment racist

if it was said by a white person?

Would you consider the comment racist if he'd said something about "a typical black person"?

[Two Americas]

44. false concept

Your post is based on a false concept - that there is such a thing as "reverse racism." Racism, as all politics, deals with power and economics. It is not about personal likes and dislikes. The idea of "reverse racism" was manufactured out of thin air by the right wing reactionary think tanks for the express purpose of promoting racism.

Obama's comments may be generalizations, the generalizations may or may nor be unwarranted, and you may find other fault with what her said. But calling his remarks "racist" - even when you put the word in capital letters - is asking us to buy into a reactionary and destructive right wing and racist concept.

We would not call abolition "reverse slavery," we would not call democracy "reverse dictatorship," and the idea of "reverse racism" makes no more sense than those would.

[Zookeeper]

45. "Typical white person." Yeah, I'm having trouble wrapping...

my brain around the fact that he actually said that. Really, really, stupid. For someone who is supposed to be "enlightened" that was quite the gaffe.

I think his real issue is with old, white women. He should get some help for that.

[The Backlash Cometh]

46. He was referring to his grandmother's generation.

He is right.

[IndianaJones]

48. I don't see it that way....and neither will many people. nt.

[The Backlash Cometh]

50. Of course not. The swiftboating has begun.

[GoldieAZ49]

49. is that the "uniter" talking?

yeah wright

[DURHAM D]

56. I swear to God - Obama took communion with Wright once too often.

He channels a typical 80 year old racist stuck in the last century.

Obama is obviously not the person to lead a 21st century conversation about race. He lives in a time warp. Get his selfish ass off the stage so we can really talk about racial differences and get some understanding going on. Gheez - he is so pathetic.

[UALRBSofL]

58. Herman I have seen that several times tonight

Also, they have been showing Kerry's statements as well on CNN. I am shocked Kerry would not think before speaking.

[msallied]

62. How effing desperate can you people get?

Snagging on EVERY FRICKIN WORD!!

Falling for the media's attempts to bait you from the REAL issues facing this country hook, line, and sinker. You don't look for nuance. You don't look at the greater meaning of his statement. You take THREE WORDS like an overeager little kid and run with them like you just captured the fucking flag.

I'm embarrassed that you think of yourself as a Democrat.

[Evergreen Emerald]

76. hahahahaha

I have said those very same things when you guys attack Clinton.

I guess what goes around comes around.

[UALRBSofL]

78. I'm sorry you feel that way but I disagree

If it was reversed and Hillary said the same thing she would be asked to step down from the race immediately by Dean and Gore. Also, Kerry was saying the same thing Ferraro said but since he is an Obama supporter he gets a free pass. Good Lord. Also, Obama backtracked on what he said, "well, it was her generation that I was talking about". Great, you just categorized a whole generation of people as having race issues. Obama could have left it with his mother but instead dug a deeper hole and grouped his mother in a whole generation. Not good judgment on Obama's part these past weeks. He isn't doing very well with his backtracking.

[ima_sinnic]

65. who give a flying f**k over every single word the man utters?

the hillaryites are the MOST threatened by the prospect of a black person being president--their constant references to race are proof of that.

why so preoccupied with his race, eh?

I looked in on some Clinton Support Group threads earlier today, it was like an Aryan Nations convention, or a Klonvocation. oooh, Obama "threw his granny under the bus"--like real highbrow talk, real worthy of progressive "democrats" (but I guess normal for TYPICAL fake "democrats" who are spamming for Hillary).

Do you ever talk about the real issues--you know, like the Iraq occupation, the fact that many people will soon be fighting for refrigerator boxes to sleep in under bridges, the price of gas and the astronomical windfall profits being made by unregulated oil companies, the outsourcing of jobs to India and other places (no thanks to the Senator from Punjab), global climate change, mountain top removal for mining, etc. etc. -- or are you just a weenie pork-rind snarfing racist ignoramus whose only concern in life is to make sure your delusions of white superiority aren't shattered? for what it's worth, white people are now outnumbered in this country by nonwhite people. Deal with it.

[2rth2pwr]

74. He is the one bringing up race.

[ima_sinnic]

87. DUH--he was responding to a question--it was relevant to that

--and he was forced to address race in his speech because of the overbearing efforts of the white nationalist billaryites to keep hammering away on the Wright "issue." As though Obama hasn't demonstrated in every possible way his love of country, his peacefulness, his loyalty to all Americans--as though just because of a few crazy things his pastor said, he is suddenly a closet black panther who's going to burn down a city. what a bunch of crap!

[Bonobo]

66. "You are a sad, little man."

[Mooney]

67. You're preaching to the choir, Reverend Munster.

I know that everything you post is meant to be MIND BLOWING, but the only people who are moved by it have been firmly in Hillary's camp for months, if not years. By the same token, I will bet you money that you have never persuaded a single Obama supporter, ever, to move into the Clinton column.

I am even going to go out on a limb and guess that there may even be some Hillary supporters who are kind of embarrassed by you.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

70. The GOP and their Hillary want to stir racial tensions

YOu posting something like that is not helpful to Hillary Clinton's campaign.

[DURHAM D]

75. Obama started race baiting to win S.C.

Talk to your candidate about this shit storm - he started it.

