Barack Obama's speech on race

Devious · Mar 20, 2008

[YOUTUBE]http://youtube.com/watch?v=o1uJztFbOk8&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]http://youtube.com/watch?v=qxZACaelHr4&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]http://youtube.com/watch?v=F-EPJeTaaio&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]http://youtube.com/watch?v=TGyELYLfuRI&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

discuss.

Devious · Mar 20, 2008

for those who haven't seen it (you must be living in a cave) here are some clips of comments made by Barack Obama's Pastor, The Rev. Jeremiah Wright

[YOUTUBE]http://youtube.com/watch?v=hwQWuQVE6sw&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

Chronic · Mar 20, 2008

^^
Was the main controversy about his racial statements or was it 9/11?

I turned off the video after Obama he said "in no other country on earth is my story even possible".

Devious · Mar 20, 2008

i would strongly recommend you watch the rest of the video. and don't forget he is running for election in America so of course he would say something like that. but he also says things about race that i have never heard a politician say. this is a historic speech.

Chronic · Mar 20, 2008

I'll definitely watch it later on. It's the first time I've heard him speak in length (I don't pay attention to politics) and I was impressed. He's very well-spoken (especially for a black guy!) and seems to have his head on straight. I'm just in a pissy mood and I can't stomach the USA #1 crap right now

If they want a peek at real freedom of speech and real liberty they should visit The Netherlands and I don't even give a fuck about "my" country.

Illuminattile · Mar 20, 2008

It was a good speech. Or at least, the part of it they showed on The Daily Show was.

Jokerman · Mar 20, 2008

I saw the whole thing live and it was amazing. He put his pastor out there and then he brought him back in. Exactly what he needed to do. What he was saying was, he doesn't agree with his pastor's rascist or un-American remarks but he understood where they were coming form. As does any intelligent person, black or white. The only ones who think this is an issue are Republicans and some dumb white people.

ARon · Mar 20, 2008

I heard one reporter say it was the greatest speech on the issue since "I Have a Dream." It could very well be true. At this point I'd feel like an idiot if I didn't help put him into the Presidency.

_carmi · Mar 20, 2008

Obama for President! Honestly.

Devious · Mar 21, 2008

Jokerman said:

yeah, i think that was the best thing he could have done. i like how he compared the situation to his Grandmother, how she's said things that would be considered racist or stereotypical and offensive. but he can't just throw her out of his life, and he can't do that to his pastor either. there was a lot of talk about how we should see problems not as black problems or white problems or hispanic problems, but as American problems and i couldn't agree more. now the question is: will he stand up and fight for these things if he becomes President, or was this just a lot of talk? there's not much doubt in my mind that this speech sealed the deal for him, now we'll see if he holds up his end of the deal.

PuffnScruff · Mar 21, 2008

sealed the deal? polls show more people walking away from him and turned off by the speech than there are that are gooing over it like most of the liberal media, making it out to be a historical speech on the level of lincoln or jfk, it just wasn't. this actually could hurt even more.

yesterday morning he was on a radio show and said "The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. 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"

typical white person? many people already do, and will continue, to view that as a racist comment. oh, but wait, racism does not apply to white people :rolleyes:

what is a typical white person? are typical white people scared of blacks?

if bush or mccain said "(insert persons name here) is acting like a typical black person" the media will fry them. but since obama is untouchable being the savior and mesiah he will get a pass. if a person i worked with was living up to every stereotype from the movie soul plane and i told that person they were acting like a typical black person i would get fired.
but if he did say his grandmother was a typical woman this might actually get some news coverage.

it is amazing that the person who acts so holy and acts like he is going bring the races together would say this. the clinton campaign can use this against so horribly.

obama runs on a campaign about changing the old ways of politics and turning a new page. that is great and all but today he proved he is a hypocrite once again. he released a photo of president clinton with rev. wright. wtf was that supposed to prove? clinton will also use this against him. giving this photo to the times was an act of desperation.

rev. wright is going to be the biggest thing to hurt him. for him to actually come out and say he never knew of wright's statements has to be a lie. you don't know someone for 20 years (a person who is like an uncle no less) and not know they have these views or has made statements like this. not to mention that in april of last year the new york times did an interview with wright were he even said that he has made statements that will hurt obama's campaign and that he himself is the biggest thing that would hurt it. these statements have been on the internet for some time. the youtube videos weren't new. it is hard to believe he did not know about this until this week.

i think the people that are going to decide who is going to be on the democratic party ticket are going to start and realize that obama can be beat, despite the blinded opinion of many. wright is giong to be brought up over and over and will continue to turn off voters and turn them away from him. the party is starting to see this. even if the party gives him the nomination, he is going to have a hard time winning simply because he has slapped white people in the face. whites vote and no president has ever won without a good portion of the white male vote.

