“Maybe we now realize the way a racial bias can infect us even when we don’t realize,” he said. “So that we are guarding against not racial slurs but also going against the subtle impulse to call Johnny back for a job interview but not Jamal. So that we search our hearts when we consider laws to make it harder for some of our fellow citizens to vote.”
On Friday, as much of the country rejoiced at the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage, and Charleston, South Carolina, continued to mourn its dead, President Obama delivered what may go down as his most impassioned, biting, and unambiguous statement on race since being elected into office.
This statement was, unfortunately, delivered by way of a eulogy for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, the South Carolina state senator and reverend who was murdered last week, along with eight others, at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church by Dylann Roof, a white supremacist. But what started out as a moving celebration of the life of Pinckney (“Preacher by 13. Pastor by 18. Public servant by 23—what a life [he] lived.”) soon morphed into a rousing, mesmerizing political sermon, one in which Obama tackled pretty much all of the controversial angles that have intersected in the aftermath of the Charleston massacre: the confederate flag. Gun control. Systemic racism.
Posted by f.sheikh
Harris is correct in her assertion that Obama has been ignoring his true feelings on race.The president must in order to prevent the media from overcovering the racism issue as opposed to topics of more pressing concern to the general public such as immigration issues and various wars the U.S.is currently engaged in.
However, as his term is nearing an end and the media continuously covers stories such as everyday occurences of black males being targeted by police officers, racial biases in the job market and inflating rates of incarceration, it’s sort of expected he would do so.
More than being given the title of president, it’s Obama’s duty as a black male with political capabilities to address these controversial issues.
Asad