Obama: Grandmother "Typical White Person"

Via a WIP radio:

"... .. 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, uh, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know there's a reaction that's been 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..." - Senator Barack Obama

Can you imagine if Hillary Clinton said someone was a "typical black person?"

Seriously, Barack Obama basically called all white people racist. You know, because when us typical white folk walk down the street and see an African American coming our way we run to the other side of the road.

Is this guy kidding? Back in the late 1970s, early 1980s, I lived on 95th and Columbus in New York City; long before it went chique. I took a subway from 42nd Street to get home after working on Broadway late at night. I walked home from the subway alone. I rode with African Americans, walked down the street past midnight in an area that wasn't near safe, with African Americans walking beside me and behind me. I'm a whitey white Scots-Irish broad and I was never afraid of an African American coming towards me, and never once crossed the street.

In an update, Obama's spokesperson elaborated, but it didn't help:

UPDATE: We gave the Obama campaign a chance to respond to this post. "Barack Obama said specifically that he didn't believe his grandmother harbored any racial animosity, but that her fears were understandable and typical of those often shared by her generation," said Obama's PA spokesman Sean Smith, who added that Grandma is 86-years-old. He might have meant that specifically, but that isn't what he said, especially as he spoke of his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, in the present tense. ... ..

It's becoming more apparent why Senator Obama didn't leave Rev. Wright's church, as well as continued his relationship with him. The truth is that racism works both ways and some of us blue collar folks don't appreciate being called racist by someone who has his own problems with race he is obviously in denial about.

Follow Taylor Marsh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/taylormarsh

Comments

[laurenc]

John Edwards is still the best candidate we have.

Superdelegates, dump both Obama and Clinton--they were never the right candidates--and give us the one who's angry about taking our country back.

give us John and Elizabeth Edwards.

[belikejeanvaljean]

I have posted the comment below on other blogs, so forgive me if anyone has already read it. I am posting it again for Taylor Marsh and other people here who are making comments like "Obama makes another racist gaffe" and "Obama is playing the race card". I would like to remind everyone that he has only been RESPONDING to news and internet reports about his pastor, his church, his faith, his wife, the flag pin, etc. And to Taylor "I'm not a racist. Really I'm not!" Marsh, I invite her to attend at least a handful of black churches in predominately poor areas. My previous post:

Around 1990 I visited some small black churches with an African-American friend. The pastors were generally the age of Jeremiah Wright and I was usually the only white person attending the services.

Most of what I heard preached was extremely Christian and biblical. Some of the things the pastors said, however, were similar to the clips playing on the internet of Pastor Wright. (That didn't mean they let their congregations off the hook - they were exhorted to be Christians and to do right themselves no matter what others did.)

These statements weren't said in a hateful way, but rather out of frustration. These little storefront churches were in very poor areas with congregations that were struggling. The pastors (and some of their church members) had grown up in the era of segregation and some of them had come from the deep South. They witnessed daily the difficult situations of many in their churches and wished for a better world for them.

Coming from an entirely different church tradition, I was always rather shocked when I would hear the pastors of these churches launch into what I perceived as unseemly bursts of anger, but the people in the congregations clearly - and calmly - related to what was being said. The pastors spoke what was in their hearts. They also nodded their heads when the pastor taught what the Bible said about living as a Christian in a sometimes hostile world. After the services, I generally was greeted with a warm bear hug by the pastor and treated in a kind and friendly way by most of the people in the church.

To be sure, I don't think that hateful words are helpful 99.9% of the time, but before one condemns Jeremiah Wright, and his congregation members - including Barack Obama - along with him, it might help to try and understand him and the totality of his preaching. And if anyone says this means Obama is a hateful person, well, they had better take a closer look at him. One reason I admire him is that he and his campaign are trying to stay above the negativity and vitriol that are being relentlessly thrown at him. This is hard to do in American campaigning, so apparently he has learned a positive thing or two from his pastor.

[rblackbird]

Well, during these sermons you attended, did any of the pastors shout, "God damn America!" Did any of them refer to the "U S of KKK America" ? How many of them proclaimed that the country is run by "rich white people"? Did they insist that the white-run government was responsible for bringing AIDS to the black community?

You say that the statements you heard "were not made in a hateful way, but rather out of frustration." How do you rate the tone and manner of Rev. Wright's sermons, e.g., blaming the United States for the tragedy of 9/11? You say that the congregations' members "clearly-and calmly related to what was being said." Do you describe the shouting, yelling approvals of Wright's denunciations by his flock as their relating "calmly"?

