posted by Bryson Nobles
Probably. The 2009 definition of racist seems to be:
a person who carelessly says or does anything race-related within earshot of a race member other than their own that at least one person with an active imagination could take exception to, irregardless of the merits of the statement.
So maybe Glenn Beck is right; maybe Obama IS a racist. But then so is he just by saying it.
And now so am I. See how that works? It’s all a bit ridiculous actually. What is even more ridiculous is Glenn Beck is now popular for his aggressive opinions (while Kanye is crucified – damn, more racism), in the same country that put people in jail for wearing anti-Bush t-shirts just 4 years ago. But…somehow this is cool (damn, more racism).
Isn’t it also a stretch to call Obama “racist” because of his past, and maybe privately maintained, connection with radical Reverend Wright. Well, let’s consider this: George Bush is a white guy from Texas, an Ivy League alum, who likes to hunt and comes from a family with a very high social status because of his grandfather’s dealings and his father’s career. For my money, the odds of him having a “Reverend Wright” in his life, a relationship that he’d feel publicly obliged to denounce if it came into the public arena, is extremely likely. Is that a racist conclusion? But hey…what are you gonna do?
What’s more interesting is WHY Obama is a being called a racist. I had an odd suspicion that Obama could be the beginning of the end of racism. But not like most people think. I saw Obama’s presidential win as an ethnic “win” for white people. As my imagination would have it, white intellectuals have never quite been able to overcome the “black people can’t be racist because they don’t have power and authority to oppress or exclude white people” response in the race dialogue. Enter Obama. Black, check! Power and authority, check! Oppression of republicans in the predominately white Congress and exclusion of tax benefits for the wealthy (whites), double check!! We have a winner.
Add to that that everything is about race with him, even when it’s not, and the conversation is bound to happen. I think that it could be a blessing is disguise however because the day we find white people calling black people racist at the same rate the blacks say it about whites, it is probably losing its impact. There was once power in the exclusive rights to label people racist. But, as sure as white people abandon the suburbs when black people arrive, so too will black people abandon labeling folks racist for ironically the same reason – they both lose their value.
Glenn Beck, talk show radio host on FOX News, libertarian and one who claims to “fight for individual rights.” This being my first impression of Beck I would also like to label him as someone who openly contradicted his statements in this interview and did not stand behind his statements when confronted for them. This doesn’t make him too reliable to me. He stated that President Obama “has a deep hatred for white people.” Pretty bold statement to say the least. Then when confronted he came back with “I’m not saying he doesn’t like white people.” Come on now Beck, President Obama has done the best that he can to promote diversity in the governing body today by appointing some individuals of diverse backgrounds to government positions like Sonia Sotomayor as Chief Justice to the Supreme Court to name one.
Sam brought up a good point when he talked about former President George W. Bush’s background, it being very stereotypical white upper class. One thing we can’t do as society is assume individual’s beliefs and thoughts solely on their upbringing. The President of our nation is put on the highest pedestal of all and is liable to the most criticism of anyone in our nation, it is still a shock though that he is being accused of being a racist. I personally feel that it is nearly impossible to not be seen as racist in our society anymore. Blogger Gremillion stated this in his blog, due to the fact that people nit pick and overanalyze when it comes to racism.
Sam also brought up the fact that Obama’s victory was an ethnic win for white citizens. I echo this statement. White Americans are the majority race in our nation and in the last election this demographic had the largest amount of voters. The fact that a majority white population elected an African American over a white male shows a lot for the racial progress of our nation, this is why I feel it was an ethnic victory. Finally we decided to look behind the color of the skin and actually take into account the ability of the leader.
It is difficult to have a serious in depth conversation about racism due to the fact that it is a touchy and heated subject and often times just gets brushed under the table and move on, like the beer summit. This is a problem because if we continue to push the issuses to the side and simply decide to just move on then what are we really accomplishing? Someday all these issues will resurface and we wont know what to do the second time just like we didn’t the first.
Blogger Hippiechick said it isn’t surprising that the first black President is being accused of racism. I agree, due to the fact that this is new for everyone he is going to experience all these things claims and judgments as the first minority President. Let’s just hope we start to finally learn for our experiences when it comes to race because we clearly never have before.
Wc-517
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Honestly this issue about race is something that will never end. We heard when George W. Bush was president that’s he’s racist and hates black people. Now that our leader is black statements are still being made that President Obama is racist and hates white people, will it ever end? No, it will never end not matter who’s in charge whether they be white, black, brown, male or female we will still have a race problem in the United States and around the world.
