Obama tackles race anger in major speech

[jon1856]

Swift Boating the Speech

It was a great piece of oratory, and a good short-term political tactic. But it won’t help him beat McCain.

Few events in this relentlessly eventful campaign season have felt as momentous, as freighted with portent, as the speech that Barack Obama delivered last week on race. As a piece of rhetoric, Obama’s address was pretty much everything one could ever hope for from a presidential candidate on the vexed topic of black and white: nuanced, candid, gutsy, and replete with context. But Obama’s oration was more than a speech—it was a political maneuver. And, as such, at least in the short term, it was as nearly as effective as it was eloquent and erudite. It helped Obama move past the raging controversy stirred up by the rantings of Reverend Jeremiah Wright. It put him back on the elevated plane where he thrives. And, in the words of one Democratic strategist, “It strummed the mystic chords of the press corps, which has been south on him since Ohio and Texas.”


In the longer term, however, Obama’s speech did nothing to defuse an issue that Republicans clearly intend to beat him senseless with this fall—assuming that, as seems increasingly likely, he secures the Democratic nomination. Quite the contrary.....
http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/45317/

[DSTCHAOS]

Cliff Notes for page 8 of this thread, anyone?

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Cliff Notes for page 8 of this thread, anyone?

If you switch your settings, it's only 3.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

If you switch your settings, it's only 3.

Cliff Notes for page 3 of this thread, anyone?

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Cliff Notes for page 3 of this thread, anyone?

"Reading is fun-damental"

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by jon1856

"Reading is fun-damental"

Are Cliff Notes in sign language?

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Cliff Notes for page 3 of this thread, anyone?

This guy, talked, about things.

Some liked, some didn't.

[EE-BO]

Originally Posted by AKA_Monet

Let me also ask you this, do you feel left out of somethings in regards to these issues? Do you care? Help me understand? I am just asking?

Hi AKA_Monet,

Sorry for the delay replying to this. I wanted to give this last question some thought as well.

I do care deeply about these matters- and in the context of people I care about as well as the world in general.

I don't necessarily feel left out, but I do feel like some of my views are not welcome- and on both sides at the extreme.

I do believe that a number of African-Americans and other legally defined and protected minority groups take unfair/unintended advantage of legal protections offered to them. There is no doubt about it- I have seen it with my own eyes.

But I do not think this is because of their race- it is human nature. It is a tough world out there and we ALL take advantage of whatever opportunities we have. Some of us do that in a good way, and some of us do that in a negative way.

And for racial groups already in a position of privilege and power, the same happens but it is more of a status quo thing since obviously there are no legal protections necessary.

I also have observed that some people of ALL races, religious groups etc. do look out for their own first to a degree that is detrimental to the long term goal of a true melting-pot society.

This is all normal human behavior that transcends race, religion or any other defining characteristic one wants to use to parse the population into groups.

However, the cold hard reality is that African-Americans as a group seem to get the "shaft" when this happens.

This is what I want to understand and what I think needs fixing.

This Democratic Primary is a good example. Obama gets the African-American vote while Hillary is stronger among women, the aged and Hispanic voters.

This messy Democratic Primary is a perfect example of what scares me. Whichever way it goes, there is going to be a lot of ugliness.

African-American vs. Hispanic interests are the real key economically. The big problem Democrats have right now is the issue of immigration and jobs going abroad as two of their key target constituencies are at complete opposite ends of the spectrum on how to deal with such issues.

Slavery and segregation were abolished in prior generations- but I think in my generation we are going to have to come to grips with the realities of a global economy, a growing permanent underclass in the US resulting from globalization and outsourcing; and why that hits the African-American community like a sledgehammer.

But amid all this cold analysis are human faces.

Remember the case of Josiah Sutton in Houston anyone? I know his mother. I was there the day she found out his conviction was overturned on DNA evidence and I will never forget her falling to the ground crying to the Lord in gratitude that her son was about to be freed. I was terrified to later find out he was convicted and his brilliant life path destroyed because he was black and wearing the same color baseball cap as the actual assailant in the case. He was convicted on THAT lousy eyewitness testimony. What white man would be convicted on those flimsy grounds?

Or there is a lady I know who is a single mom and has an absolutely brilliant child. He has such a future ahead if he can survive where he is living now. This is one of the most intelligent kids I have ever met- and his Mom is fighting a losing battle to keep him away from those who want to bring him into a more dangerous life- a struggle most of us white people can never imagine.

