Race

To not have happened in the first place.

Okay I watched this vid all the way thru again. I still take away contempt for his tossing grandma under the bus in a POLITICAL speech.

I'll reiterate... For apparent political gain/repair, Obama spoke less than incredibly graciously about a grandmother that helped raise him? True or not... what the fuck! What's the profound reason for this projection? In a scripted setting, with carefully chosen language (a little lofty I might add), why resort to the "old white lady scared of blacks" bit? And... WHY USE YOUR OWN GRANDMOTHER!?!?!?!?! Unconventional indeed.

I didn't think I could dislike/distrust Obama any more than in months prior. Wrong again Reggie.

Yeah!!! Doesn't he know that he's not supposed to tell if grandma was racist or if father McFeely was a pedophile! Nobody wants to here that stuff, just pretend everything is OK.

What "old white lady scared of blacks" bit? You mean the part where he spoke about his own experiences. I'd like to know how well adjusted you would be if grandma had confessed to you that she feared "your kind". It might be something significant enough that you'd mention it if you were addressing race relations.

Appropriate to leverage family shame in a prepared political damage- control speech in a primary state?

Was Obama's grandmother confiding in him, or is this just his perception of her "typical white response"?

In what context would his grandmother discuss her shameful thoughts? Did it start like:
1. "I'm so proud of you Barack."? OR
2. "I never liked you or your father, Barack."?

Was there a betrayal of trust in his statements? Or is old gram happy to explain herself every day & spew her monstrous hate with her pinochle buddies?

P.S. I'd like a well- adjusted president please.

Does anyone other than my little niece give unprepared public speeches?

That's right it's all or nothing time again. How about we move beyond the politics of "America fuck yeah" and embrace the notion that there are some nuances to most things. Do you think that, given their circumstances, the issue of race never game up over the dinner table? There's a big gap between "Sometimes I'm uncomfortable around black people" and "Hey let's light this cross on fire."

A well adjusted president? Like one who was a POW for five years?

On March 20, 2008, in a radio interview on Philadelphia's WIP (AM), Obama explained this remark by saying:

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...there's a reaction that's 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".

So it is adjusted to never examine the motivations and beliefs of your past? Is it more well-adjusted to pretend that nothing ever gave you pause? Should we allow dangerously false impressions, phobias and bad habits make it into the next generation? I did not take away anything like "tossing grandma under the bus" from Obama's comments. I think it is very healthy to decide that not everything grandma or any antecedent (including the founding fathers) believed was the whole truth or good. Real world grandparents are not 100% wholesome cookies, hugs and wise advice.

I grew up among people that made judgments about the evolving landscape of Waukegan, between 1950 and today, based on the changes of racial mix in neighborhoods and in the work crews in Abbott Laboratories. Where some anecdotes may have had a basis in experience with some bad individuals, the overall impressions of different races were things I had to discard after some serious thought. Unfortunately my formative childhood neighborhoods were too isolated to overrule racial stereotypes and television impressions for any of us.

College taught me a lot more than I could have expected. I saw firsthand how damaging the "harmless" stereotypes were to people I liked and admired.

The speech rang true to me, and I have nothing but more admiration for the Senator for choosing to make it. It was brilliant. I may have been convinced to vote for the man.

"Appropriate to leverage family shame in a prepared political damage- control speech in a primary state?" Correct answer is NO!

My point is, he wasn't asked about his grandmother. He wasn't giving an honest candid answer to a probing question. He just served it up to benefit himself (in a speech he HAD TO GIVE nonetheless). What kind of person does that to family for political gain? Or any context outside of a courtroom for that matter! His subsequent clarification was equally frail and ignorant. I partially disagree with his stereotypical assertion that all "white people" have "inbred reactions" toward "black people". I completely disagree with his matter- of- fact tone. I was waiting for some insightful analysis answering WHY. You know, to jump start the, AHEM, national dialog on race. And... begin the healing my brothers and sisters.

Pretty, safe, political, given for the wrong reasons, script. On character and judgment, he cannot have my vote. The intelligent minds of the free- thinking Chaos Digest crowd that I enjoy so much would never sincerely use stifling adjectives like "Typical". Right? Bueller?

Firstly, Thanks Rob for posting this. I haven't had a chance to see it and I am glad I finally did. I can't help it, maybe I'm just a sucker, but I love Obama.

This speech came across to me as open and as candid as I've ever heard a politician. Now, remember, I did say, Politician, so yes, he is still walking egg shells and trying not to say something really stupid while trying to woo us into still voting for him.

While we are at it, let me throw my own grandmother under the bus. One time I was walking with my grandma outside of her building and there was a family of black folk moving into their building. And she says, and I quote, "Oh Great! Shines! That's all we need. Shines moving in. THat's ALL we need."

Let me just say, I was SHOCKED! Something like that coming from sweet old grandma whom I love so dearly. This, hate and contempt for someone she didn't know at based solely on color.