I personal enjoy listening to Glenn Beck when he has something intelligent to say, it’s clear that he’s a republican and has his own opinion that no one but himself agrees with. But, see here’s the problem that we have in the world today. Beck doesn’t need to stir things up by voicing his opinion on national television because he will only be looked at as rude and racist. The best thing for everyone to do is keep their mouths shut. Now that Beck as made a statement like that he’s at looked at just like everyone looked at Kanye West when he voiced his opinion about Bush. Kanye told the world through music that George W. Bush hates black people, which is obviously not true. So for Beck to make the similar statements he is now viewed to be the same type of person as West.
When comments like these are throwing around, it’s what develops people to say other inappropriate things towards ones race. For Kanye West to say what he said a bush is out of control but now to retaliate Beck turns the tables and says the same exact thing about Obama. Yes, it’s inappropriate but is it looked at the same way as when West said it about Bush?
What needs to be pointed out is that this circle of back and forth will never be resolved among black, whites and brown because no one is tempting to resolve the issue. Once things begin to calm down about a race issue, someone else goes off and runs their mouth to make sure he or she gets their uneducated point across. But, since we are all apart of the issue in the United States we should start limiting what we say about one another and realize that it doesn’t get any body anywhere when the make racist comments. Learn to keep your mouths shut, keep your opinion to yourself about race because it’s probably not true anyways and you just end up sounding dumb.
Since the Race Relations class my eyes have been opened to how often race is an issue, because every journal topic for the class is current and there is so many to choose from. When will it end?
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My impression of Barack Obama was dramatically altered after his now famous speech in Philadelphia on Father’s Day. If you don’t remember this, Obama essentially lectured the nearly all-black crowd on the increasing trend in black society to have children grow up without a father. Obama himself was raised without a steady father figure, so I found this to be a particularly bold move on his part, personally and politically. I saw this as a turning point in the election. In the months preceding this event, Obama and his race was the elephant in the room that the media flirted with and casually referenced, but never directly addressed. Therefore, when Obama spoke in Philadelphia, he didn’t advertise himself to the black audience as the candidate to vote for solely for his race, but instead chose to become a symbol of advocating change in the black population in the United States.
Obama is not racist. He has risen so high politically in his life by not being racist and never could have reached the presidency as a racist. The man has spent his entire life around people of different races and around people who are just looking for an excuse to discredit his reputation if he used the “race card” too often to rise in society. As was previously mentioned in the blog, it is most likely the broadening definition of racism and political correctness that is turning every tiny reference to race as being racist. The problem with today’s definition is that only people of a certain race can discuss the problems of their race. I don’t see why Obama had to be the first person to address the problem of black fathers abandoning their children in largely urban areas. This issue did not arise since Obama began campaigning for the presidency and probably will not end by the time Obama is through with the presidency. So why is the issue so taboo when it is such a prominent crisis in the United States today? The most correct answer is that people who aren’t afraid to speak out on these issues are branded as being extremists when in reality they are the only people who see a problem and attempt to make a change. Believe it or not, Glenn Beck can be listed as one of these people. His ideas are usually distorted and a bit eccentric, but he discusses the topics that most media hosts are afraid to discuss in fear of losing their jobs. Recently, the President made the remark that he wished news stations would simply reports the days events rather than focus on who “won the day,” meaning the daily conservative-liberal argument on the nightly news. In many ways, this desire can have applications in many aspects of our society.
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President Barack Obama racist? I never really thought of that. Whenever I think about President Obama and the election, I usually will think of racism. However, it has not been in the sense that this article says. I saw eighty percent of the people against Obama winning the presidential election as being racist. The majority of the time I also saw Obama’s supporters as being racist. Never did it cross my mind that maybe the President of the United States was racist.
This article shows Glenn Beck targeting President Obama as being a racist in the sense that he is “a person who carelessly says or does anything race-related within earshot of a race member other than their own that at least one person with an active imagination could take exception to, irregardless of the merits of the statement”. If this is statement is true, than ninety nine percent of the world is racist. I do not think Glenn Beck has any legitimate information to back his idea. He is just another ignorant man who is obviously not a supporter of the President of his own country.