And then there are the falsely prosecuted college students and lacrosse players from Duke U. who are free now but will forever be demonized in the minds of many- young men who were made into symbols of hate for no reason at all other than the political ambitions of others.

These are the individual people I lose sleep over.

And I get upset because a lot of self-proclaimed black leaders are just as responsible for some of these dilemmas as the existing power structure.

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by EE-BO

I do believe that a number of African-Americans and other legally defined and protected minority groups take unfair/unintended advantage of legal protections offered to them. There is no doubt about it- I have seen it with my own eyes.

I have not seen very many people of color take advantage of things legally offered them. I have not seen it, myself. That does not mean that it does not happen. Most people get what they deserve and work for 90% of time.

Originally Posted by EE-BO

I also have observed that some people of ALL races, religious groups etc. do look out for their own first to a degree that is detrimental to the long term goal of a true melting-pot society.

However, the cold hard reality is that African-Americans as a group seem to get the "shaft" when this happens.

This is what I want to understand and what I think needs fixing.

Well, folks get stabbed in the back by their own everyday. Black on black crime has gone up and is very violent. In my youth, many of my classmates started dying while pursuing gangs. Two of my friends were gunned down, 1 over a drug deal gone bad and one because he fought with doped out gang members. That was mid-1980's... A few folks in college decided to pay for school by selling drugs... They were criminally assaulted. These were all African Americans.

Positive interactions with my own has been tempered. Good and bad. But I have not given up, some of these "statistics" are in my own family... I don't know that many Caucasian families under similar circumstances. But I am meeting more and more who can relate. However, while growing up, I did not see my peers experiencing similar activities that I had friends and loved ones going through. Make sense?

Originally Posted by EE-BO

This Democratic Primary is a good example. Obama gets the African-American vote while Hillary is stronger among women, the aged and Hispanic voters.

This messy Democratic Primary is a perfect example of what scares me. Whichever way it goes, there is going to be a lot of ugliness.

African-American vs. Hispanic interests are the real key economically. The big problem Democrats have right now is the issue of immigration and jobs going abroad as two of their key target constituencies are at complete opposite ends of the spectrum on how to deal with such issues.

Slavery and segregation were abolished in prior generations- but I think in my generation we are going to have to come to grips with the realities of a global economy, a growing permanent underclass in the US resulting from globalization and outsourcing; and why that hits the African-American community like a sledgehammer.

But amid all this cold analysis are human faces.

I don't know about all of that now. Bill Richardson's endorsement of Obama was interesting to me. And bottomline it is the human faces in the end. Help the people become better people rather than destroy them or living by the sword...

That is MLK's legacy more than anything else. You should read Taylor Branch's "At Canaan's Edge". He interestingly was a part of the MLK movement right after the Bus Boycott as a Caucasian man... He was ~little older than you are now during that time... And the assasination of King is coming up on April 4, 2008...

Originally Posted by EE-BO

These are the individual people I lose sleep over.

And I get upset because a lot of self-proclaimed black leaders are just as responsible for some of these dilemmas as the existing power structure.

You can ponder these things if you'd like, but losing sleep? How will that work? How can you be effective as a leader by losing sleep?

I would not worry about these self-proclaimed leaders. They will ultimately speak up or they will falter. The order is NOT to be in the existing power structure--but to make your own...

[AKA_Monet]

Hilarious!

Barack vs. Hillary...

[jen0830]

Thankfully, nothing can reverse the world from seeing Barak Obama's bigotry, no matter how "emotionally inspiring" his speeches are to the masses.
Obama is well spoken, but hollow, and deceitful, and we deserve more from our next President. His lack of judgment for wanting to continue to associate with his racist mentor and spiritual advisor, Wright and Farrakhan, betrays his hidden agenda.
That is his choice, but he loses my respect, and definitely my vote. I am so glad Barak and Michelle "I'm finally proud of our country" Obama can retire and stick with the people who's ideologies, values and attitudes are similar.
Good bye, OHB, Good Luck and God Bless You!

