I’m dying for someone to tell me how this isn’t a racist statement.
During an interview at a Philadelphia radio station, Barack Obama said “But she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn’t know. . .there’s a reaction in her that doesn’t go away and it comes out in the wrong way.”
If John McCain used the term “typical black person,” the left would be apoplectic and calling for investigations, sensitivity training and for him to step down as a candidate.
But Obama talking about “typical white” people……and you’ll hardly here a whisper about it.
The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled. 
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It isn’t a racial statement. Racial statements come from your heart. We all know that Obama’s heart is a pure as the driven snow. He is utterly untouched by the racist whites and blacks around him. He is part white and part black. He gained the best from both races. There isn’t any room in his DNA for the racist feelings the rest of us have.
Seriously, that article puts it finger on what bothers me about Barack. Didn’t Germany once elect a charismatic, racist leader who promised great things? If we happen to follow Germany’s lead, I hope things work out better for us.
Yes Duck, nothing like dropping the Hitler analogy. Thanks for making your feelings clear.
Wouldn’t the Reagan analogy be more appropos?
As for the comment itself, at first blush it is problematic. But, unlike McCain, Obama is 1/2 white – and was raised by white grandparents. So, perhaps he knows more of what he speaks than would McCain who can’t even figure out the difference between Iranian Shi’as and Arab Sunni’s – and which group supports Al Qaeda.
Everybody hold on to your “oh, crap” handlebar — it’s the Ragnar redirect!
Thanks for answering the question, Ragnar: Because Obama is of mixed decent, he can say anything he wants.
Now, you clearly can see the hypocrisy of the left.
Like that did ya? Of course your response was every bit as much a re-direct as mine was.
The problem is a core difference in our perspectives on just who Obama is. Where your perspective is based on Obama’s skin color, mine is based on his experience and genetic make-up. He is neither a black man, nor a white man. He was neither raised in the white community nor the African-American community, etc. Where you want to designate a box for him, he was born into a box which is outside of your and our society’s conventional understanding of race. Thus, he is well positioned to challenge our entire society’s understanding of race and what it means to be black or white in our society.
No redirect at all. The post was about how Obama will not be called on the carpet for saying what he did by the media.
But you say because of his heritage, he can say anything he wants. Case closed. Point proven.
I could care less about the color of skin. We didn’t bring it up.
If I recall, this all started with “God Damn America” and Obama stating that it was o.k. because of how the black community has been treated all these years.
Please, continue to defend the indefensible. It’s amusing.
RE: Wouldn’t the Reagan analogy be more appropos?
No, while Brian could better defend Reagan, Reagan stood for limited government. Fascists like big government.
Robert Paxton defined fascim as “…a sense of overwhelming crisis beyond reach of traditional solutions; 2. belief one’s group is the victim, justifying any action without legal or moral limits; 3. need for authority by a natural leader above the law, relying on the superiority of his instincts; 4. right of the chosen people to dominate others without legal or moral restraint; 5. fear of foreign `contamination.”
1. Healthcare crisis. Iraq crisis, etc. Obama says traditional systems are not solving these problems, but he will.
2. Obama’s pastor has painted blacks as victims. Democrat minority groups often rejoice in being victims. Those without health insurance, deadbeat home owners, and the poor are all victims in Obama’s mind.
3. Isn’t Obama always saying his instincts and judgments are so much better than every other politician’s judgments?
4. This seems to be where Wright is coming from.
5. I admit it breaks down here unless there is more to Obama than we currently know.
Also, fascism means union. Obama is the great Uniter.
So, Hitler-Obama works much better than Hitler-Reagan.
JR – We are our heritage, which is why BK attacked Obama for claiming to have some insight into white America, while also claiming that a similar, albeit reversed attack against McCain would have been received differently. To claim otherwise is to ignore the facts presented in BK’s post. (Bottom line, would this be an issue if McCain had uttered the phrase “typical white person”? of course not. Which is why the above, within context is a reasoned response.) But, if you are only seeing this through the same partisan lens that caused you to refer to Sen. Obama as “B. Hussein Obama” recently, than no appeal will suffice.
Duck – you have presented an illogical defense to an indefensible statement, one not worthy of anything more of a response.