When President Obama was elected the forty-fourth President of the United States I was hoping that he, being African American, that racism in this country would decrease rapidly. I thought that by having a black president, we, meaning whites, would see more racism from blacks toward us. Then maybe the idea of racism would not mean so much. I, being a white female, believe that people take racism way too far. I feel like I am always having to walk on egg shells around people of a different race as me. I sadly feel this way because I think people of other races see whites as being racist. I have a problem with that because we are only viewed this way because of history; things that happened hundreds of years ago!
I live in a very diverse town. My high school had a ton of mixed races. Racism was never much of a problem in my high school. In any event, I have still seen racism. Ultimately, racism is seen everywhere. It has never affected me personally but I have seen it affect others around me. Coming to such a big university as this one I see and hear many different things than I am used to. Being in this class alone, and especially in weekly discussion groups, it is amazing how differently people have grown up. Some people live in prominently white towns where racism is extremely common. Then there are people who come from very diverse town and think almost completely opposite of the others in the group. Before coming to Penn State, I have always thought how I was brought up and how I thought was very common. After coming here, I see that no one thinks the same and very few were brought up alike.
In conclusion, I absolutely do not see President Obama as being racist. He was brought up a certain way and he thinks a certain way, so for the ones that are different from him see him as being racist? It is not fair to him and Glenn Beck should definitely stop being so ignorant.
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I believe people making judgments about President Obama will continue as long as he is in office. I believe there are a lot of people that are still not happy with him winning his election. I believe people will do whatever they can to make president Obama seem like a bad person and come up with all types of crazy reasons that may make him a bad president. I believe every time president Obama steps out there will always be characteristics put out about him because he is not fully “white”. Many people think that being white is the American way and that black people are out for revenge that is why President Obama has a problem this right here is racism. I believe President Obama did not do anything to make people think he is racist. I believe he is doing the best that he can to make a better person and when it is not at the speed that people would like people start to call him racist. While watching the video I would like to know what his reasons for thinking this are for coming up with this opinion that I believe is completely untrue. I believe that president Obama is still not treated with the respect that he deserves I still believe that there are people out there that are trying to test his power and challenge him which I believe is not right. No other president had to deal with the things that he deals with on a daily basis. Like for example the anti-bush people that wore shirts saying that was arrested. Where is the inequality, I am fully aware that racism in country is still present and there is nothing that I can do about to so I deal with it. Dealing with it I don’t fully think is right because I think more people need to be open-minded and not think the way they do when it hurts other people. I just believe that the man in the video is trying to show that black people and white people are both racist. In a sense I believe it is too but that is wrong on both side. I just don’t think people need to keep referring to all black people as the same. Many black people think alike just like many white people think alike. I think because the man in the video seems black people as racist, all the sudden president Obama is racist because he is “black”. In conclusion I believe that people need to think about things before they say it and actually have proof on what they are referring too. President Obama treats all people the same no matter where you may come from, I believe this is very hard for people to understand so they make him racist. This world can be crazy sometimes.
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Everyone is a racist somehow according to Glen Beck. Each race makes up in their heads that they are targeted by people who aren’t like them. This is because races stick to their races. That’s who they are. Blacks feel most comfortable around Blacks, Asians around Asians, Native Americans around other Native Americans, and so on. Race is such a big dilemma in the world because that’s just how it has always been. Differences are there to separate. Or, that’s what our ancestors thought. Someone always has to be on top, a leader, the most powerful, and why not just lump together people according to what they look like to do so? No one thinks, “hey we’re all basically 99% the same based on our DNA, it’s just one percent of a difference between all of us that makes up the way we look.” We are all so much more similar than anyone realizes and that is why racism is disgusting. Nobody thinks how similar he or she is to the Black guy on the street that they’re saying racist remarks to. What gives Whites the right to have the power? Why do they control everything in our culture? Especially our media? Who are the people that are claiming that Obama is racist? Ummm…I’m guessing the nay sayers calling Obama a racist are NOT black…
The only reason race always comes up with Obama is because he’s Black. But that’s the thing: HE’S NOT EVEN BLACK. His family is so mixed. He is pretty light skinned too. Everyone just thinks he’s one hundred percent Black and therefore, all of his comments, judgments, moves, decisions, they’re all under this microscope of him being Black. So anything he says, anything he does, he is a Black man making these actions, under the microscope of a dominant white population. When I say dominant I don’t mean dominant by numbers, I mean dominant by power. Whites mostly control the media. What Black man have you seen call Obama a racist? I think that since Obama is our first darker skinned president, no one knows how to deal with the situation, and because our media thrives and depends on drama there has to be something wrong with Obama. Clinton had an affair, Bush was a dumbass, so what can we headline Obama about? Oh Obama’s a racist.