If you think that Obama is trying "to stay above the negativity and vitriol that are being relentlessly thrown at him," you had yourself better take a closer look at him. Begin by reading the bitter, almost pornographic denunciations of Hillary Clinton published on these blogs by Obama supporters. You will read more vitriol than you could ever imagine coming from supposedly honest and decent human beings. As for spreading negativity and falsehoods, what about the distortion of Bill and Hillary Clinton's comments by Obama's campaign, urging black voters in South Carolina to view the Clinton's truthful remarks as racist and incendiary? What about Obama's overt, explicit outreach in South Carolina to black citizens to vote for him as one of them?It was Obama who made himself the black candidate in South Carolina. It was also he who brought race into the campaign. It was he who destroyed the extremely important relationship between the Clintons and the black community, for the sake of his own ambition. For that matter, what do you think of Obama's repeated lies about not having heard Wright's remarks, before he was forced to concede in his speech that he was aware of them and present when Wright made many of his hateful comments?

How can you support a man who parades out his 86 year-old grandmother who loved and raised him as someone whose offhand, private statements were as disreputable as Wright's public, calculated, deliberate, intentionally destructive explosions of rage?

You are just not paying attention.

[taxiq]

Beautifully put!

[fromdctosd]

I was disappointed & disturbed by this whole story. Obama is running for President of the US. He is running on a platform of bringing people together for positive change. How can he justify sitting in that church for 20 years, and listening to hateful comments that made him uncomfortable, and NEVER SPEAK OUT AGAINST IT. It's simply not enough to disagree with Wright. As someone who wants to lead this nation, he first had an obligation to lead in his community.

Obama was wrong not to stand up in his congregation and say, "This hate speech is unacceptable! We need to heal this nation, and that can't happen by perpetuating hateful stereotypes. As an educated and hopeful member of this congregation, I am obligated to stand up and say that this makes me uncomfortable. I will not tolerate it. I will not sit quietly in disagreement & allow you to further corrupt our children with these horrible distortions!" He owed his community & now this country more than that as a leader.

[Duscany]

Obama is the son of a black African and a white American but as is clear from his speech he intends to govern as a black president. Well, I can guarantee him one thing with an attitude like that . In the primary in Pennsylvania next month he's going to lose by 25 points. If we wanted a president who considered himself a victim we we could have elected Jessie Jackson 30 years ago.

[texanna]

Taylor, yet again you have excited the Obama bees and they are buzzing around you like crazy. Actually, I do agree with you about that part of Sen. Obama's speech. Right up until that point I was totally with him and thinking, maybe...... Then, he hit that note and just that quickly he lost me again. There has been a double standard with regards race in this election and it started with Sen. Obama's camp skewing the comments made by Pres. Clinton back in South Carolina. But, nobody jumped all over him for this comment, did they?

[tomcj]

dear texanna

Bill Clinton did NOT compare Senator Obama winning the SC Primary to Senator Edwards winning it 4 years earlier. Instead he compared Senator Obama to a Preacher who had never held public office, Jesse Jackson, 20 and 24 years earlier.

Here is a question: what does Senator Obama not have in common with Senator Edwards from 4 years before that Senator Obama had to be compared to The Reverend Jesse Jackson 20 and 24 years before?

[ChrisS13]

because Edwards was still in the race and he was far behind, there is no reason to give him any air time. Not too mention that the numbers that Jesse got were the same exact as BO, Not everyone is a racist you know, unless typical white people are racists and unless BO considers me one of those typical white people.

[SethBLiNK]

Why are so many anti-obama-ites jumping on the grandmother issue? She was his grandmother, not yours, even though she may have the same skin color as you and not the same as him. He's allowed to talk about her. He has certainly said enough nice things about her and anybody who has read his book knows he loves her. It's like some white people think they have the right to defend his grandmother because he is appropriating a white person to make his point.

His point was valid. His grandmother was not perfect, but he loves her and wouldn't disown her for her imperfections. His Pastor is not perfect and he feels a similar attachment. If you want to decide you know all there is to know about his Pastor from a few video clips and all there is to know about his grandmother, fine. But they are HIS grandmother and HIS pastor, and the point he made about them was personal, meaningful and valid.

[Duscany]

Now I understand. My pastor was a racist but my grandmother was too and so I'm not going to disown either one of them.

[fromdctosd]

People (whether they supported Obama or not) are upset because of his statement "typical white person". What exactly is a "typical white person"? If someone said "typical (insert any other ethnic category here) person", there would be such a tremendous groundswell that the offending commentor would be burned at the stake. Most of the people who are now upset would be right there with you.

It was a disrespectful & generalizing comment made by someone who just made a speech about how we need to move past these exact types of thoughts/ideas. It's called "practice what you preach". Some people need a refresher course on that.

