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Jen (not verified) says:
Excellent article, especially this part:
"The authentic conversation that Obama wants requires a tolerance of imprecise language; a recognition that we haven’t accomplished anything by demanding that public figures speak in a sterile, meaningless language whose primary aim is to avoid giving offense to anyone for any reason. This national conversation can only take place if we resolve to stop playing gotcha with quotes and to begin exploring the context around the quotes that tend to make headlines."
By lashing on to the "typical white person" phrase and attacking it, people are operating under the false assumption that Obama is somehow prejudice against white people, which completely ignores the fact that he himself is white and was raised by his white family. Basically - they can't get past the color of his skin, because all they see is a black man. It's this very inability to see past skin color which prevents us, as a country, from moving forward. That's why Obama's speech on Monday was so necessary. It's not that we haven't been discussing race, it's that we've only been discussing it amongst ourselves. Black people are hesitant to have the conversation with white people because they're afraid they'll be labeled as "an angry black person" and white people are hesitant because they don't want to be labeled as "racist." Like Obama said - we're at a racial stalemate, hemmed in by political correctedness. I was so happy to hear that many universities and churches were using his speech as a springboard for open discussion of race relations. His speech had 4 million live viewers, the video is currently #1 on YouTube & the text of the speech was the #1 most emailed story on several major news websites. This shows just how hungry the country is to have this type of dialouge. Not name calling or finger pointing, but an open & honest discussion about people's fears, struggles and, most importantly, their common humanity. If we can get past our physical differences, then we can discuss the REAL issues - the war, the economy, climate change, the subprime mortgage crisis, oil prices, our eroding civil liberties etc - these are not concerns that are particular to any one race, but to us all. Just imagine what this man could do as president.
Excellent article, especially this part:
"The authentic conversation that Obama wants requires a tolerance of imprecise language; a recognition that we haven’t accomplished anything by demanding that public figures speak in a sterile, meaningless language whose primary aim is to avoid giving offense to anyone for any reason. This national conversation can only take place if we resolve to stop playing gotcha with quotes and to begin exploring the context around the quotes that tend to make headlines."
By lashing on to the "typical white person" phrase and attacking it, people are operating under the false assumption that Obama is somehow prejudice against white people, which completely ignores the fact that he himself is white and was raised by his white family. Basically - they can't get past the color of his skin, because all they see is a black man. It's this very inability to see past skin color which prevents us, as a country, from moving forward. That's why Obama's speech on Monday was so necessary. It's not that we haven't been discussing race, it's that we've only been discussing it amongst ourselves. Black people are hesitant to have the conversation with white people because they're afraid they'll be labeled as "an angry black person" and white people are hesitant because they don't want to be labeled as "racist." Like Obama said - we're at a racial stalemate, hemmed in by political correctedness. I was so happy to hear that many universities and churches were using his speech as a springboard for open discussion of race relations. His speech had 4 million live viewers, the video is currently #1 on YouTube & the text of the speech was the #1 most emailed story on several major news websites. This shows just how hungry the country is to have this type of dialouge. Not name calling or finger pointing, but an open & honest discussion about people's fears, struggles and, most importantly, their common humanity. If we can get past our physical differences, then we can discuss the REAL issues - the war, the economy, climate change, the subprime mortgage crisis, oil prices, our eroding civil liberties etc - these are not concerns that are particular to any one race, but to us all. Just imagine what this man could do as president.