Ragnar, where did you learn to read. I didn’t attack Obama for claiming to have insights into white America.
and I said it would be an issue if McCain said “typical black person” NOT “typical white person”
You really have trouble sticking to what was actually written, don’t you Raggie?
Bottom line, Obama’s getting a pass for exhibiting clear racial stereotypes.
The irony is that you are attacking me for not reading what you wrote (personally – as always). You clearly either didn’t read what I authored, or you don’t have the training necessary to understand basic logic. I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt. How about re-reading what I wrote and what JR wrote, and taking a stab at a reasoned response, rather than a knee-jerk partisan flail?
Are knee-jerks a little too low than what you’re used to?
I wrote the post. I’ll defend what it says, and jump in to correct people when they misrepresent it (like you).
Other than that, I’m not interested in debating your distractions.
How ironic (and circular) that we’re arguing about the racism of a statement playing to one racial stereotype, and the nature of the statement was about the latent racism resulting from another racial stereotype. Bizarre.
By the way, from Merriam-webster:
Racist:
1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
2 : racial prejudice or discrimination
Hmm, where’s the belief of inherent superiority, prejudice or discrimination?
In general racism is based more on the inherent genetic identity of race, than the experiential identity. Obama’s comment was directed more at the experiential identity. It was a prime example of stereotyping though.
Just out of curiosity, would the good folks here consider a comment like the following racist were it said by a white guy?
“Robert is a typical black person – he’s seen first hand the results of racism as it still exists in our country today.”
Maybe i’m in the minority, but i would not consider that racist. Not because its not derogatory in focus. A comment like “Blacks are just better at sports” is racist, and its positive. I don’t think of the original comment as racist because its based more about race as a common denominator of experiential identity, not as an inherent genetic trait.
“Hmm, where’s the belief of inherent superiority”
Obama obviously is much better than those “typical white people” who can’t help but be less enlightened about race than he is.
Jeremy, we shouldn’t be generalizing people by race. …period. Wasn’t that supposed to be the goal in the first place?
Well, since racism is about racial superiority and not individual, i guess you’re saying Obama must be a race unto himself
.
On you last sentence, we are on the same page. Stereotyping, generalizing – call it what you will. It may be convenient, and maybe even useful in limitted cases, but acceptance of it causes more harm than good.
Obama used a racial sterotype. It was convenient, illustrative, and most likely accurate. But that still doesn’t make it appropriate. He could and should have made his point without it.
What a bunch of hogwash…Does it really matter? This is just more talking heads looking for an issue to make out of nothing. Just like McCain’s comment the difference between Iranian Shi’as and Arab Sunni’s – and which group supports Al Qaeda. He mis-spoke so what…Who really cares? IMO: If somebody is really worried about skin color in 2008, they shouldn’t be voting anyway.
The media’s talking heads have to have “something to discuss” or there wouldn’t be a political blog, evening news program or the CNN or Fox TV channels. Blab Blab Blab…
Frankly it is time folks stopped working about black, white, or other groups and just got back to being Americans. You can be black or white or whatever and I can be too. However no matter what color our skin color, together, we’re Americans and that is what really matters. BTW: before the racists/Bigots start to cast stones, I have an adopted minority child. I don’t see what color his skin is. I only see a child who needed a Dad and family. Get over the color line folks; we are all in this together… Welcome to the melting pot that we call America!
I couldn’t agree with you more, William. Unfortunately, those one the other side still reserve their right to be “outraged” when it politically benefits them, so we gotta be fair.
I find it interesting that there was not much difference between my tongue and cheek response and Ragnar rants.
I take exception to “Obama used a racial stereotype. It was convenient, illustrative, and most likely accurate.”
As a “typical white person” who works with other “typical white people,” none of us have even a slight bit of fear of the stranger walking down the street.
The whole point of Brian’s post, I think, is Obama was supposed to be above seeing race or color. Then his pastor speaks against the evil white race. Obama says he disagrees and utters a very stupid statement a few days later talking about “typical white person,” showing he is not above seeing color.
He let us down. Saying he can differentiate color because he is multi-racial sets him above the rest of us. That’s just plain wrong.
