Here
and
Now

opinions

Obama's delicate path on race

12 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© (C) 2013 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

12 Comments
Login to comment

What Obama doesn't seem to get when he opened his mouth on the Martin case was that there were TWO sides to the story. Yes, it was regrettable that Martin died. However there was also the issue of Martin assaulting someone.

What is Obama's message precisely, that it is regrettable that a black man died assaulting a white guy? What outcome would he have preferred, that the white guy died? Because that's the message he's sending, that black violence against whites is okay, but white violence against blacks is not.

That is the most insanely RACIST message... but here we hit another double-standard in the U.S., the idea that black people CANNOT be racists.

There's a lot of blame to throw around on the race issue in the U.S., but whoever is opening their mouth on the issue should really pause to consider their own prejudices and what message they're sending. Obama didn't think. Obama perpetuated his own racial stereotypes, and any racial stereotypes are wrong.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Once you pull the race card, and it doesn't work, there's no going back.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I agree with most of what the article says, but it is such a complicated deep issue it will not be resolved easily anyway. The only thing you can do is maintain awareness of it and continue to go forward wherever possible.

Frungy- I believe the whole point is that since Trayon Martin is dead we don't even have his side of the story. Was he a sulking teen waiting to hit someone? I dunno... maybe. Maybe not. Death is final, and it leaves us without his testimony. Who knows how that fight went down. Does Trayvon bear some of the responsibility for it? Probably. But he seems to have been profiled and stalked. It didn't have to go down like that.

Also, talking about black racism in the way you did is not really helpful, imho. Sure it exists, but they are not in the power position in our societey. So a small-minded self-centered black individual just cannot inflict a great deal of harm on a white person's career, family or self-confidence, or self-image, in the same way that white racists can and do on blacks. Just cuz it too exists does not mean it is equal, so imo you should not bring it up as an equal tit for tat thing.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

“Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago,” Obama said,

Yeah and the 88 year old WW2 Okinawa Battle Veteran (Shorty) beaten to death by 3 black youths in a robbery the other day could have been someones grandfather or father, didnt hear any out dry or statement from you Obama about that, or how about the aussie jogger gunned down the other or how about ................ahhh come on you should get it by now, this racial stuff only goes one way doesnt it.

Race is still a big issue in the US, mostly its not the whites with the wrong attitude any longer though

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Discrimination is not based on race as such, is based on being able/unable to climb the social ladder and accumulate wealth. A white person will hardly see the skin color of a wealthy black person and will have no qualms in associating with him/her. Discrimination has always been between the Haves and Have-nots, (humans), and Strong and Weak, (nations).

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

If there was so much discrimination how did Obama become president. I don't think the higher unemployment figures for black people are due to racism, Pakistani's, Indians, Koreans and Chinese are all minorities that do not have high unemployment in the US even though many are new to America, you also do not see high crime rates in these groups. These are facts that cannot be disputed, time for African Americans to put their house in order and stop playing the victim.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

American racism is such that a half white man, raised in a white household, who only knew white family is seen as 100% Black. Almost as if Blackness is a disease, so that some who is even 1/4th or 1/16th Black was still considered 'a threat'.

Blacks in the US come from many different cultures, but US society paints the same expectations on them no matter what. Once you look Black, then society expects/tolerates certain behavior. And since whites are actually afraid of Blacks, the only acceptable behavior is 'humble' or 'subservient' or 'self-debasing'... its disgusting to watch. Blacks seem to be superior to whites in so many ways, even their sense of rhythm denotes a intuitive/instinctual understanding of higher order maths. And their behaviours seem to be dictated by logic, far more so than whites. In fact, isn't that one of the major criticisms of B.Obama? He is too 'cool' or logical? Again, its disgusting to watch how people with so many gifts can be undone by such stupidity. Many Blacks will complain about society trying to hold them down, but never stop to think about the individual-level strategy being employed. They assume the irrationality is the nature of whites, and never think about it as a strategy. Also, Blacks never seem to catch the true bend of the racial cues coming out of Hollywood most recently, that hyperlogical machines or androids are threatening to rise up, and erase 'our way of life'... Racism in the US is complicated, yes, but mostly due to lost/destroyed/suppressed histories...

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

none of you know what life is like for a black man until you step into the skin.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@kyle alpert

thank you! a perfect example of black supremacy in america.

Blacks seem to be superior to whites in so many ways

now imagine if i switched the words white and black in that sentence. i would be branded a racist and every point i made after that would be ignored. and should i be in the public eye, i would be fired in a heart beat. now blacks like jamie fox can say how black people are the most talented people and how great it was to kill white people in his movie and its ok.

And since whites are actually afraid of Blacks

if this is true, its probably because blacks are an estimated 39 times more likely to commit violent crime against a white person than vice versa, and 136 times more likely to commit robbery. and black-on-white rape is 115 times more common than the reverse. healthy fear and wariness dont come from nowhere.

Again, its disgusting to watch how people with so many gifts can be undone by such stupidity

if they are indeed "undone" as you say, its because such a high percentage of black youth are being raised without a father in their lives. so who fills the void as role model? rappers and others who glamorize violence and misogyny. along with this breakdown of the family has come a de-emphasizing of education. even with all of the black only scholarships and college enrollment affirmative action laws. stop blaming white people and take some responsibility.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

80393

Great post and one that many would put down to racism rather than common sense and reason.The excuses for failure are annoying and just that excuses on the most part. The elite and that is people like Obama actually want people to be divided racially, they wasnt blacks to feel like victims and whites as the "bad guys".

Obama was groomed to be the president by people who knew that him running would mean he would get almost all black votes, they got him elected and divided the nation under racial lines as they wished.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Irrational racism is an old story that Blacks would be better off dropping. No, whats going on is 100% purely rational.

Blacks, and other concerned parties need to understand that. The post above talk about Black failure. Failure to what, fit in? Fit in with a system thats fundamentally unjust? Fit in with a system that is predicated on creating and spreading misery to everyone who doesnt fit in?

Black socioeconomic statistics are evidence of one thing: Blacks fundamentally reject the basis of that which the US promotes as 'civilization'.

And why shoudnt they? Even the black president is stymied and treated with the utmost disrespect and distrust. And thats the point: if not even the Black president can escape the ditch thats been dug for Blacks, what options do they really have?

And more importantly what do 'they' hope to accomplish and WHY? What is it about Blacks (and their descendants) that is so scary for them?

No, its not irrationality... its indeed quite the opposite.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

I agreed with this , Obama is a great personality he is ruling the post powerful country in the world Dental implants hungary

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites