Obama: "Typical White Person"

[Chilly]

 

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/03/020088.php

[Kelly the Dog]

 

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/03/020088.php

That was a really stupid way to say that. Amazingly ill-conceived. But it surely is a typical white person reaction.

[drnykterstein]

Here is some really funny Fox News clownery in reaction to that. An anchor walked off the set.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/21/m...ho_n_92743.html

 

 

But ya I agree, Obama is a white hating black supremecist who puts all white people in one basket and can't tell the difference. I'm surprised he can tell his own mother from George Bush sometimes.

[Johnny Coli]

Here is some really funny Fox News clownery in reaction to that. An anchor walked off the set.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/21/m...ho_n_92743.html

But ya I agree, Obama is a white hating black supremecist who puts all white people in one basket and can't tell the difference. I'm surprised he can tell his own mother from George Bush sometimes.

Saw the Wallace segment earlier today, but hadn't seen the Kilmeade walk-off. The Wallace segement speaks directly to Bluefire's post, in that he's chastising the idiots for taking Obama's statement out of context. Finally some news people getting sick of this crap.

[Chilly]

Saw the Wallace segment earlier today, but hadn't seen the Kilmeade walk-off. The Wallace segement speaks directly to Bluefire's post, in that he's chastising the idiots for taking Obama's statement out of context. Finally some news people getting sick of this crap.

 

I get his point, but do you deny that it was an extremely bad (and funny, actually) choice of words?

[drnykterstein]

Ya I'll give you that point BF.. not a good choice o'words.

[Johnny Coli]

I get his point, but do you deny that it was an extremely bad (and funny, actually) choice of words?

Awkward, maybe. But is that really a statement that should have gotten the attention it did, today? Was it newsworthy? Did it warrant the level of coverage it got by cetain media outlets? I don't believe it did.

[yall]

I get his point, but do you deny that it was an extremely bad (and funny, actually) choice of words?

 

That's what happens when candidates let their guard down and speak candidly. Rookie mistake for sure, and it shows that prejudice and racial preconceptions are a two-way street. I'm certain there was no malice behind what he said, just a mental slip-up which shows none of us are above that sort of thing.

[Chilly]

Awkward, maybe. But is that really a statement that should have gotten the attention it did, today? Was it newsworthy? Did it warrant the level of coverage it got by cetain media outlets? I don't believe it did.

 

I personally can't say one way or the other, as I haven't been watching the news (March Madness baby!).

 

My boss was the one who showed it to me. He's an Obama supporter, but he was appalled by it.

 

I think it is a decent-sized gaffe coming from someone who is arguing to move past racial stereotyping to use a phrase associated with it. Obama really should have said that it was a common behavior trait in the US, instead of what he did.

 

Of course, I would say that Hillary putting 6:30 on her Texas advertisements for Latinos, and 6:45 for White people is a wayyyyyyyyyyy bigger problem than what Obama said, and that hardly got any media coverage.

[Kelly the Dog]

That's what happens when candidates let their guard down and speak candidly. Rookie mistake for sure, and it shows that prejudice and racial preconceptions are a two-way street. I'm certain there was no malice behind what he said, just a mental slip-up which shows none of us are above that sort of thing.

I do blame liberals more than the right for this particular kind of crap these days, although not much more. Everyone is at fault. The problem lies where you can't even just say what is true. What he said was exactly right. That once in awhile, when you are white and see someone on the street who is not white, prejudices creep in. It's exactly how a typical white person thinks. Not every white person. Not every time. But once in awhile when you let your guard down. I know I have personally felt that way a few times and I feel like I am WAY down on the totem pole when it comes to prejudice people. He was absolutely right. But in this stupid PC world, you can't even be honest and correct a good portion of the time.

 

And still, it's easy for me to say that was an incredibly bad choice of words.

[/dev/null]

That was a really stupid way to say that. Amazingly ill-conceived. But it surely is a typical white person reaction.

 

At least he didn't say we all look alike

[SilverNRed]

I don't think he meant anything by it, but can you imagine the response if a white politician said "typical black person"??

 

Not an impressive week for Obama, IMO.

[VABills]

I think it is a decent-sized gaffe coming from someone who is arguing to move past racial stereotyping to use a phrase associated with it. Obama really should have said that it was a common behavior trait in the US, instead of what he did.

But this is the same guy who was making such a big deal of Mccain misspeaking when stating Sunni vs.s Shiite. Those in glass houses should not cast stones.

[erynthered]

I don't think he meant anything by it, but can you imagine the response if a white politician said "typical black person"??

 

Not an impressive week for Obama, IMO.

 

 

I was going to post this earlier today, but I wanted to see how the day developed. Nothing. Not surprised though.

[KD in CA]

Obama is a typical white person? I wouldn't go that far....an Oreo maybe.

[blzrul]

All this hoopla just shows that Obama was right to face the race issue head on - we like to think we're past it but we are not. I was raised "white", in a white neighborhood in a white town in a city where the only black faces were in "the ghetto". My parents weren't overtly racist but they were typical white people of their generation - black people cleaned our house, we had to be polite to them etc but at the end of the day they went home to "the ghetto". We took Christmas baskets to poor black families in "the ghetto". How can you know what black people were like when you were never exposed to them other than what you heard second-hand, read, or saw on TV? People in those days actually DID believe blacks were better athletes because of genetics, that they did like fried food and watermelon, etc. They didn't know any better.

 

And of course it worked both ways. Kids in "the ghetto" would see a white person and make certain assumptions. At age 15 I was working in the city of Rochester one evening, registering voters. The dropped us off in "the ghetto". A gang of young black guys on the corner started catcalling etc....I walked up and asked them if they were old enough to vote and their jaws dropped. At the end of the conversation I had 5 new voters signed up, and I wasn't dead. I guess I could have been - at least based on what I'd always been told about "the ghetto". But perhaps what I'd learned was wrong. I was a typical white girl at that time - didn't know any better, but it didn't make sense that black folk sat around "the ghetto" waiting to kill me and as it turns our I was right.

 

I ended up moving to what I had thought of as "the ghetto" as a child when I bought my first house. It was the best place I ever lived. Sometimes the gunshots at night were scary, but I lived with black folk, immigrants, blue collar white folks and we all took care of each other and had a great time doing it. I have never since found that sense of togetherness in any of the neighborhoods I've lived since.

 

Obama's words are upsetting people because they should be upset. There are some things you can't tie up in a pretty bow. Race and gender issues are raw and emotional, and there's no way to get over it than to talk about it. He may not always express himself in the manner that we would like, but if he were to express himself in a way calculated to soothe and win over all sides, we'd just get the usual pandering blather that we so deplore from all politicians.

 

Anyone who thinks that Obama cannot handle diversity, conflict and manage diplomacy ought to consider this situation...and reconsider their position on that. He's doing extremely well in a situation that is very difficult.

[VRWC]

This is a better article about race and what is "Owed" to minorities than that speech from a few days ago.

 

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/03/obamas_anger.html

[Sirius99]

I do blame liberals more than the right for this particular kind of crap these days, although not much more. Everyone is at fault. The problem lies where you can't even just say what is true. What he said was exactly right. That once in awhile, when you are white and see someone on the street who is not white, prejudices creep in. It's exactly how a typical white person thinks. Not every white person. Not every time. But once in awhile when you let your guard down. I know I have personally felt that way a few times and I feel like I am WAY down on the totem pole when it comes to prejudice people. He was absolutely right. But in this stupid PC world, you can't even be honest and correct a good portion of the time.

 

And still, it's easy for me to say that was an incredibly bad choice of words.

 

The issue here is that someone who would be meeting and talking with multi-cultural heads of state should not be saying such stupid things. This one is just media fodder, but as President it could be a lot worse.

[Kelly the Dog]

The issue here is that someone who would be meeting and talking with multi-cultural heads of state should not be saying such stupid things. This one is just media fodder, but as President it could be a lot worse.

The rest of the world doesn't have nearly as much problem with honesty and truth and political correctness as we do. Multi-cultural Heads of State would very likely have stood up and cheered that comment.

[Sirius99]

The rest of the world doesn't have nearly as much problem with honesty and truth and political correctness as we do. Multi-cultural Heads of State would very likely have stood up and cheered that comment.

 

That is not true. The Asian culture is most definitely not a confrontational, direct-communication type of culture. As a matter of fact, Americans are routinely derided for brashness and tactlessness on the world stage. There are certainly some cultures similar in communication style to our own, but it isn't the norm. Besides, I was not referring to that particular comment in a different setting. A similarly oafish comment made in a diplomatic environment could have quite negative and far-reaching effects internationally.

 

McCain's recent slip is similar, although the concern with him is not whether he really knows the difference, but whether his age is affecting his lucidity. I wish I were joking.