Obama obviously feels ties to the Black community because he grew up with those ties to that group. Therefore, he is more in touch with the Black community more than any other president has ever been. Because they were all White guys! Some people who believe his desire to grant free health care is racist because it mainly aims to the Black community. But he is just trying to be a good president to all races, something most presidents in the past haven’t considered. Its not like Obama is only serving our country to fight for the Blacks, that’s just the connection he feels and the bias that comes along with being a dark skinned president. It is normal to fight for your biases and to make an effort to help the community of which you feel close to and a part of. Its not like Obama is trying to ruin the White community? He is just trying to make a difference in the Black community because he feels a connection to it. Kennedy was similar. For example, he was the first catholic president. So his catholic biases were apparent in his presidency because that’s where his ties were. In retrospect, everyone just needs to chill.
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Obama a racist? C’mon that’s just taking it a little too far. Glenn Becks comment saying that Obama is a racist is just to stir up controversy and scrutinize him in the public eye. I feel that President Obama’s election into the White House was a calling for all people to bring an end to this stupidity of racism. Obama’s main theme throughout his election process was a simple but powerful word at the same time. That word was “CHANGE”. Obama has influenced I believed and actually touched upon people who felt something like this could never happen. Obama I feel has brought a sense of reliance and power to all races. By doing so races in my opinion have come together more in a forward stride to make this change, and progress towards a compelling future and a better world. If Glenn Becks should make any comment about racism it definitely should not be directed towards Obama. I’m not really sure what point or explanation he was trying to make during the interview but it definitely backfired at him. People that Obama works with everyday in his committee are white as well as people in the White House, Congress, and Senate; the majority of them are all white. Barack Obama is our first president that is both black as well as white. People are going to concoct their opinions and feelings about him. Some people may feel that he is only for one race in this case being African Americans as opposed to all races. Obama I feel is looking to help the well being of all races not only just African Americans, and for Glenn Becks to say that Obama dislikes that white race is stupidity. How can Obama hate the white race if he himself is white? That would only be contradicting himself. I feel Obama is more of a target to people to scrutinize and find negative things about him. Since he is actually the first African American president ever people will try to find the most negative information about him. This will make people turn away and say what change is this Obama guy bringing if any. Media and politics are very funny as to how they work. They can work greatly in your favor or at the same time against you. I feel Barack being an African American has more to lose than ever. Mostly all of the people in politics are white. For Barack to be elected the first black president of the United States is carrying a heavy weight on his shoulders. It is something that has never been done before and most people I feel are expecting him to fail. Being an African American I feel he is automatically being labeled as a statistic.
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Surprise! Surprise! Obama was not the cure to racism and the associated views that go with it. The 2009 version of racism, is different than the racism of the past. The definition has changed with the election of Barack Obama. I think political correctness is less evident in race than before. Almost everyone refers to Barack Obama as black, not African American, not the mixed races he is, or even colored. Now using Glenn Beck as any kind of example, is useless, as he seems out of touch than any right-wing pundit. Now, I think Kanye did get a bad rap for what he did and he deserved it. As soon as it happened the racist comments where everywhere. The question I want to ask is “What if Beyonce had won the award, and Kanye interrupted her and said Taylor Swift deserved it?” Whoa, there’s a thought, totally different situation. Would it still be seen as racism? I wonder if there would been such of an uproar if the events occurred in this manner. Reverend Wright, was an interesting character, who stirred up controversy, but in the end did not effect the election of Barack Obama. I think Obama has been met with mixed reviews, some believe he has helped the racial situation in this country, and I think some think he has hurt it. Now, I’m sure they don’t mean to place the blame on him, but on his ideas and initiatives. The line in the blog post “the day we find white people calling black people racist at the same rate the blacks say it about whites, it is probably losing its impact.”, is an awesome idea. It is very similar to when the discussion about race comes up and the “n-word”. When a term is used or overused by the “other” side, we see it become devalued. What happens in the example given about whites leaving the suburbs when blacks arrive? The suburbs become what used to be the city, and the cycle continues. The cycle of racism and discrimination based on color and location remains prevalent. To answer the question, that the blog post poses, “Is Obama racist?” I would have to say no, but I can see why it could be seen that way. The key is he is representing not only the United States, but his constituents, more black people voted for him then the other candidates combined. For Obama to concentrate on the needs of a majority of his voters, is exactly how politics works. If he ignored their needs and issues he would face extreme hate and disappointment from the people he represents. Some white people do not like him because he ignores some of the issues while focusing on those of the black race. This appears as “racist” but truly is just politics and nothing else. He is no better than other politicians, he’s working the system just like all the others.