Chronic · Mar 21, 2008

Hush Puff, you know what he meant. America is Eurocentric (just an Americanized version) so its white inhabitants live in a white bubble. There is no malice in this comment, it's not even a critique on white people. In fact he's actually excusing racism from white people. He just wasn't politically correct with his phrasing.

Devious · Mar 21, 2008

it's nice to see that you speak for all the white voters in America puff, i hadn't realized they elected you their spokesman. i have a question to ask you. i've seen you say plenty of times that news sources and media outlets are biased, a sentiment i totally agree with. but then you mention these polls that supposedly show people walking away from Obama. my question is, where did you hear this from? what news source? if the media is always biased, why do you suddenly put credence in this poll? isn't it possible that the biased media is only reporting what they want you to hear? oh wait, the polls agree with your stance on Obama, so i guess they are ok then, right?

i don't see how this speech could hurt him with voters other than racists, who have already decided they aren't going to vote for him. to be honest i can't believe a guy goes out there and makes a great speech, talking about changes that need to be made to make America a better place, and all people like you and the morons who run Fox News and other republican supporting news media can do is try to nitpick and rip it apart.

also i have to wonder if you even watched the speech or just saw the clips on the news, because i watched it and he never once said he didn't know of Rev. Wright's comments. he condemned them, as he has before several times, and then acknowledged that he knew of the pastor's views, but that Wright and the people of his generation grew up in different times, times of massive racial tension in the country, so he can see why people like Wright harbor these opinions of America, whether right or wrong. which is exactly what i think he needed to say. unfortunately i can already tell that this speech will have little to no effect on the way things will be done. the media is still going to remind us on a daily basis that Obama is a black man and how that should scare all the white voters into voting for a white candidate. i just hope what he said sinks into the citizens of America, if not the news media.

PuffnScruff · Mar 21, 2008

Devious said:

don't be so asinine. yes i speak for the american white voters :rolleyes:

if anyone wants to see what people are thinking on any particular subject from their home, work, or mobile device, how would they do so? should i paint you a picture?

the internet was buzzing yesterday afternoon over his comments about his grandmother being a "typical white person" and many do find it to be racist.

so where did i hear this about the polls? i didn't hear it, i read it. it was on the top of drudgreport yesterday for most of the day. there isn't a person in politics, news media, or anyone who follows politics who doesn't check drudge's site at least twice a day and if you want to actually follow politics or any major story going on in the day around the world, you might want to start typing it into your browser if you do not already.

the report was from a gallup poll. even a Reuters/Zogby poll showed his lead slipping. but at the end of the day, it is a poll and you have to take it for what it is.

Devious said:

so really what you are saying is if a person doesn't vote for obama then they are a racist, i also think you might have even been trying to imply that i am a racist. i have not nitpicked anything about his speech apart. you clearly did not read anything i wrote.

change can be good and bad. obama has not really said how he plans to change anything and for all we know he wants to change thing the way he sees it should be changed or how his party thinks it should be, which is very far left leaning towards socialism. the one thing he has said he wants to change is the typical old way of politics. which as i already said HE IS NOT ABOVE PLAYING HIMSELF, AS HE PROVED THIS MORNING. this makes him a hypocrite.

Devious said:

i didn't watch the speech, i didnt see it on the news, i read it in full. obama admitted publicly before the speech that he never knew of wright's comments. you seem like searching youtube for videos, i'm sure you will find his clips of him saying this on there.

your idea that the media is trying to scare white america aware from voting for obama is also asinine. the media has been doing the exact opposite actually. apparently you haven't been seeing the pundits gushings and creaming their pants over him. as well as the reporters writting their obvious biasness towards him drooling over the man. not shocking considering the shape the cult of obama has taking.

PuffnScruff · Mar 21, 2008

Chronic said:

are you stereotyping white people when you say that he was excusing racism from white people, as if the majority of white people in america are racist? how much actually interaction have you had with american outside of a computer screen?