[marthavalley]

It is such a shame that so many liberal whites want to excuse everything Obama and his preacher say, when it is inexcusable. Give Taylor credit for admitting that what he said is offensive to many Democrats and the people Obama was said to be able to win--the Independents and Republicans.

Obama's campaign has sought to use race in the worst way by demonizing Democrats who have done so much for women, minority, and human rights while fighting against Republican attacks. While people like the Clintons were increasing opportunities for African Americans many of you who demonize them--from Markos to college aged elitists--were yet to be politically active. You blame them for battles in which they actually did wonderful work that benefited many of us greatly. That's why a lot of us support them.

Now, once again, Mr. Perfect puts his foot in his mouth John Kerry style and you all want to agree that white people are bad and Taylor and the Clintons are bad. Give me a break.

Obama's post-racial candidacy is all but over and it's thanks to the constant "you're a racist" accusations from this site and other liberal media and bloggers coupled with the horrifying revelation that he has a preacher who has unacceptable associations and views. Obama is now compounding the problem with his own words.

Those who can't accept Taylor saying so, are just burying your heads in the sand.

[robeson]

Obama did not call all white people racists, you said he did. But here is an actual quote from Hillary on Iraq, not something anyone made up.

Hillary, "We have given them the gift of freedom, the greatest gift you can give someone. Now it is really up to them to determine whether they will take that gift."

And what does that freedom look like Taylor?

[CalliDem]

HILLARY DID IT, HILLARY DID IT, HILLARY DID IT, HILLARY DID IT, HILLLARY DID IT

YES WE CAN'T

[UrsaMajority]

Geez, Taylor, can you give your tissue-thin, Hillary hugging, Obama analyses a rest for just a moment. The guy gives what countless esteemed commentators have called one of the most important political speeches since JFK, and all you can do is take out of context and bitch about three innocuous words. Was Obama supposed to give a complete bio of his grandmother, or just cut to the point that (he made clear anyway) that his grandmother's fears were typical.

Some people have trouble seeing the forest for the trees. Your caught up in the leaves. It's Democrats like you who make it hard for us to complain about O'Reilly's intellectual dishonesty.

[AjicNYC]

Please " most important political speeches since JFK," this is a JOKE

I am open for a dialogue of race !! but not one that is initiated by a politian mid-way through his campaign that happens to be slipping in the polls.

This Speech was his Kithcen Sink. He used this speech to distract prople from his Wright problem

[SethBLiNK]

It is important because of the many truths he spoke. It is courageous because he made it mid-way through a campaign in which he is ahead.

[PardonMyFrenchFries]

Thank you, Taylor Marsh, for your honesty and good journalism.

Obama makes another racist gaff and well, the media wants to forgive him.

I like how his spokesman comes out and restates his point by saying that Obama ment "generational typical whites."

So instead of dealing with both white and black racism, it appears he is dealing with white racists?
How about Rev. Wright? He excuses it by continuing to stay with him.

[Gogetter]

Did he excuse his grandmother's "racism" by continuing the "stay with her"? The reason this isn't going to get any real play, except by Fox news and some Hillary friendly bloggers, is that most thinking people (of course, this includes supporters of Sen. Clinton) with no anti-obama agenda know that when you listen to the whole quote, it's obvious that Obama was talking about typical white people of his grandmothers generation, who have no racial animosity, who've be taught to fear black men. He also says he's optimistic seeing new generations are feeling a less and less like that. Of course there are people, like Taylor and yourself, who have agendas, that will latch onto stuff like this and hope they can use it to stir things up.

[Marie13]

I believe this article is vapid, and part of the larger problem: some white people, including you, as author, believe that you can interchange whites and blacks notwithstanding the history of this country. Furthermore, it is obvious that his point was to credit his grandmother and others in like position --he is saying, 'I don't dismiss them as racists because they may have fear of folks who are different from them.' And then his own life is the follow-up; he has said that his grandmother loves him dearly. And he also loves her.

[JPaul2008]

I never believed that Obama could beat McCain, he would seem far too young and inexperienced against the media's darling straight-talk express/war hero. Now, Obama has no chance at all. This will be a constant drip by drip of new videos and associations with folks who will be misrepresented. And as this most recent quote shows, any statement, no matter how innocent, will be viewed through the prism of Rev. Wright's hyperpole. The next president will appoint two or more Supreme Court Justices, along wih making other critical decisions. If Obama runs and loses, his future in politics will be over and the chances of another viable black candidate willl be set back for decades. I see one solution. Obama should recognize the damage that has been done, accept that it is far too important to lose this election to another Republican administration. He should join the ticket with Clinton and set himself up for a run in eight years after we've all become more "comfortable" with his experience and interactions with the public. I know the pro-Obama people will jump all over this, and dismiss it loudly. But if Clinton has a blowout win in PA followed by another in West Virginia, and a close contest in a place like North Carolina, it's over anyway. Obama could be viewed as a statesman who does the best for the America he loves and still position himself for the presidency in 4 or eight years. Would that really be so bad.

