OBAMA ON RACISM: Questions for conservatives

[pulser955]

I got a chance to watch his complete remarks today and some of the reactions from the right. I found his speech to be incredibly honest and personal. So I want some of you guys that are vary conservative and critical of Obama to explain how what he had to say was race bating?

[Dave Cutter]

... I found his speech to be incredibly honest and personal.

Interesting... I found the presidents speech to seem slow... even outright slurred. His eyes where unusually red. If he wasn't POUS I'd swear the man was high as a kite!

I remember Bill Clinton use to have "allergies" that caused similar problems. I wonder if President Obama is suffering from similar D.C. allergies.

The trial was about self defense... not gun control, not stand your ground laws, not the color of peoples skin. Obama just redirected... and tried to stir up racial discontent by talking about black social progress.

P.S. I am a life-long democrat and former union president. But I've never been a socialist. There is NOTHING liberal... about socialists.

[pulser955]

Interesting... I found the presidents speech to seem slow... even outright slurred. His eyes where unusually red. If he wasn't POUS I'd swear the man was high as a kite!

I remember Bill Clinton use to have "allergies" that caused similar problems. I wonder if President Obama is suffering from similar D.C. allergies.

The trial was about self defense... not gun control, not stand your ground laws, not the color of peoples skin. Obama just redirected... and tried to stir up racial discontent by talking about black social progress.

P.S. I am a life-long democrat and former union president. But I've never been a socialist. There is NOTHING liberal... about socialists.

So are you saying the POUS can't talk openly and honestly about a vary personally painful topic? I felt the look on his face was more of this is not easy. I also didn't think it was directly about the trial and more about why the black community is pissed. It was much more about the black experience in this country. That's a HUGE problem the disparitys between black and white are amazing and we haven't even tried to do any thing about it.

[ROGER79]

How is it that someone can say he/she "found his speech to be incredibly honest and personal" when that very person doesn't really know what the person is truly like behind closed doors ??? We as citizens of the United States ONLY know what we see on our TV screens, nothing more, nothing less. We are given the "Best of" portion of his personality because it's ALL scripted, be it off his beloved teleprompter or IF it's something that he can actually memorize which is usually something about his liberal BS agenda, but even the majority of that is off the "tele". I guess my point is this, our society is infatuated with "Star Power" very similar to that of our beloved Hollywood stars, Pro Athletes, etc. so when it comes down to really knowing this POTUS, YOU DON'T HAVE A CLUE. His comments may very well be exactly as you're assumed them to be, but I seriously doubt it, and you know what they always say about assuming....

[pulser955]

His comments may very well be exactly as you're assumed them to be, but I seriously doubt it, and you know what they always say about assuming....

What is your personal experience with growing up a back man in America? I may not be black but I grew up in the hood and I can tell you from the personal experiences of my friends he was being honest.

[Dave Cutter]

So are you saying the POUS can't talk openly and honestly

Yes... I have noticed that myself too.

I also didn't think it was directly about the trial and more about why the black community is pissed. It was much more about the black experience in this country.

You realize I am not white... right. Are you speaking of my community... your community.... or the presidents community?

[pulser955]

Yes... I have noticed that myself too.



You realize I am not white... right. Are you speaking of my community... your community.... or the presidents community?

I have no idea what race you are and I am talking about the presidents community. He is a black man.

[skinewmexico]

And what would Obama know about the black experience in this country? Raised in private enclaves and schools of the wealthy in Hawaii and Indonesia? He didn't even live in the community he was "organizing" in Chicago. Besides, in the new world, he's a white black man.

[pulser955]

And what would Obama know about the black experience in this country? Raised in private enclaves and schools of the wealthy in Hawaii and Indonesia? He didn't even live in the community he was "organizing" in Chicago. Besides, in the new world, he's a white black man.

That was exactly the knee jerk reaction I wan't looking for. Thanx. I think its incredibly insensitive and rude to dismiss anyone's attempt at expressing there life experience with race in this country as a lie or to say they can't know any thing because they did well for themselves. You might want to look at his history 1981 to 83 Columbia university NYC. Before that he was living in LA. Any one that lived in LA and NY in the 70s and 80s knows about race. That was some of the worst times for allot of city's.

[Dave Cutter]

..... I am talking about the presidents community. He is a black man.

He is? I thought his mother was white. Doesn't that make him a white man? Who are you Jim Crow? Obama is what is now called "a self proclaimed black man". Translation... not actually black but wants to relate with his black heritage (at least when it is convenient) as opposed to his white heritage. You could say... the President is decidedly anti-white.