“Welcome to the melting pot that we call America!”
I had a girl tell me that just last night. Only she left off the “that we call America” part. And then she read off a list of specials…
Obama’s church pushes controversial doctrines
By Margaret Talev, McClatchy Newspapers
Washington — Jesus is black. Merging Marxism with Christian Gospel may show the way to a better tomorrow. The white church in America is the Antichrist because it supported slavery and segregation.
Those are some of the more provocative doctrines that animate the theology at the core of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Barack Obama’s church.
… a basis for Trinity’s philosophies is the work of James Cone, who founded the modern black liberation theology movement out of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. Particularly influential was Cone’s seminal 1969 book, “Black Theology & Black Power.”
Cone wrote that the United States was a white racist nation and the white church was the Antichrist for having supported slavery and segregation.
Today, Cone, a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York, stands by that view … (link)
I may have found out what Obama meant by “typical white person”
“The Republican Party itself has to drive out Trent Lott.” Barack Obama
http://www.brutallyhonest.org/brutally_honest/2008/03/the-republican.html
Why is it that White is the blank, unimportant part of someone? I mean Obama, White Mother… but he is considered black. Halley Berry, White Mom, hailed for being a “Black woman” winning an Oscar. And on and on.
I mean, if I were married to a black woman and we had kids, I would be angry if their Irish heritage was pushed aside or ignored becuase caliming ONLY African America is more trendy or more marketable.
What this shows you is that the same people who spend so much time saying race does not matter are normally the same ones talking about ones race. interesting, isn’t it?
Who knew that we would see a Democratic party obseesed with race and who might give an election to someone who did not win the popular vote (Or elected delegates).. and give it to someone who was white no less, and still claim to be the enlightened ones.
Do as I say, not as I obsess about or do, right Dems?
“Can you imagine if Hillary Clinton said someone was a “typical black person?” ”
If Hillary’s mother were black, I bet I would say “She’s half-black so shut up”
I bet that’s what I would say. Just like I point out that Obama is half-white.
Newsflash: Obama’s mom and grandma are white. What does that mean? He is just as white as he is black.
Obama is HALF-WHITE!!!
End of story.
Jake, we shouldn’t decide what people are free to discuss based upon their race.
Tracing Obama’s family tree to decide what he can talk about and what he can’t is exactly the wrong thing to do.
If Hillary’s Mom was black, she would only claim to being black. That is how it works.
If we lived in asia or africa, i imagine that someone who was ‘half-white’ would have that as one of their defining characteristics. But here, in a nation predominantly founded and still occupied by white folks, its the deviation from that statistical majority that gets noted, not membership to it. throw in the long standing issues with race we have be stuggling with as a society, and its no surprise the one drop rule is alive and well from a cultural standpoint. There are obvious exceptions though (i would imagine Wentworth Miller prob is considered white by most folks).
It’s fantastic to see the left so interested in what race someone is.
I have long argued that the ones most responsible for racial lines are the ones who keep pointing them out.
The only difference this year is the Democrats who’ve long done so are now doing so on a national stage.
Does this sound like a statement by one of Obama’s typical white people, like his grandmother?
‘I am ashamed to admit that, on hearing footsteps coming up behind me on a dark night, I turned and was relieved to see that the person was white?”
That pretty much reflects the fear of black people Obama attributes to us typical white people.
The speaker was the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who I guess would now qualify as a typical white person to Obama.
Being an atypical white person, when I hear footsteps behind me on a dark night, I feel relieved mostly because I am armed. But that’s just us nutty Libertarians for you.
I have always considered my self to be an open minded independent. I was leaning toward OBama but now I wander how he would feel if I referred to him as a typical black person. In my work, discrimination charges would be filed against me. If I said it on the streets, I would be assaulted by blacks. If I just thought that way then I would question my own shameful feelings.
Obama stereotypes whites and doesn’t even recognize how offensive he is being or how racist his thought are. This man is hiding his true feelings about whites. He certainly can motivate the masses same as Hitler did with his followers.
I wander if he will incite riots if he loses as occurred when Dr. King was killed or Rodney King was assualted ??
Obama is frightened to me.
The typical white person IS scared of black people.