Devious · Mar 21, 2008

you really like to twist people's words around don't you? nothing i said indicated that i think people who don't vote for or support Obama are racists. but i don't see how this speech can hurt him with white voters or voters of any race. i'm not saying that everyone who saw the speech should jump up and support Obama or else be labeled a racist. and i certainly never implied that you were a racist, that was the way you inferred what i said. everyone has a right to vote for whoever they want, for whatever reason they choose. but the only people i can see who would take that speech as harmful to his campaign are people who don't want to see these changes happen, and those people most likely harbor some racist ideas.

however you most definitely are trying to tear what he said apart by twisting his words and putting your own meaning on what he said and what you think he means. do you agree with the things he said? do you think the things he talked about in his speech are things Americans should be doing to make America a better place for people of all races? for a second forget about his politics, forget about the fact that you are obviously biased against him, and look at what he said instead of looking for ways to turn what he said against him.

you don't think the conservative media is trying to scare voters away from him? first they tried to say he was a muslim with that picture of him wearing a turban, and when that doesn't scare enough people away from him, they get the tape of Rev. Wright out there to show people he's an "angry black man" in another effort to scare the white voters. are you really so naive that you can't see what the media is trying to do to him? they are trying to scare you into thinking that a man who isn't a white man may harbor hatred and anger for America. you talk about the liberal media fawning all over him, but even they played the Rev. Wright tape around the clock, which was doing nothing but hurting him before he gave his speech. how was that helping him? luckily i think the American people have enough sense not to fall for that game tho. 25 years ago? maybe it would work. i don't think it will work in this day and age. but hey, you know what Puff? maybe you are right, maybe people will back away from him after this, but i think that would say more about the American people and their unwillingness to seek out change than it would say about Barack Obama.

S O F I · Mar 21, 2008

Give me a source where Obama directly said that he never knew of reverend wright's controversial comments.

Obama admitted in the speech that he knew that Rev. Wright has made many controversial remarks in the past. That's all. He never mentioned what those controversies were or anything. But, ABCnews wants to you to think Obama is a hypocrite.

So, where does Obama deny knowledge of any of Reverend Wrights controversial remarks in the past?

Jokerman · Mar 21, 2008

All he said before the speech was that he was not present when Wright made any of those crazy remarks, not that he wasn't aware.

Chronic · Mar 21, 2008

PuffnScruff said:

No. I'm saying that people are often a product of their environment. At a certain point in history a mentality in Europe grew that divided them from everyone else. There were fair people and there were colored people. Two categories, one contains one 'race', the other contains every other 'race'. With this mentality they conquered most of the world and when they conquered America it remained and evolved with its own seperate history. We can all pretend like the present is the only thing that matters but the present will always remain a product of the past. Black people didn't truly become a part of American society until a few decades ago. It's still a white country with colored people living in it.
But this isn't about pointing fingers at 'whitey', it's about facing the facts. History happened. It's not the fault of white people today but they're still growing up in a world created by previous generations. It's "normal" for older people to harbor racist feelings because that's simply how their generation was raised. In 'white' America this image is created of the white man as standard and other people as variants. Most non-religious people by this point accept that black people were first so it's white people that have small noses but the general consensus (not just among white people) is that black people have large noses, big lips, nappy hair etc. "A black guy walked in" when the fact that he's black has nothing to do with the story whatsoever. Etc.
It's not that white people are inherently racist but they grow up in an environment that pushes certain perceptions in their minds. Now obviously the ratio of white people that are truly racist has shifted a great deal because of new generations feeding positive food for thought and the "images" that seperate white people from the rest have mostly disappeared. But there are still images (intentional or not) that work mostly on a subconscious level. Am I saying that the average white person in America is a racist? Absolutely not. Am I saying that the average white person in America inadvertently harbors some sort of prejudice towards black people? Yes.
My mother is married to a black guy but I still see the effects of growing up white in a white society on her, as incredibly small as they may be.

Although I've visited America more than once, everything America does the world knows, I know your history and the internet can in some ways be a great insight into people, none of that matters. I don't know what the fuck China or Kenya are like but the climates in America and Europe are quite similar.
It's almost like you think there are no interracial relations in Europe.

Saying "white people" is really just an easy way of stating the facts. I think in a case like this it's obvious Obama's comment was in no way racist.

PuffnScruff · Mar 22, 2008

Devious said:

what exactly did i say that was picking apart his speech? i haven't done so.

Devious said:

the picture of obama wearing the turban was put out there by the hillary camp.

the first person to make a fuss calling him a muslim was a democrat, i forget which state, but i believe his last name is kerry ( not john)

Barack Obama's speech on race

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