Barrack Obama recently delivered a wonderful speech on race, in which he said he couldn't disown Reverend Wright any more than he could disown his white grandmother who supposedly said racist things. OK.
then in a followup interview on ABC he said he had more perspective on the issue because he was "half white" [since his mother is white]. i'm cool with that too and think it's a good thing to say.
but then in a radio interview on Angelo Cataldi morning show, 610 WIP sports radio, he said (in response to a question about what his white grandmother says about his being so close to the presidency):
"Well, you know, she is extremely proud, and the point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity -- she doesn't. But she is a typical white person, who, you know, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know, you know, there's a reaction that's been bred into our experiences that don't go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way. And that's just the nature of race in our society. We have to break through it. And what makes me optimistic is you see each generation feeling a little bit less like that. And that's pretty powerful stuff."
[email me if you want an mp3 of the whole 6' 42" interview clip. i did my best to transcribe what he said.]
his speech may have been careful and polished and effective; but this interview was realtime and (to me) very revealing.
Barrack, you may be two generations removed from your "typical white person" grandmother, but how much "less like that" are YOU feeling? apparently not too much less.
[maybe if he comments on his comments on his speech, it will clear things up. or else he'll get crucified.]