P.S. I just love it when white people like you and our president teach me about what it's like to not be white. THANKS... for sharing your superior understanding with someone like myself.

[skinewmexico]

Sorry. I still don't think a rich kid slumming equates at all to a kid growing up poor and black in the continental US. Besides............who saw him at Columbia?

[Bill2]

Besides............who saw him at Columbia?

Exactly. Hussein Osama not only has no US birth certificate (known fact: he was born in Kenya), he also has no school nor college records (other than his Indonesian madras record stating his religion: Muslim). We are being ruled by an impostor, seated in power by an unholy alliance of Radical Islam and International Jewish Bankers. America as we know it will not emerge from the next 3 years.

[QuiQuaeQuod]

And what would Obama know about the black experience in this country?

Because of how he looks and the assumptions some people make about how he looks, he has experienced it.

Can white people experience what it is like to be black? Yes, and it tends to open their eyes:

A Man Changes His Skin Color from White to Black - Oprah.com

(btw, that episode of Oprah also had black guys get made up white and go into Chicago. Their eyes were opened too, to a world of privilege, privilege that they lost when the makeup came off and they went back to the same streets, stores, and buildings as when they were "white".)

See, that's the problem. People are treated according to the color of their skin, not the content of their character, their experiences, their history. And with all the evidence of it, those who deny it really have to deny a heck of a lot of voices saying the same thing.

And to the OP question, the right wing denies it by a knee jerk "they are race baiting" when race is discussed. Not all, not all the time, but mostly. Color blind racism would be a search term for how it works, though not how it is employed politically.

Colorblind Ideology is a Form of Racism | Psychology Today

[bigbill]

When Obama was Trayvon's age, he was attending an expensive and exclusive private school in Honolulu.

I would have no problem with the President's speech if he had left Trayvon out of it. If he wants to have an open and honest discussion about race in America, it's an opportunity to show leadership and share experience. By referring to Trayvon, he stirred up emotions about racial profiling and the verdict which only fanned the flames of protests. The verdict was not-guilty by a jury of peers. The whole thing was televised, the FBI had started an investigation to determine if race was a factor, and most of all, the trial wasn't about stand your ground, it was self defense. Now the DOJ is digging into the evidence because the verdict didn't match the expected one based on the media reports leading up to the trial.

There needs to be open discussion on race, but it needs to separate from the GZ verdict.

[crossracer]

If the president was travons age and walking thru that community that night instead of Travon he would have also been stalked by George Zimmerman.

Yes he went to private schools, but when you are out on the street all people see is the outside, so the pre judge you. Happens all the time.

In the end I think it's funny that white people can't put themselves into others shoes and see how things are different. They say things like "they should just get over it" " it happens to everybody"

I'm glad the president spoke. If responses like bill2 are any idea there are people who refuse to believe to facts.

[Bluenote]

And what would Obama know about the black experience in this country? Raised in private enclaves and schools of the wealthy in Hawaii and Indonesia? He didn't even live in the community he was "organizing" in Chicago. Besides, in the new world, he's a white black man.

Obama lived in lower Winter Hill when he lived in Boston. As in, Whitey Bulger's territory. Not a safe neighborhood and certainly not a 'wealthy enclave.'

Boston is a pretty segregated and racist city. And the Irish neighborhoods (like old Winter Hill) are pretty bad for this. It's truly shameful. (I'm an Irish American Bostonian, it really hurts me to say this, but it's true).

You can think what you like about Obama's speech, but it's not accurate to say 'he was well off and, therefore, always lived isolated from racism.'

[MR_GRUMPY]

I find the responses EXACTLY as I expected.
.
.

[Bluenote]

This all reminds me of the blues. Under Jim Crow, you weren't allowed to rock the boat. Talking honestly might lead to anger and...demand for change.

Blues musicians talked about their experiences in coded and indirect ways.

If anyone wants to understand how bad it really was in the sharecropper days, just listen to the blues. Why is this guy walking miles with holes in his shoes? Why can't the mule pull the wheel any more?

I'm always suspicious when people don't want free speech around a topic. When it gets labled incendiary and supressed. We can challenge someone's point if view. Debate it, reject it, dismiss it.

[Let'sRide]

The problem with race discussions in this country is that blacks and their advocates feel entitled to say just about anything, especially rhetoric that is long on emotional hyperbole and short on relevance to the current dynamic, while those who don't see it in the same light, who criticize such language... those people are roundly condemned.

Talk of Obama's "black experience" is a prime example. He grew up in a privileged lifestyle, far different (and far removed) from that of the typical African American. His life in L.A. and NYC were at private universities.

