Originally Posted By Dabob2 >>And the message of Obama's speech was anything but chilling.<< <Some have characterized it "throwing Grandma under the bus" in Obama's reference to his Grandmother in equating her to Rev. Wright. But Obama has made racist comments a bit more acceptable in that you don't need to disassociate from racists. You can separate the person from their views.> Having some family members myself with some pretty racist views, past or present, I know exactly where he was coming from. I had one grandma who was pretty racist pretty much till the day she died. She also would say things such as (about her next-door neighbors) "they're Jewish, but they're nice." I could say "Grandma, that's not a contradiction!" till I was blue in the face, and she just didn't get it. But it doesn't mean I didn't love her.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <"As the controversy matures, he can increasingly depict those who fan its flames as trying to live in the past and re-fight the civil wars of race that have divided America." (Us vs Them - BINARY)> A more sophisticated analyst would notice that Obama was specifically rejecting binary thinking. But Morris hasn't been relevant for a while.
Originally Posted By woody >>A more sophisticated analyst would notice that Obama was specifically rejecting binary thinking.<< Only with the separation of racist comments to the person. Obama has blurred the issue of race to a degree. In turn, the agreement with this point of view has become binary. The debate has change. The goalposts have been moved.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Obama has blurred the issue of race to a degree.<< I don't think so. He simply said what everyone who is honest knows is true. That people we know and love can say idiotic things.
Originally Posted By woody Interesting... Rev. Al Sharpton is not endorsing Obama although Obama wants an endorsement. Smart decision. It saves Sharpton a public denunciation if Sharpton's old comments becomes a problem later on in Obama's campaign. <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/Story?id=3105288&page=2" target="_blank">http://abcnews.go.com/Politics /TheNote/Story?id=3105288&page=2</a> The Rev. Al Sharpton is supporting Obama "but he's made the strategic decision to keep his support quiet," according to -- Al Sharpton? "I won't either endorse you or not endorse you," Sharpton said he told Obama, per the New York Daily News' Adam Serwer and Michael Saul. They write: "According to Sharpton, Obama protested and asked for his public support. 'No, no, no. I want you to endorse,' Sharpton recalled Obama saying. Sharpton told Obama that it would be better strategically for him to remain publicly neutral."
Originally Posted By Dabob2 >>A more sophisticated analyst would notice that Obama was specifically rejecting binary thinking.<< <Only with the separation of racist comments to the person. Obama has blurred the issue of race to a degree.> Earlier in the campaign he had (and was sometimes called "post-racial.") But yesterday was just the opposite. He took on race head-on and gave specifics of both white and black resentments and grievances. <In turn, the agreement with this point of view has become binary.> That doesn't make sense.