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by jen0830

Thankfully, nothing can reverse the world from seeing Barak Obama's bigotry, no matter how "emotionally inspiring" his speeches are to the masses.
Obama is well spoken, but hollow, and deceitful, and we deserve more from our next President. His lack of judgment for wanting to continue to associate with his racist mentor and spiritual advisor, Wright and Farrakhan, betrays his hidden agenda.
That is his choice, but he loses my respect, and definitely my vote. I am so glad Barak and Michelle "I'm finally proud of our country" Obama can retire and stick with the people who's ideologies, values and attitudes are similar.
Good bye, OHB, Good Luck and God Bless You!

OK....the same question I will ask to you...why should he disassociate??

So he can please the masses?

Furthermore, how is it that everyone keeps trying to fit the square peg into the round hole with Obama and Farrakhan when, as far as we know...they have never met?

It's still amazing how people are trying to call Obama a bigot based on 10 secs of news clip that has been played ad nauseum for the past few weeks.

[jen0830]

Obama can associate with whomever he wants.

I believe his association/friendship with Wright, a man who preaches hatred, and resentment against an entire race does not further Obama's promise of being the one “to unite America.” He falls far short of this proposal based upon his actions.

Wright sounds like the Black KKK. Would you want to elect a White man, who, for 20 years, has been a good friend, and attending speeches of someone who is in the KKK? I wouldn’t vote for any White racist either. Obama then states that he has never heard this kind of talk before? He doesn't agree with his racist tirade, but wants to stay his close friend? Again, not a man I would vote for. Obama says, “I could no more disown Rev. Wright than I could disown the black community”.

According to his federal income tax return for 2006, Obama gave the Trinity United church $22,500 in contributions.

Would I vote for a man who financially supports attacks on others? NO!

In 1982, the church launched Trumpet Newsmagazine; Wright’s daughters serve as publisher and executive editor, Wright is CEO. Every year, the magazine makes awards in various categories. Last year, it gave the Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award to a man it said, “Truly epitomized greatness”. That man is Louis Farrakhan.

Farrakhan is one of the country’s most bizarre, most repulsive, most openly racist, most offensive, public figures. Yet Obama’s minister lauded Farrakhan with an award for epitomizing greatness. Maybe for Wright, Obama, and some others, Farrakhan epitomizes greatness. For most Americans, Farrakhan epitomizes hatred, particularly in the form of anti-Semitism. Over the years, he has compiled an awesome record of offensive statements, including calling Anglo-Americans, “Blue-eyed Devils”. Wright’s comments are not theological views, but political statements. This is a serious issue for Obama in the general election. As with each new utterance on the topic of Reverend Wright, Obama confirms his own moral obliviousness and he seems to have disdain for those who are troubled by his own unwillingness to break with Wright.

Even worse, Obama still insists Wright is a brilliant man, So brilliant, apparently, that he has uncovered the plot by White America to kill African Americans with AIDS, so insightful as to perceive the 9/11 attacks caused by American terrorism and his discerning observation that Israel is a dirty word, and still in Obama’s eyes, Wright is brilliant. A brilliant man who calls Jews “bloodsuckers” There are the things a man says and then there are the things a man does. Attending a church with a man using the pulpit for his political agenda says much about Obama. He called that pastor a mentor and titled one of his books after a Wright sermon.

A friend, and pastor who honors the likes of Farrakhan says quite a lot as well. Obama’s silence about that Wright's honor for Farrakhan shows his position, and it is not for “all of us”.

Not being an Obama supporter, I know this is not a popular position on this thread. Still, I am voicing my opinion on this person, who has shown he doesn't have the judgment or the experience to be President of our country. He would make a good keynote speaker and his banal cocktail chatter would be a hit at some parties. Where is his substance? Voting "Present" on over 100 issues?

Now it is time for me to continue to get busy and do whatever I can to support and elect a true hero, John McCain as our next President.

[jen0830]

In 1982, the church launched Trumpet Newsmagazine; Wright’s daughters serve as publisher and executive editor, Wright is CEO. Every year, the magazine makes awards in various categories. Last year, it gave the Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award to a man it said, “Truly epitomized greatness”. That man is Louis Farrakhan.

Farrakhan is one of the country’s most bizarre, most repulsive, most openly racist, most offensive, public figures. Yet Obama’s minister lauded Farrakhan with an award for epitomizing greatness. Maybe for Wright, Obama, and some others, Farrakhan epitomizes greatness. For most Americans, Farrakhan epitomizes hatred, particularly in the form of anti-Semitism. Over the years, he has compiled an awesome record of offensive statements, including calling Anglo-Americans, “Blue-eyed Devils”. Wright’s comments are not theological views, but political statements. This is a serious issue for Obama in the general election. As with each new utterance on the topic of Reverend Wright, Obama confirms his own moral obliviousness and he seems to have disdain for those who are troubled by his own unwillingness to break with Wright.

[jen0830]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

So someone acknowledging that a minority group that has greater poverty and a long history of discrimination against them has it worse in tough times is only caring about the minority group? Wow, please go move to whichever homogenous ethnic country fits you the best.

If we cannot TALK about race, racism, discrimination, etc. then we will never ever change them. Honestly why is Wright any different than Pat Robertson and his "9/11 happened because of the gays and women working outside the home" line? (And you're just making shit up with Farrakhan).

Oh noes the black guy will be president and he will make us all slaves! It's true I read it on a website! EVERYBODY PANIC.

/ahhhh that's better.

In 1982, the church launched Trumpet Newsmagazine; Wright’s daughters serve as publisher and executive editor, Wright is CEO. Every year, the magazine makes awards in various categories. Last year, it gave the Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award to a man it said, “Truly epitomized greatness”. That man is Louis Farrakhan.

Before you dismiss someone's words, may I suggest you check it out and do some research? Maybe you could begin with ALL of Obama's statements about the Nation of Islam and it's leader.

I live in Los Angeles, one of the most multicultural and sexually diverse cities in the country. I have been on the Web, going to the library, and listening to most of the speeches that Wright, and Obama have made. I did not have the patience, or time to listen to all of them. Has anyone? Clinton’s? McCain’s?
Has anyone listened to all of Don Imus' conversations or remembered his good deeds? Most choose to remember his one highly offensive remark. He had the character to apologize and meet with those he offended. Obama was one of the first to condemn Imus. This is why I consider Obama a hypocrite. He is "mouthing a qualified condemnation of Wright, but like many, excusing Wright’s racist speeches. I listened to the entire speech so I am not basing my views on “Fox News” snippets.

There are no excuses for Wright's remarks. After 20 years of hearing these attacks, Obama is still his close friend, claiming he did not know any of this. After 4 years, I knew my sorority sisters pretty well. This makes Obama either incredibly stupid or a liar, or BOTH!

Let’s get real, having Wright and Farrakhan, as your "spiritual advisors" would shape one’s philosophy and attitudes. I think one would get a general idea of their mentor’s opinions and ideologies. Obama described his own grandmother as a "typical white woman". This is racist; the same as if I said someone is a "typical black woman". Dumb Blonde jokes are racist and yet PC. Have you ever had to explain that to a crying 5-year-old blonde niece who doesn’t “get the joke” and thinks she's stupid because of her hair color?

I was in a small store robbery where a Korean merchant was being beaten in the face and head, with a baseball bat, while being called a racial slur, by a Black thug. When this jerk came at me, he called me a c****** bitch, and I don't mean Saltine. I clocked him in the face with a can of soup and kicked him in the groin several times, so he would still be down when the police arrived. Trust me, I am not going to panic over the possibility of a Black President, God willing, it won't be Obama! Several of us, blonde, homogenous, GLO alumnae, as you would lump my group, have had many a racial slur come at us, including "high priced white p*****".

FYI, I don't run away either. I have helped a transvestite get away from some White rednecks, who began beating him because he was a "q****".
And since we are bringing up history of injustices in this thread, does anyone remember the Rodney King riots in LA? I sure do, I was in it.

I remember watching the rioters dragging Reginald Denny from his truck and the glee on their faces as they kicked him on the ground, and smashed a rock on his head? Mr. Denny's only crime was being White.

We could go on and on, including the recent murders of three Southern co-eds, two of who were members of GLO's. What excuse will be given now? Could these murders be the results of hate talk? Who knows? Blacks were lynched in the South as the result of hate talk. I think we can all agree, it doesn't help.

Don't patronize me as ill informed, or lacking life experience. I have friends of many races, religions, and sexual orientations. As a responsible member of society, I SPEAK UP AND TAKE ACTION when I hear ANY racial, religious, gender, sexual orientation, or GLO slur.

Please put your assumptions about me elsewhere.