Before he came on the scene African American meant black Americans, who's ancestors were slaves, who's parents and grandparents lived through the Jim Crow era. They have a history full of abuse and scars. Obama had none of that. Yet, he acts like he's one of them.

It's all very disengenuous.

[Snakebit]

If the president was travons age and walking thru that community that night instead of Travon he would have also been stalked by George Zimmerman.

Yes he went to private schools, but when you are out on the street all people see is the outside, so the pre judge you. Happens all the time.

In the end I think it's funny that white people can't put themselves into others shoes and see how things are different. They say things like "they should just get over it" " it happens to everybody"

I'm glad the president spoke. If responses like bill2 are any idea there are people who refuse to believe to facts.

He might have been followed, how would he have reacted?

You need to be very careful with Bill2

[SwiftSolo]

Zimmerman was charged with murder and found not guilty by the courts. The president has shown zero compassion for what he has been through. Instead he continues to imply that Zimmerman is guilty and that the legal system has failed because of Stand Your Ground.

Either he is simply too stupid to be president or he is race baiting. This trial had zero to do with Stand Your Ground because it was not used by the defense. It was a tried as a simple case of self defense. Further, deaths by murder in the black community are caused 91% or the time by other blacks. If he were genuinely concerned, why did he use this case as a launching pad to do something about it.

The results of his speech remain to be seen. It is my view that he is attempting to further incite blacks. We will likely know if he was successful by the end of the day today.

It looks like he will do anything to take the public eye off of his scandals.

I got a chance to watch his complete remarks today and some of the reactions from the right. I found his speech to be incredibly honest and personal. So I want some of you guys that are vary conservative and critical of Obama to explain how what he had to say was race bating?

[pulser955]

The problem with race discussions in this country is that blacks and their advocates feel entitled to say just about anything, especially rhetoric that is long on emotional hyperbole and short on relevance to the current dynamic, while those who don't see it in the same light, who criticize such language... those people are roundly condemned.

Talk of Obama's "black experience" is a prime example. He grew up in a privileged lifestyle, far different (and far removed) from that of the typical African American. His life in L.A. and NYC were at private universities.

Before he came on the scene African American meant black Americans, who's ancestors were slaves, who's parents and grandparents lived through the Jim Crow era. They have a history full of abuse and scars. Obama had none of that. Yet, he acts like he's one of them.

It's all very disengenuous.

Right and racism only happens to poor people.

The time Obama was mistaken for a waiter - Salon.com

[QuiQuaeQuod]

Before he came on the scene African American meant black Americans, who's ancestors were slaves, who's parents and grandparents lived through the Jim Crow era. They have a history full of abuse and scars. Obama had none of that. Yet, he acts like he's one of them.

It's all very disengenuous.

Black people from the Caribbean experience racism in the USA. Black people from African do to. So do black people who had free ancestors in the USA. Have in the past, do today.

Saying people who look a certain way don't experience discrimination because they have a different background is disingenuous. The African American experience is tied up with the history of slavery and Jim Crow, but since appearance and assumptions some have lead to discrimination, looking a certain way gives one the experience, in part if not in total. IOW, that history affects all people (and I do mean all, in various ways especially in attitudes towards others, not just African Americans), no matter what their personal background.

Obama had many advantages, caring mother, involved grandparents, travel and fine education. But on the street, at the mall, many places and for most of his life, he was seen and treated as a black man. That is experience, one white folk tend to lack, and many white folk fail to recognize.

[Snakebit]

Black people from the Caribbean experience racism in the USA. Black people from African do to. So do black people who had free ancestors in the USA. Have in the past, do today.

Saying people who look a certain way don't experience discrimination because they have a different background is disingenuous. The African American experience is tied up with the history of slavery and Jim Crow, but since appearance and assumptions some have lead to discrimination, looking a certain way gives one the experience, in part if not in total. IOW, that history affects all people (and I do mean all, in various ways especially in attitudes towards others, not just African Americans), no matter what their personal background.

Obama had many advantages, caring mother, involved grandparents, travel and fine education. But on the street, at the mall, many places and for most of his life, he was seen and treated as a black man. That is experience, one white folk tend to lack, and many white folk fail to recognize.

Let's not try to pretend that it's all coffee and cookies in Africa. Black people do their dead level best to exterminate other black ethnic groups. We have at least gotten past the genocide stage in our race relations.

[QuiQuaeQuod]

Let's not try to pretend that it's all coffee and cookies in Africa.

Who is pretending that?