My Conversation with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Earlier today, I spoke with distinguished Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. about yesterday's speech by Barack Obama on race in America.

My full conversation with Dr. Gates airs tonight on PBS.

Read more HuffPost coverage and reaction to Obama's speech

Comments

[lapinbrim]

HuffPost's Pick

If I disowned all of my white friends because they have, on occasion, said things I found racially insensitive, I'd have no white friends. Furthermore, if I disowned all my non-white friends because they've uttered racially insensitive remarks, I'd have no non-white friends. Finally, if I had disowned both my white friends and non-white friends, I'd be left with no one to disown but myself. And, if I were being honest, I'd have to do just that, disown myself....

[cybersense]

Okay.

1st: Obama lied and said he did not know about what his Pastor and Campaign advisor said in his sermons.

2nd: then he stated he did know, but that he was retiring anyway, so why bother to it up.

3rd: He stated that he did know, and while he did know, he allowed Wright to be on his campaign.

4th: He only denounced what Wright said when it came to light, and made a ver good speech about race. Which, many are using to down others who want answers to the issues above.

5th: Please do not compair Obama to MLK. Martin sacrifised so much more and did so much more.

6th: I still do not see anything that would qualify this man to be in the White House at a time that we need someone who can actually handle our mess right now. Not someone who just wants "transparity and change" (enough of that....) we have a mess to clean up and I don't want someone who is screwing things up because he is just learning.

[SteveManz]

Well put Cybersense.

Senator Obama's popular presidential campaign makes you wonder if he has much of the youth vote due to their youthful willingness to believe someone who says nice things without much in the way of concrete plans or action to support. Or is it because they are adhering to an insidious indoctrination of racial guilt by both University Professor zealots and certain episodes on media venues such as MTV? Or both?

If we were to change the Reverend Wright scenario to a white presidential candidate with a white preacher launching into a tirade about black people, similar to Reverend Wright's about whites and Jews, then would the same youth give that candidate a pass like they virtually have done with Obama and his close relationship with Reverend Wright?

[nazgul]

Frankly, I'm more offended by the "Goddamn the Whole World" end-times politics that permeates right-wing politics and religion than the occassional "Goddamn America" for this or that thing our leaders did or didn't do.

If you want to worry about hate, prioritize. The hate against the entire world promoted by evangelicals and their politicians is numero uno. And Hillary is connected to that through The Family, a heirarchical fundamentalist network of prayer groups that use participation as capital for political power and right-wing religious action.

And we could talk about the smaller, mundane hate speech of Dobson, Robertson, Hagee et al that they spew against all the communities and organizations they revile every day.

Let's get real.

[POINT84]

LOL...Tavis being a part of the medias witch hunt all because he didn't come on your show. People who get on TV need to take a lie detector test and swear on something

[rinpochet]

If people took out of context and put it into two 15-second sound bites of words I have spoken over the past 20-plus years and played them constantly over a 24 or 48-hour period, they would assume that I was racist and a moron.

Nothing about Wright's exhorting his parishioners to care for the poor, those with HIV/AIDS, etc.

Those sound bites played constantly was the most biased and unfair reporting I have seen in a long time.

[harriscrl3]

ICAM I have a friend that if we take some of the racist stuff that she said and played it as soundbites over and over it would be such a gross misrepresentation of who she was. Yes she said hateful stuff but she was empowering to me and a lot of people in graduate school in the community and she has done so much good during her life. I would never never be able to cut her out of my life. I take the good from her but leave the baggage in part because my reality and experience wasnt shaped like her's. I didnt experience the kind of humiliation and frustration because of race that she experienced There was a lot more too her than her hateful words. I can totally see where Obama is coming from on this issue.

Carol

[kramskoi]

if we are to believe in the First Amendment..article 6 and Thomas Jefferson, one of our founding fathers, especially his letter to the Danbury Baptists...then this matter becomes something very ugly for Americans...but it won't play that way because the majority of americans are no nonsense type persons who don't ask for much...

to the intellectuals, the injection of Wrights sermon into this process, will probably be viewed as a perversion of the very principles for which this country stands...

Many argue that it is a matter of judgement and character as to why this had to be made public...but make no doubt, this is a cheap political tool being used to drive a wedge into the electorate by rooting up something painful and divisive...as such, the MSM should be careful and not turn this into any more a spectacle than it already has...we have to remember that Katrina was only three years ago...i live in Louisiana and i can tell you that the whole issue did'nt play well here, regardless of who was to blame...there were some ugly incidents in New Orleans and surrounding parishes

The chief reason why Obama garners so much AA support is that he made Black issues his staple in Chicago and the Illinois State Senate, with his criminal justice reforms, which helped reduce the number blacks being sent to prison...he spent a lot of time with the "least of our brethern", as Michelle always states...Black Americans are the most loyal voting bloc and speaking to their issues directly, is a powerful galvanizing political force...

Obama stated this in an interview in Ebony magazine...i quote...

"In the Democratic primary, the black vote has been the most loyal vote. And so anybody who wants to succeed in political terms in the Democratic Party has to appeal to the Black vote.

I would argue, though, that beyond that, the Black vote represents the most disenfranchised, the most likely to be uninsured, the population that is suffering from substandard housing, substandard education. And so for you as a presidential candidate to want to lead this country, you've got to speak to those who have been left out of the process. Otherwise, you can't make a claim to be representing all America."

"I spent my entire adult life working on behalf of issues that are important to the African-American community: as community organizer working in low-income neigborhoods on the south side of Chicago, as a civil rights attorney, employment rights, racial-profiling legislation, healthcare and a broken criminal justice system. I appeal to the black vote not just because of my race but my history with the black community."

