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Obama’s “Typical White person” — Ought Oh!

By Sharon Hughes

Has Barack Obama been caught showing a prejudiced mentality? Just how much has his controversial pastor impacted him after all?

Obama’s ‘typical white person’ slip, which has the internet and media buzzing, came when he ‘clarified’ his comments to a Philadelphia radio host on Thursday regarding the following statement he made earlier this week, during his national press conference which was called to ‘clarify’ his pastor’s racist and other inflammatory comments:

“I can no more disown [Pastor Jeremiah Wright] than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.”

Ought Oh! So he tried to clarify his own statement to 610 WIP host Angelo Cataldi yesterday:

“The point I was making was not that Grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn’t. But she is a typical white person, who, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn’t know, you know, there’s a reaction that’s been bred in our experiences that don’t go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way, and that’s just the nature of race in our society.”

Double Ought Oh!

So then he sat down on the Larry King Live show last night to ‘clarify’ himself again:

“What I meant really was that some of the fears of street crime and some of the stereotypes that go along with that, you know, were responses that I think many people feel. She’s not extraordinary in that regard. She’s somebody who I love as much as anybody. I mean, she has literally helped to raise me.

But those are fears that are embedded in our culture and embedded in our society. And, you know, even within our own families, even within a family like mine that is diverse, you know, there are those gaps in understanding or the stereotypes that are fed by the news media and fed by what we see around us and, you know, in our popular culture.”

Okay, so there may be a family member in our families who is prejudiced in some manner. But, as someone running for the President of the United States — as a ‘uniter’ not divider — someone who is trying to dodge the racist, anti-Semetic, anti-American statements of his controversial pastor…do his ‘clarifiying’ statements show good judgement? The kind a wise President would make? Are they prejudice-free?

Imagine John McCain or Hillary Clinton saying “typical black person”.

You know, there are alot of ‘typical white’ people who are color-blind who would love to see an African-American as president. I would. But, not one who hasn’t got their own racist issues settled. The President of the U.S. has to be the president of all the people, without prejudice, period.

I’d love to see a woman as President also.

But, whether male or female, white or black, red or yellow, or polka-dot…more than anything I want to see a true American patriot…one who loves this country, who believes in our Constitution and founding principles, and esteems all people equally regardless of race, color, religion…for President of the United States.

It’s possible. We’ve had them before. And I believe we can have them again.

What do you use to scrutinize candidates — How they make you feel? Or what they truly stand for?


© Sharon Hughes 2008

Sharon Hughes is Founder and President of The Center for Changing Worldviews and a radio talk show host on KDIA in San Francisco, NPLR, RIGHTALK.com, and online at Salem Web Network’s Oneplace.com. Her articles appear in many recognized news sites and publications, including FRONTPAGEMAG. She also writes for NewsBusters.org, a division of The Media Research Center, and has appeared on FOX News and other national radio programs. For further information visit her Websites www.changingworldviews.com, WOMANTalk.us, and Blog http://changingworldviews.blogspot.com. Or Contact: sharon@changingworldviews.com

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The opinions expressed in this column represent those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, or philosophy of TheRealityCheck.org. See also: New Media Alliance Television, and New Media Alliance Blogs.

Posted: 03|25|08 at 5:11 am. Filed under: Cultural Reality, Guest Columnist, Political Reality. New here? Follow this entry via RSS 2.0. Comment | Trackback

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