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It is not common to hear that people are racist; it is just something that America as a country has been used to hearing for many years. Calling President Obama a racist is something that just does not make sense to me. President Obama, at least in my eyes, is far from racist. He has hired so many white people to guide him along the way as president. The biggest way I would decide if somebody was a racist, was if they went out in public and said something offensive, and has he, absolutely not. He has not said anything derogatory about Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Indians, etc.
I think there is always a hint of racism, in most people. Like Sam said in class, most people would not give a black man their house key. When he asked me that, I said probably not, and now it has been hanging over my shoulders. My parents would not give anyone the house key if they didn’t trust them, I do not think the color of their skin would matter. Going as far to call the President racist is something that someone must have proof of. In my eyes it is extremely difficult to be fully racist. Today in schools, clubs and activities, there are a slew of many different races, religions, and ethnicities.
Glenn Beck has no points to back up his statement that President Obama is racist, so there is no basis to say that. Clearly President Obama has white family members, has not been raised in a world to hate others, and he has shown no signs of racism. President Obama is half black and half white so he definitely is not as dark or as light as a full black or white. He stood by his grandmas side while she was sick, who was white. So we know that he is not racist against his family, so what can make someone say that he is racist against others? I think saying that the President of the United States is racist, is a publicity stunt that did not deserve time on air. OF course everyone has the right to free speech, but was there another side to it? Did someone go on air on the same channel at the same time stating that President Obama is not a terrorist? There must be equal sides given to a story.
I would like to think that having a black president could possibly change the minds of those who continue to be racist, but it seems as though minds are extremely difficult to change. Many people seem as though they want to be changed, but if someone has a certain state of mind, then they can only try to help and change themselves.
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I think that this Glenn Beck guy is completely out of order saying that Barrack Obama, our President, is a racist. And so what, even if he is. (i am white) Im sure that presidents in the past (all being white) have been racist. But I do not believe that Barrack Obama is a racist. This Glenn Beck guy has every right to speak his own opinion but I know for sure I will not be jumping on his band wagon. I thought it was really interesting about how Sam said that Obama winning the election was an ethnic win for white people to prove our lack or racism Of course there are racist white people still out there, but it shows how much it is changing over time. One day hopefully we will be saying, “remember when people used to be racist” and someone would respond “what does it mean to be racist.” I agree with with Sam when he says in class that I am surprised that black people these days don’t hate white people as much as they do for what we had put them through with slavery and unequal rights and such for so long. I was hoping that the election of Barrack Obama would bring racism to an end and that we could all move forward into a positive direction and starting a new era. It is still early in Barracks reign as President and he still has plenty of time for his “change” to occur so hopefully things will get better. Of course with every single thing that Barrack does there are always going to be people, especially the press, talking about racism and questioning his ideas behind him too see if he is favoring black people, and hey why not right? We have had every President before him being white probably favoring white people. Well times are changing and the table is turning and it is time for equality for all in everything that we do. If we, America, as one united nation stand up together as true equals and show the rest of the world this then the UNITED States of America can set an example to all other nations across the world especially those such as China with their Han vs. Uighurs issues. America is always dealing with everyone else’s countries problems. I think that America should settle the problems that occur in its own backyard before trying to take care of others. We like to lead by example with wealth and power, why not with unity and equality? Until I see factual evidence of Barrack Obama being a racist towards white people, by either saying something or by doing something, I will not believe that he is a racist at all and will think that this Glenn Beck guy is wrong. Innocent until proven guilty.
