Obama calls his grandmother a "typical white person" - Page 2

Noahsmommy · 03-22-2008, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aliadam

Obama was being interviewed and talked about his grandmother with the term "typical white person". I don't think what he was talking about was that controversial, except for that phrase. I just wonder what would happen if a candidate said a "typical black person" during an interview. Would they be jumped on for stereotyping all black people into one category?? The racial tensions this is causing are starting to worry me.

Here's the video of him saying it:

NewsMax - America's News Page

My mom said the same thing about what if someone said a typical black person. People would be on the person so bad. I hate that race is playing such a big part in all of this. The reverend dude is NUTS. He said horrible horrible things about the usa and white people and stuff. Its discusting to know that Obama would sit there and listen to it. Then you have all the black people JUSTIFYING it! I am not racist but it seems like some black people want all men to be created equal unless they are benefiting in a way that they get out of trouble or get some special treatment. There are racist black people Racism has no Race!

hawkshoe · 03-23-2008, 07:56 AM

Personally, I don't have a problem with what he said. I also don't have a problem with what Geraldine Ferraro said. In this age of political correctness, people analize every word that others say and look for ways to make it sound racist, sexist, etc. It is really sad and quite frankly, needs to stop. Everyone has bias' based on thier life experiences. That does not make them bad people. We really need to learn to get along inspite of our differences and calling everyone bad for using one word or another is not the way to do it. JMO

Christy · 03-23-2008, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by calimari

I don't see the problem with it. He IS talking about his OWN grandmother, and he is half white. It's no different than someone saying their mom is a "typical Jewish mother". We know the stereotype. When I talk about my father, I describe him as a typical arab. Arabs do not consider themselves white. I think it's funny how the very people who so often say the world is going overboard with political correctness are freaking out when this man just lays it out and speaks the truth about race in America.

I think the more sensitive we are about race, the more we perpetuate racial issues. If we can't talk about "cultural" differences in a positive way, we have really done ourselves a disservice in thinking we are a tolerant and free country.

I think his statement got blown completely out of proportion and especially because it followed his pator's media coverage recently. The media is looking for something to over analyze (let's face it, 24/7 media channels have their work cut out for them) but hopefully we can prove we're smarter than that.

aliadam · 03-23-2008, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hawkshoe

Personally, I don't have a problem with what he said. I also don't have a problem with what Geraldine Ferraro said. In this age of political correctness, people analize every word that others say and look for ways to make it sound racist, sexist, etc. It is really sad and quite frankly, needs to stop. Everyone has bias' based on thier life experiences. That does not make them bad people. We really need to learn to get along inspite of our differences and calling everyone bad for using one word or another is not the way to do it. JMO

I agree with this. I don't think what he said is necessarily that bad, but I just think if the reverse had been said by a white person, there would have been people shouting from the rooftops. So people can't have it both ways. You can't say one race can make stereotypes and another can't. I also didn't think what Geraldine Ferraro said was that bad, but most blacks did. Just seems like a double standard to me.

calimari · 03-23-2008, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aliadam

I don't think what he said is necessarily that bad, but I just think if the reverse had been said by a white person, there would have been people shouting from the rooftops.

But the thing is, he is both black and white. If he happened to be mixed race but very fair (we have a black anchor person here in Detroit who was on the air for 20 years before most white people in the area even KNEW she was black) - if she said her grandma was a typical black person, I'd still have no problem with it. Because she is both.

I might have issue with a white person going on about the *&*% arabs, but as an arab, I can criticize my father as being a typical arab male.