[misstickly]

I wish I could tell you I am an Obama supporter who agrees 100%. But i am a Hillary supporter that agrees with you 100%.

[2Truthy]

Taylor,

I am not an Obama supporter, but I thought his speech was honest and compassionate as he articulated the pain of racial inequality and how we must transcend racial predjudice. But where was the part about how we must transcend the lack of ACCESS? His pastor nailed the whole ROWG oppressive theme to a fault. I was born in Chicago and lived in the Hyde Park neighborhood where Obama now lives and worships and although Hyde Park is an upscale neighborhood, there is extreme poverty within a matter of a few blocks surrounding it that makes all but a hardened bigot not cringe when you see the gross inequity/inequality in how black citizens are living. Backroom deals between Chicago's wealthy real estate developers and crooked politicians committed to gaming the system to keep a growing class of Americans down has left Pastor Wright and his congregation with the right to be pissed off and mad as hell. Could this have come off as "let's hate whitey?" Sure. But let's be clear: if the message was "let's hate whitey", its roots are in "let's hate the greedy bastards who prevent us from getting ACCESS to jobs, healthcare, and civil rights" which I believe are all plausible.

But Obama is disingenuous; like Hillary, his backers are the very elite and wealthy players who do not have middle class America's best intentions at heart.


How long will this race divide Democrats into 'Pink and Black' states before the whole Party implodes?
I find all of this faux sincerity and posturing horribly boring, when BOTH candidates have pledged to stick it to the non-portfolio class (those who won't do the Joe & Val cocktail party scene) or the majority of white collar Americans who love Obama's voice and will charge their visa cards to go hear Caroline Kennedy at the SJ Performing Arts Center next month. Neither candidate could give a shit about race and gender as they both know the only issue affecting Americans is the economy and disappearing jobs and healthcare. They know it and you know it. BOTH are backed by Tech and Wall Street money whose vested interests are to flood Corporate America with cheap labor from the third world at the expense of our middle/upper middle class jobs while they ditch the dollar.


Although I completely agree with you that Hillary could never get away with uttering the phrase "typical black person", your post is as off target as Hillary and Barrack are when it comes to pledging to triple or eliminate the H-1B visa cap responsible for the massive numbers of unemployed white collar professionals and reduced wages as we "hope" to stave off a depression. Talk about not "talking issues..."


Obama is very cozy with the GOOGLE crew (Businessman Gore on the board) where BOTH candidates pledged to further boot American white collar prospects for cheaper imported labor by increasing H-1b's. The ONLY reason Hillary is eeking by as a 'champion of the blue collar worker' is because she is the co-chair of the Senate India Caucus responsible for REDUCING wages for educated American graduates, ala Alan Greenspan's "INCOME EQUALITY" formula for turning this country into a third world caste system of have and have nots.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/politics/memo1.pdf


What DOES Hillary, the co-chair of the Senate India Caucus get in exchange for pimping millions of white collar jobs to India during this election cycle at the same time the economy tanks and jobs here are disappearing?



http://tootruthy.blogspot.com/2008/02/clinton-and-obama-divide-country-into.html

[sjl106]

The racial divide will continue to exist as long as there are Rev. Wrights and David Dukes out there and people accepting what they say. you don't bring a child into a hatefilled mantra and expect them to come out racial free. The problem with obama and his participation in this church is that he promoted it by doing so. He excused it and tried to guilt us he didn't address the discourse to the anti-americanism or the fact that his spiritual advisor is a bigot and he chose to sit there and listen to this for 20 years. It doesn't jive with his message. Sorry the messages from the elitist writers that this was the most important speech on race, is a bunch of bullshit. The State of the Black Union that is on CSPAN every year truly discusses the state of race, and they don't sit there and blame the whitey. This country as young as it is has made tremendous progress in relative time, but obama refused to focus on this and he could have built on it, but didn't. Why, well the way his campaign and supporters has played the race card, we can all speculize. Lets get real about the unamerican spew that has come out, some may wise to wake up and see how this will play in the general. Patriotism will defeat obama if he is nominee, God Damn America doesn't sit well with me and obama never called his spiritual advisor on it.