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Is President Obama Racist
The truth is I can or can not say that President Obama is racist merely because I don’t think there is enough evidence to go one way or the other. As many people know his past and more importantly some of the people in his past are a little questionable in terms of racist views. I do not know that much about Reverend Wright more than what I have read in this article and what I have talked to my parents about. What I do know is that his views are in fact very radical but whether or not President Obama shares those views is another question. In all honesty I would like to believe that he does not share the same views and that he is a better man than that but the truth is that most of the Presidents in our past have had the same views just about the opposite side. To go along with that it is only now that we as Americans are questioning if our president is racist. Before when we had white presidents in office there was never a question or even a hint that they were or even could be racist because that would bring a bad light upon them. But now that a black man is president because he is racist against the whites it is an issue worth investigating and covering on the news and in the media. The media really does control the way people view things and they do shape the opinion of many Americans just by deciding what they report on and what they don’t. This is just another example of it. The fact that every thing that President Obama could have done wrong is being investigated and crazed more so than I have ever seen with any other president.
In my personal opinion I do no think President Obama is a racist in fact I feel that he is a fair man in what I have seen so far out of him. I hope that he continues his paths and that we do not find out that he has different views. But the fact is if he did I don’t want to say it wouldn’t surprise me but I don’t think I could blame him. I just hope he is able to put aside those feelings and still make the right decisions for the country, the whole country.
On another note the whole idea of racism to me seems a little just wrong. Not just in the sense or morally wrong but in the sense that racism is given more value than what it is. Some people hate other people but I think that is true for different values and beliefs and skin colors or baseball fanage. I am not saying it is right just that we put to much stock in it.
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I think that the comments made in the Youtube video by Glenn Beck was very ignorant and I was appalled that he felt that it would be appropriate for him to say about the president of the United States on a live news broadcast. Calling President Obama a racist is an interesting thing for Glen Beck to say. He repeats himself numerous times, yet never explains why he feels the way that he does. It would seem Glen Beck is merely trying to stir up trouble and lead people to distrust Obama. I think this is a case of people being afraid of change or being afraid of what is different. The “black people can’t be racist because they don’t have power and authority to oppress or exclude white people” response is out the window so to speak, but Glen Beck is trying to revive it. It is sad but I think that we are going to have deal with comments from people like Glenn Beck the entire time that President Obama is in office. The election of Barack Obama could be looked at as a “win” for white and for all people. I find it strange how Kanye was basically put on the cross for his comments calling George Bush a racist making Kanye “racist”, but this man is praised and embraced for his ridiculous accusations. I feel that it is reasonable to discuss racism and how it plays a role in politics, but to literally attack the President is absurd. The United States of America is one nation with many different people and many different cultures. I think some people (many white people) refuse to recognize this, like whites have some entitlement; like the US is run by white people and they are just allowing everyone else to be here. Like Sam stated in class, the more we throw words like this around and people of every race are called racist, the less impact it will have.
The other side of this is that Fox News is a very sketchy program. It has been criticized for its blatant republican stance of their reports and not too long ago rapper Nas was on a small podium in front of Fox News headquarters in New York City protesting what he and over 600,000 people see as racist attacks against Black Americans and president Barack Obama. It even referred to President Obama’s wife as his “baby mama”, showing Bill O’Reilly casually using the phrase “lynching party” to refer to attacks on the Obama’s wife, and referencing to the couple’s infamous fist pound as a “terrorist fist jab.” I think the channel in general is racist itself, so why wouldn’t they allow someone like Glen Beck on live television to voice his opinion and distrust for our president?
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Racism is an issue that is still thriving today in the United States. With President Obama becoming elected I think that the issue will become more pronounced. It may seem almost obvious that we will speak of racism considering President Obama’s ethnic background, but perhaps this shows society isn’t really getting over this racial barrier.
I feel that Glenn Beck is a complete idiot. Publicly calling the President of our country a racist is out of line. He is the leader of our country not just another regular guy and definitely deserves more courtesy then what Beck had given him. In my opinion you must give the leader of America all of your respect, even if that means you did not vote for him. Maybe if Obama had actually portrayed racist behaviors this act would have been a little more sensible. Most of Obama’s staff is not of people of color but in fact white. Wouldn’t it make sense if Obama were a racist to have only black people working under him? I mean clearly Beck didn’t support Barack Obama in this year’s election. He obviously has hatred much deeper for this man to publicly voice is obscene opinion. If specifically bothers me how Beck fails to address that he is in fact a qualified leader. I absolutely despise when people only focus on negative aspects about a person. By watching the youtube video I actually got the impression that Glenn Beck was in fact the racist.