[Medusa]

77. So typical of a Clintonistas to blame someone else for something

the Clintons have done. :eyes:

[DURHAM D]

81. So typical of an Obama supporter to not understand what really happened.

I used to be so upset with Republicans because they voted on faith not facts. Now Obama supporters exhibit the exact same mind set only worse - no facts - just lies.

[AllentownJake]

80. President McCain

Do you think for one second John S. McCain is not sitting back right now laughing his ass of at us. We should all be ashamed of ourselves.

Well thankfully I'm 29 too old to be drafted for the war in Iran. In 2010 when we are talking about how we should count casulties in the wars should we seperate them by campaign or lump them together I want you to all look back at this time. Obama supporters. Hillary supporters and realize that we went out and destroyed the democratic party not over policy issues but over personalities.

God help us if we don't come together in August. Blood will be on both our hands.

[meow mix]

82. After reading this thread.. i better not ever hear one Clinton Supporter complain about my threads

just sayin

[rug]

83. Your threads suck.

just sayin

[durrrty libby]

88. They suck hairballs and cat turds

[hulklogan]

84. I don't care about this particular phraseology

I have other more important problems with Senator Obama.

In my opinion, there is a higher standard than this that must be met when it comes to screaming racism against white people.

[Venceremos]

85. Obama's stereotyping of white people

makes me cringe....much the same way he cringed when his grandmother "uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes".

[faithfulcitizen]

89. Do you EVER post anything that's not FLAMEBAIT? or POSITIVE about YOUR candidate?

otherwise, you're just a troll from within. Ah, the message of hate, celebrated on DU.

[madrchsod]

91. that is the intent

and this is an example of what obama was talking about several days ago....

[jillan]

90. He didn't really say that, did he?

All of this time I thought I was a typical white person, but I guess I'm not.

:puke:

[Swamp Rat]

94. What, no more Rev. Wright threads?

[npincus]

95. Obama IS white, so it is not racist.

Unless he is biased against himself! :rofl:

[BigBearJohn]

97. Racial prejudice: pre-formed personal opinions about individuals on the basis of their race

"... .. The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person who, uh, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know there's a reaction that's been been bred into our experiences that don't go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way and that's just the nature of race in our society. We have to break through it..." - Senator Barack Obama

Can you imagine if Hillary Clinton said someone was a "typical black person?"

Seriously, Barack Obama basically called all white people racist. You know, because when us typical white folk walk down the street and see an African American coming our way we run to the other side of the road.

Is this guy kidding? Back in the late 1970s, early 1980s, I lived on 95th and Columbus in New York City; long before it went chique. I took a subway from 42nd Street to get home after working on Broadway late at night. I walked home from the subway alone. I rode with African Americans, walked down the street past midnight in an area that wasn't near safe, with African Americans walking beside me and behind me. I'm a whitey white Scots-Irish broad and I was never afraid of an African American coming towards me, and never once crossed the street.

In an update, Obama's spokesperson elaborated, but it didn't help:

UPDATE: We gave the Obama campaign a chance to respond to this post. "Barack Obama said specifically that he didn't believe his grandmother harbored any racial animosity, but that her fears were understandable and typical of those often shared by her generation," said Obama's PA spokesman Sean Smith, who added that Grandma is 86-years-old. He might have meant that specifically, but that isn't what he said, especially as he spoke of his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, in the present tense. ... ..
It's becoming more apparent why Senator Obama didn't leave Rev. Wright's church, as well as continued his relationship with him. The truth is that racism works both ways and some of us blue collar folks don't appreciate being called racist by someone who has his own problems with race he is obviously in denial about.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/taylor-marsh/obama-grandmother-typic_b_92601.html

[Hoof Hearted]

98. K&R for the new politics of unity. Obama style.

[fedupinBushcountry]

99. You are afraid

to face the truth, that is what Obama is stating. Sorry you are not ready for a truthful adult discussion on the topic.

Oh how the Hillary supporters love to spin and not have a real conversation if discussing truth of an issue. Now where did I hear a certain person say " I like to have a conversation..."

[Seabiscuit]

100. Typical Idiot ... he's a jerk. I'm so over Obama. nt

[RBInMaine]

101. Again, people are misunderstanding. C'mon people, get real.

I listened to the entire Obama speech on race relations. And I heard the long clip of his radio comment where he used the phrase "typical white person." Again, like Michelle's "I am proud of my country" comment, this is being entirely misunderstood. Obama is talking in a post-speech radio interview about how his white grandmother, like MANY ordinary white people (and he probably should have added "especially of her generation") who are not "racist" but nonetheless still have race-based reactions to certain social situations. He WAS NOT insulting anyone or saying that "all" white people harbor latent racial biases. He was simply trying to make a point about how many of us (and it can be said of ANYONE regardless of race) that it is a social dynamic to have these internal racial reactions; that this is a part of our society, and something we need to continue to work to overcome. I just can't believe people insist on parsing each and every word anyone ever says, taking things out of context, and reading into it. As an Obama supporter I be fair and say the same for the Ferraro comment. She was making a point about these kinds of racial dynamics and dimensions in our sociopolitical life and behaviors. Ferraro is NOT a racist. She was just making a point, and her phrasing perhaps could have been better. That doesn't make her a "racist." Let's stop parsing, use some intelligence and reason, look at context and complexity of the issue being discussed, and then move the hell on.

[krkaufman]

102. Did you leave out part of Obama's statement?

I don't see where he said that "all white people" did anything, nor even that "a ~typical~ white person" "makes racist comments like his grandmother."