These are powerful issues that go straight to the heart of African-American grievances here in the U.S...he went to bat for them as they did for him...that is why he could'nt disown Wright, because that then shames blacks and proves him false...that kind of loyalty i can immensely respect.

We can argue tit for tat about what Obama knew and did'nt know, why he stayed, why he did'nt leave but if religion and its expression were deemed to be separate from the civic responsiblities of public office by our Constitution and Founding Fathers then his affiliation with Dr. Wright and Trinity "should be his own damn business"...it surely was'nt an issue in the Illinois state legislature or the U.S. Senate, for which he has, so far, acquitted himself in good stead...

As for the reasons he stayed at Trinity?...i defer to the article by Dick Morris and i, too, think that the quid pro qou between Barack and Trinity was something that helped him rise to the top of Chicago politics...it is no coincidence that Rezko and Trinity or a long history for him...Rezko, early campaign financing...Trinity, organizational, community, grass roots along with the influence and credentials of one of the top 15 Black ministers in America...Wright empowered him in the same way that he has empowered the electorate, and that is a good thing...the work that they've done in Chicago was a good thing...Obamas' book TAOH came from an insightful sermon by Dr. Wright and it is applicable in a prophetic way on the current state of America...

http://resources.christianity.com/details/cht/19000101/07B1BF53-5CC6-44CC-A7E5-5D9B9B7DEFF7.aspx

Finally, Mike Huckabee showed some real class defending Obama on this issue...he's a baptist minister who grew up in the south and has some perspective...

[lovethesinner]

After all that I misspelled "loosing". What a pity. Just goes to show you, it's hard to cast stones without injuring one's self.

[SeattleSistah]

Okay, so I know I am sometimes slow on the uptake but Mikey and others like him are just Republican plants to fuel any real or imagined division. Right? They just enter every once in a while, throw verbal molotov cocktails and then sit back and laugh at how we have bitten.

I have to admire their tenacity and commitment to Nixononian dirty tricks.

[mac725]

I guess the 13% of people who still thought he was a Muslim have their answer. I loved the speech and feel that it achieved it's goals - people are talking about race in a genuine way.

[Knowledgeseeker]

This is an excellent speech.This is why no matter what he getting my vote. Obama is a great communicator what America needs in these difficult times.
Fox News are just a bunch of haters.
they are trying very hard to bring down Obama by all means necessary.
The following people are divisive people who are only hurting Americans and we should not let them prevail.

Hater#1 Sean Hannity

Hater#2 Bill O'Reilly

Hater#3 Rush Limbaugh

[tracymcd]

The speech for me (a white 56 male) proved that Obama can turn a problem into an opportunity to show a depth of strength and character that will get votes across the political spectrum. He's got leadership skills that we haven't seen on the field since Kennedy, IMHO. A truly transformative figure for this century.
Win or loose he's going to raise the bar. He can generate millions $100 a shot with this type of message and behavior from across the board. Who else has that much grassroots power?

[ncadvocate]

Kennedy was more famous for being assassinated than he was for anything he had ever done as a President. He gave great speeches! But, what are we getting? Kennedy couldn't handle a country as small as Cuba. What makes you think that this guy will be any different? A guy with something to say, but no real policy record to back up what he says. He is too wet behind the ears folks! Please! Obama in 2012!

[mikey683]

Yea we get it. But who cares? I'm loosing my house. Gee wiz I'm so sorry you guys feel so put upon, but man up! There's real issues, with out your whining!

[Egghead]

Obviously, you didn't hear or read his speech. He covered that.

[DoAsISay]

Bush is responsible for this economic mess that has put people like mikey in this position. But if people like mikey would rather vote for McBush, who will continue on the same path, just because they are too afraid of what a pastor said, then they need to remember that there are people in Iraq who are losing a lot more than their house.

[moda31]

the degree to which you missed the point is astounding.

[lovethesinner]

mikey683, I think I know why you're losing your house. You wrote:

"Yea we get it. But who cares? I'm loosing my house. Gee wiz I'm so sorry you guys feel so put upon, but man up! There's real issues, with out your whining!"

"Yea" is acceptable, but "Yeah" is a better spelling. "Yea" can be confused with the old English, "I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice" "Yea" also sounds like something George Bush did when he was cheerleading for Andover. (see link below)

http://www.cocaine.org/george-bush/index.html

You need a comma after "yea": "Yea, we get it."

"But who cares?" Comma after "But": "But, who cares?"

"There's real issues, with out your whining!" The word "with out" is one word: "without".

"There's" is a contraction for "there is". I believe "there are" is more correct. "There are real issues" as opposed to "There is real issues..."

The whole sentence would read: "There are real issues without your whining."

"Gee wiz" is acceptable, but more often it's spelled "Gee whiz" "Wiz" also reminds people of Michael Jackson's "The Wiz", one of the worst musicals, ever.

"Whining" is spelled correctly, which is revealing. Nowhere in the video clip is anyone "whining" but, if we use the accepted definition of whining, "to snivel or complain in a peevish, self-pitying way: He is always whining about his problems.," it would appear that that, is, in fact, what YOU seem to be doing. In other words, you are blaming others for your own problems.

This is probably why you're losing your house. I have a suggestion. Vote for Obama, get yourself some counciling, or a self-help book, go back to school (it's never to late) and smile. (it keeps 'em guessing) And remember... what we say of others is usually best applied to ourselves.

Obama-Webb '08