That, Reggie, is Mr. Obama's point. Now, should I have condemned my grandma for saying that? Or should I never repeat it, so as to protect my lil ol grandma from the scorn of having prejudices? As is "typical" of ALL people white folk and black folk?

No, I will choose to speak candidly about it to acknowledge, YES, there is racism that extends from our history of slaves and treating black folk unequally. Does that make my grandma a horrible person? NO. Of course not. She was an AMAZING person. So giving and so caring. But her being an amazing person, does that excuse her from saying hurtful things towards people of another race? I don't think so.

Well, I loved Obama's speech. but i love Obama. Even, when he talks about his drug use in High School. and College. He doesn't try to hide it. He says, "Yeah I smoked grass. I smoked a lot of grass. I drank and partied. That's what many americans do." And now . . I've grown up. Big deal?

Alright, end rant here.

Nice work.

Obama didn't mention ANYTHING about your Grandmomma. Lemme help Barrack break some eggs, make some omelets, and risk saying something interesting...

Discrimination is a perfectly NATURAL defense mechanism. Hello! Can't help but fall victim to our own animal brains. Bright colors in nature warn us of danger. Like Rainbows for example. Big trouble. I love eating frogs, but I will avoid ALL red- colored species, even though I never tasted them prior & they may be perfectly delicious. Yes, we also harbor many unfounded fears deep down, BUT WHY!? We learn to hate, but maybe not entirely motivated or stimulated by environment.

Are we born "color blind"? Not sure, but I don't think that's the right question. Children are born into situations & coached into conditioned responses by their elders. What happens if a baby is raised by wolves? Well, then he's afraid of perfectly nice people that want to help him, in addition to grunting like a wild animal and shitting in the woods (on purpose, I mean).

Nobody is TEACHING racial teamwork. why not? Seems to me that we need less dialog, and more solutions. Maybe[Yes], we can. Actually addressing the issue with action? Have to start by pointing out differences, and that's uncomfortable. Anyone think this country is actually "desegregated"? Which group of people want racial teamwork less? Is there a centrist answer to that?! We are burning everything in our great melting pot. Verbal or mental "Racism" seems like small potatoes, when compared to a bigger class warfare struggle.

Barrack shot himself in the ass with an arrow, wildly aiming 20 yards left of the bullseye. Candid? No. Sorry. I don't fault you for believing Obama to be what you NEED him to be-- just as I respect those that sincerely choose to take the bible, or parts of it, literally. Float your boat. That just happened.

"Discrimination is a perfectly NATURAL defense mechanism."

Au contraire.

Stereotyping is a natural human reaction.
Discrimination is when you allow said stereotyping (and not facts or compassion) to control your thoughts, actions and reactions.

BIG ol' difference there.

Just like there is a difference between ignorance, and willful ignorance.
(the first I tolerate, the second is one of the very few things in the world that truly pisses me off)

"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid."
- Benjamin Franklin

For the record, I am never voting for TheOutlaw because he still loves his grandmother even though he does not always agree with her 100%. I will instead be voting for Bill O'Reilly who has disowned everyone he has ever disagreed with. He has, hasn't he?

(btw, reminds me of the time in senior year in high school, when I showed my own grandmother a photo of my (then) girlfriend, Karren, who was Jamaican. She laughed and said "No really, who is your girlfriend?" After convincing her that I was indeed dating a black girl, she backed up and apologized, said nothing was wrong with it, etc. To her credit, she (and my parents) never said a single disparaging thing the entire year and half I went out with her. My girlfriend's parents, however, were complete asses and racists against me.)

Been there Hay. Had a non- white love interest early in high school-- who opted to hide the relationship, rather than face disown-ment. Poor Reggie.

So why do you think their parents treated us this way? Were they just mean? Were they ignorant? Or willingly ignorant? Okay for me to think it was they who had the "problem"? Why couldn't THEY just get over it.

Do the miles walked matter? I believe yes. Some wounds require more cutting than stitching. "Time" alone is primitive & weak medicine for such deep & delicate matters. By the way, anyone know if deprogramming adult thinking is actually possible?

Why can't everyone use common sense and just wise- up? (sarcasm) LOL. And "what's the deal with that pesky squabble between Israel & it's neighbors"?!?!? Perhaps grandmothers are to blame!

(btw, is it worse to be a racist "minority", hating the majority group for past repression/injustices, or is it worse to be a racist "majority" hating the minority for whatever reasons? Generic answer is neither. BUT, can we agree the motivation for the former seems somewhat less "ignorant"??)

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You know, that shit is WRONG, but funny as hell. I don't know if that does more good or more harm. Richard Pryor was famous for using the N word, but at the end of the day, I think did more just to popularize a negative word. Maybe? Dave Chapelle said something similiar.

That being said. I think Stephen Colbert is just as wrong. Yet, I find him just as funny. It's good to laugh I suppose.

So many conservatives think he is dead serious.