[rusdr61]

There is no such thing as a "typical anyone", not white, not black, not asian, not hispanic,not gay, not straight, not female, not male, not anyone. To say that all of one race or sex or sexuility, or ethic backgraound are the same, is stupid at best. The issue is less about race and more about the fact that all people are different in some way, visable or not, and that it is these differences that make us a great nation. At the same time it is these differences that have been used against each other in an effort to get ahead of, or repress another. This is the issue plain and simple.
We should be working towards a fair selection of the people, no matter their differences, that we want to represent us. To that end we should all support a system that is straight forward. We now have a system that is different in every state. Different for Republican and Democrate. Different in how votes are weighted for delegates and even the actual voting. We have the MSM's running around pitting groups of people one against another on race, age, sex, ethnic background, sex and sexuality. The media has often made a mountains out of a mole hills. We have superdelegate with voting powers of 10's of thousands of people. And we have a system that takes two years to run it's course. No wonder people are up in arms and pissed off about things being, or not being fair. We give way too much power to a few people in a few states, and when the process drags on like this year people get tired and nasty, and mean.
We need to simplfy the process. One vote one person. All primaries. Have 10 states vote the second week of Jan. and then 10 more every three weeks until they have all voted. The winner is the person with the most votes. Simple Simple Simple. And tell the media to report the news not make the news.

[fromdctosd]

I totally agree. 100%!

[MadamRoma]

Right on Taylor, Obama has played the race card all along while squealing racism at every turn. The people are finally catching on to his shenanigans as the truth comes bubbling to the surface. He should do the right thing for his party and country, he should bow out of the race, he cannot win in November..............signed .."A Typical White Person"

[leckart]

Please give quotes and examples of how Obama "has played the race card all along while squealing racism at every turn.". Back it up!

[MaineMike]

There is a musical playing on Broadway called "Avenue Q". One of the songs is "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist". The song points out that everyone has some sort of racial stereotypes and it's something that is very difficult to avoid. "If we all could just admit -- that we're all racist just a little bit -- then maybe we could live in harmony."

I think Obama's speech points out that most black people have some degree (maybe large and maybe small) of racist feelings toward white people and most white people have some degree (maybe large and maybe small) of racist feelings toward black people. This is something that has been around for a long time and probably will exist to some degree for a very long time into the future. It's just something that no one wants to talk about.

My mother is 87 years old and every so often she says something really racist. She's 87 years old and there isn't anything I can do to change how she views the world, so I just roll my eyes and ignore her.

I think some people like to view themselves as "enlightened" and think that they are above all this, but more often than not, people who proclaim themselvs as "enlightened" are less enlightened than they think. It's hard to look in the mirror and see the racist inside yourself.

[bridgeworker]

For those of you who would like to have a real understanding of who Rev. Wright really is and what a typical sermon at Trinity United sounds like, versus the inflammatory clips that Fox News shows, I invite you to check out these links for the full Christmas 2007 sermon.

Xmas 2007, Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdfbWSJINhg

Xmas 2007, Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVeK0JDPm8Y

Xmas 2007, Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o36KBeDXJ8

Xmas 2007, Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFQAQVcn89A

What I saw is a very wise, joyful and intelligent man who loves Jesus and knows how to share that love with his congregation. Gave me a whole different context on IMs too!

[SethBLiNK]

Thanks. I'm sure there is a reason Obama didn't present these, but I don't know what that is.

[April]

Way to go Taylor!

You sound just like a Republican!

[PardonMyFrenchFries]

You support and condone Obama no matter what he says, what he does or who he knows. And you hate hillary because she is a dishonest?

Today and in the past week, Obama is showing his true "colors" about race. It looks like Rev. Wright's 20 years of exposure has RUBBED off on Barack and Michelle.

I didn't know that I was a "typical" white man? Does that mean all white people harbor racist thoughts?

I thought we were dealing with Obama's lack of judgement with Wright and now He has turned it on us (Americans.) I have to give it up to him because he has doped the media and many whites to look at themselves instead of focusing on Obama's and Wright's relationship.

All you white people have been played!!! Wow. what a GREAT conversation we are having now on "race." The media looks ridiculious on Obama's loving coverage.

[bridgeworker]

Pardon, exactly what are you afraid of regarding Barack Obama? If you are making claims that white folks are being "snowed" (so to speak), exactly how are we being deluded? Do you think that Barack is some radical black separatist with an agenda to take down the government and begin a campaign against white people (his people, BTW)? Who do you think the REAL Barack Obama is?

BTW, did you have a chance to watch the tapes of Rev. Wright's sermon posted above? If you're seeking the truth, this might be a good place to start.