Obamas Grandmother "Typical White Person"

[dragonrider]

What is amazing to me about this Much Ado About Nothing is that there is this focus on the word "typical" without any attempt at understanding of what the message was.

It was a very interesting point Obama was making, and obviously a risky and brave move considering the amount of bile it seems to have stirred up on these boards (although I haven't heard about it anywhere else, so maybe it's only canncom members with the tender, sensitive, delicate, easily bruised feelings.)

His point was that he did NOT think his grandmother was a racist in the sense of harboring racial animosity. But she did have her fearful reactions to black people that come off the wrong way, and in private company she sometimes spoke about blacks in derrogatory ways. But she also raised and loved a black grandson. So it is an illustration of the complexity of how people deal with race in the US. And it is even more complex for the generations of people who lived through Jim Crow and segregation and Civil Rights, like his grandmother and reverend Wright.

For those generations, I would say this kind of race conciousness, even if it is not out of true racism, is "typical." Does anyone have a different experience with their own grandparents? I know that my own grandparents definitely used derogatory terms to describe people of other races. They weren't Klan members, and they didn't have problems with being in the same elevator or working at the same job with people of different races, but they'd use the insulting terms when they weren't in mixed company.

Each generation, it seems like the problem abates a bit, but it is still there, isn't it? It diminished during my parents' generation, and diminished even more in mine, but there is still some kind of racial "awareness" and caution, even among people who find racism abhorent. I find racism abhorent, but I know I have my own gut reactions to people of different races too.

I may be ruining my chances of a future political career here (Ha!), but I'd say the "typical white person" is cautious of black poeple, even if they don't harbor any animosity toward blacks. When they see a black person they are instantly aware the person is of another race, and they wonder how this person will react to them, based on race. It's not the same reaction they get when they see another white person. I'd say the "typical black person" has a similar reaction to whites.

How many times have you seen a politicain brave this kind of subject? It's complicated and sensitive, and it's going to be hard to discuss it if everyone tries to oversimplify it by jumping on words like "typical" as though it is a racist insult. If you think "typical" is racist, what do you think of what your granny used to call blacks and hispanics?

And to the poeple who keep bringing up the idea that it is wrong for a group of people to expect special treatment, especially to those who think it is wrong for blacks to expect special consideration when getting a job or applying to school, you should listen to Obama's speech on race. He acknowledged white resentment about these kinds of preferential treatments. How many times have you seen a black politician willing to go to that issue? Maybe before forming your own reactionary opinions about what a "typical" black politician must think about race, maybe try to listen to what Obama is actually SAYING about race. It's not the same old "typical" crap.

dragonrider Reviewed by dragonrider on 03-24-2008. Obamas Grandmother "Typical White Person" In Philadelphia this morning, Barack Obama confronted the remains of the Jeremiah Wright brushfire, the smoldering embers of this anecdote of his grandmother using racial stereotypes that made him cringe... and promptly spilled gasoline on those embers. 610 WIP host Angelo Cataldi asked Obama about his Tuesday morning speech on race at the National Constitution Center in which he referenced his own white grandmother and her prejudice. Obama told Cataldi that "The point I was making was not Rating: 5

[Psycho4Bud]

Ya know dragonrider.....you can candy coat a terd but when ya break it open it still smells like shit.

FACT:
He took his children to a church where he openly admits that the preacher talked hate during the service.

IF this was McCain or Clinton stating, "Typical black/mexican/ or asian person", they would be in serious shit and thier candidacy would probably be over and done.

Have a good one!:s4:

[dragonrider]

Ya know dragonrider.....you can candy coat a terd but when ya break it open it still smells like shit.

FACT:
He took his children to a church where he openly admits that the preacher talked hate during the service.

IF this was McCain or Clinton stating, "Typical black/mexican/ or asian person", they would be in serious shit and thier candidacy would probably be over and done.

Have a good one!:s4:

If McCain or Clinton's grandmother was Black, Mexican or Asian, and they were having this same conversation about race, and they described their grandmother as "a typical Black/Mexican/or Asian" in how they react to toher races, they probably would not have as much trouble as you are saying. But their grandmothers are white like Obama's, so it's probably OK for them to describe them as "typical white people."

I don't think Obama was making a racist statement about his own grandmother or about "typical white people."

And what? You don't like candy-coated turds? You can't come to these boards without tasting at least one candy-coated turd per visit!

[Psycho4Bud]

If McCain or Clinton's grandmother was Black, Mexican or Asian, and they were having this same conversation about race, and they described their grandmother as "a typical Black/Mexican/or Asian" in how they react to toher races, they probably would not have as much trouble as you are saying.

Her biggest apology came in response to a question about comments by her husband, Bill Clinton, after the South Carolina primary, which Obama won handily. Bill Clinton said Jesse Jackson also won South Carolina when he ran for president in 1984 and 1988, a comment many viewed as belittling Obama's success.

"I want to put that in context. You know I am sorry if anyone was offended. It was certainly not meant in any way to be offensive," Hillary Clinton said. "We can be proud of both Jesse Jackson and Senator Obama."
Clinton Apologizes to Black Voters

And your stating that if Clinton or McCain were to make a "typical" reference to other colors that it would be no big deal? Does Obama need a pillow by chance? LMAO

Have a good one!:s4:

[melodious fellow]

"Kiss my 'typical white' ass!" "And this ASSCLOWN...."

that is all cool, and my apologizing to dragon about ignorance is offensive.

It was a very interesting point Obama was making, and obviously a risky and brave move

His point was that he did NOT think his grandmother was a racist in the sense of harboring racial animosity

animosity- 1. "a feeling of ill will arousing active hostility"

[/QUOTE]

good post dragonrider...

[hubrock]

to say that fear of black people is a characteristic of "typical white" people, is racist, no matter who says it.

idk, maybe things are different up here