As for Obama I can see how some of his actions can be seen as biased. I feel that this is actually normal. I mean after all this is the first elected black President. As I was typing the last sentence and wrote the phrase black president I failed to put the word “black” in quotes. Do we fail to forget Barack Obama is HALF WHITE and HALF BLACK? So really Beck is saying he is racist against his own people? Anyway regardless, I knew that his election into office would stir up the “racism talk.” Unfortunately in the world we live in his presidency was bound to start racial controversy. IT is so common to hear people say that; “race is not an issue.” To me that is far from the truth; racism is everywhere, all around our society. Racism really never made a lot of sense to me. Skin is just a color. We are all humans living in the same world. Being called a racist is one of the most offensive terms. It baffles me how someone can actually portray such blatant hate towards another person simply because the shade of their skin. It’s honestly a scary reality that hopefully will change before the issue becomes an even larger problem.
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“Racist” is a term that has been majorly overly thrown around. People are so often labeled as a racist because people do not agree with something that they do, policies that they create, or even misunderstand (or misconstrue) statements that they make. I have a tough time really labeling someone as a racist. Maybe at time they act “racist” (knowingly or incidentally), but I find few educated people are truly “racist.”
The 2009 definition you gave is about right, and that is pretty pathetic. Many times when the term is tossed around it is more a display of ignorance (often on the accuser’s part) rather than true racism. Under that definition, everyone in the US is racist. I am sure that I am racist under that definition. I cannot distinctively remember an exact episode for this racism, but I am positive that I have offended other races in the past, be it by misunderstandings on their part of ignorance on my own.
It is pretty ironic that we have a panel of white talking-heads on TV labeling a black (be it half black) man as being “racist.” Ten years ago, or even before the Obama presidency, that would not be something that you would see on public television. I guess one of the few drawbacks of being white (having the ability to be labeled as a “racist) is starting to wash away – it’s not just the white team that has to worry about the often ignorant term coming their way.
Another thing I think the Obama presidency has brought America is the ability for a white man to become bored when a black figure of influence is speaking. Think about it – the typical black speakers (Jessie Jackson, MLK, etc) that are remembered speak in rhythmic ways that really excite and energize their crowd, something that white men are not known for. Therefore, being able to be bored to sleep when listening to a historical, black figure like President Obama talk about US economics is remarkable.
No longer is there that perceived “gap” between white speakers and black speakers in their delivery. It is past just the skill that one has for public speaking (which Obama seems to have more of than President George W. Bush), it is a delivery style that I cannot think of any white man being associated with (or any major historical black figure in the Black Movement NOT being associated with). Next time Obama bores you with the content of one of his future speeches, just remember that you are witnessing a change of preconceived notions when it comes to public speaking and different races.
Alright, I am eleven words away from the 450 mark and do not want to begin on a new point. Thanks.
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It took me some time to read and re-read that definition for racism to understand it, and I still don’t think I do. I agree with the idea that the more common the label of ‘racist’ is used, the lesser its impact will be. In the office where I work, it’s a common thing to joke about everyone being racist or making racist comments. I feel like it has truly lost its impact there, at least among our small group of student supervisors and other full-time staff.
I also believe we all have a little bit of racism in each of us, whether it is based on stereotypes or generalizations made from specific personal encounters. I think they’re bad in different degrees, considering the second is actually based on personal experience, if only a single experience. I think it has a bit of a connection to psychology, a conditioned response. So your racist thoughts or ideas about white men are similar to the tones for Pavlov’s dogs.
I laughed when I read how one of the ways we can eliminate the power of the word ‘racism’ or ‘racist’ if it were a more common word among the white community. Technically I am a white girl, but I have no issues calling someone a racist if they say something I consider fitting, and at the same time, my friends reassure me of the fact that I’m not white in the sense of being on the white team. But in relation to what was discussed in class this week, for white people to be able to call a black or brown person racist they would have to at least be in the Awakening step to be aware enough to even think of such an idea.
It’s also got to come to the white people’s attention that everything is about race to people of color. Maybe my position as part of an integrated community (the hip hop community) I can appreciate and understand that much more, because we are each treated some type of way as different races in the hip hop community. But as a majority, they do not understand how the way that people of color are brought up, they learn very quickly about their different opportunities versus the ones that white people have. Obama, raised by his white family, has recognized the opportunities he has been offered by being able to grow up in a white family. Not many people, but it will probably increase as races mix, have the chance to grow up in a mixed family and can see what it’s like to be in a certain environment or neighborhood they may not have been in if both parents were of the same background.
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