Is President Obama's rhetoric concerning systemic racism harmful or helpful?

[Ahlevah]

In the wake of police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota, President Obama issued a statement in which he attempted to link those incidents to alleged systemic racism and bias in the criminal justice system even before all of the facts were known or had been investigated. He said, for example:

Last year, African Americans were shot by police at more than twice the rate of whites. African Americans are arrested at twice the rate of whites.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/07/07/statement-president

Of course, we're left to assume that the reason these two men are dead is because the police in question were racist. This is completely irresponsible and not what one would expect from a president who is supposed to engage in and promote an honest discussion of the topic while serving as a means to unite and calm the public. Instead, almost from the day he entered office when he commented publicly on the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Obama has inflamed the discussion on race in this country and incited passions on both sides. He is without a doubt the most racially divisive president this country has seen in a long time, perhaps since Lincoln.

Enough already, Mr. President. Just shut up--please.

 

[Patrickt]

I think it's clear that the worst racist in 75 years was elected to the Presidency. We knew before he was elected that he attended Rev. Wright's church, famous for "God damn America", and considered Rev. Wright a mentor. Shortly after he was elected there was the fiasco in Cambridge involving Dr. Henry Louis Gates and Sgt. James Crowley. President Obama didn't hesitate to say, ""I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that. But I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home, and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Gates_arrest_controversy

President Obama didn't need to know what happened to jump to racism and his statement is idiotic. I was a police officer for thirty years and I often arrested people in their homes. Domestic violence cases happen disproportionately in the home. Warrants are often served on people at home rather than at work. Violations of restraining orders often resulted in a man being arrested in his own home because he's been thrown out. I suppose President Obama thinks that when a police officer arrives, sees a man in the entry way who isn't opening the door and when the door does open refuses to show any identification should, when the man says, I live here, say, oh, okay, have a good day and can I help you tote that television?

And, it went on. Remember Missouri? President Obama met with the rioters and said, "Stay the course." Oh, but of course, he didn't mean the rioting, looting and burning. He meant the good parts. The good parts were demanding the officer be punished before trial. The good parts were praising the "gentle giant" who'd just committed a strong-arm robbery. Right, Mr. President, stay the course but just for the good parts.

At some point the people will figure out that the conflict is between Americans and the government. The police are the only government representatives found in many neighborhoods. Judges don't go to those neighborhoods. Neither do most politicians except when they're campaigning and then they have bodyguards, often police officers. Can you imagine Rep. Nancy Pelosi showing up in a black neighborhood and going for a walk without machine guns?

If I were living in a black ghetto with no job and no jobs anywhere around where I lived and my kids were going to a failing school plagued with gangsters and if I tried to move out of the ghetto I faced losing my assistance from the government, I'd be angry. If I'd gone to the same failing school my kids were going to, never learned to read well or write, and saw my kids facing the same future I have, I'd be damned angry. If I saw young women being told that if they partnered with the father of their child there'd be no help from the government but if they dump him they can go on welfare for years I'd be really angry. If the people from the government were more concerned about keeping me poor and on the dole and keeping me in the ghetto and keeping me unemployed and keeping my kids in the same, I'd be flat out pissed.

And who could I take it out on?

At some point, people will figure it out.

 

[ChezC3]

Barrack Obama doesn't care about white people...

 

[RetiredUSN]

I think it's clear that the worst racist in 75 years was elected to the Presidency. We knew before he was elected that he attended Rev. Wright's church, famous for "God damn America", and considered Rev. Wright a mentor. Shortly after he was elected there was the fiasco in Cambridge involving Dr. Henry Louis Gates and Sgt. James Crowley. President Obama didn't hesitate to say, ""I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that. But I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home, and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Gates_arrest_controversy

President Obama didn't need to know what happened to jump to racism and his statement is idiotic. I was a police officer for thirty years and I often arrested people in their homes. Domestic violence cases happen disproportionately in the home. Warrants are often served on people at home rather than at work.

And, it went on. Remember Missouri? President Obama met with the rioters and said, "Stay the course." Oh, but of course, he didn't mean the rioting, looting and burning. He meant the good parts.

At some point the people will figure out that the conflict is between Americans and the government. The police are the only government representatives found in many neighborhoods. A friend of mine worked in Child Welfare and I tried to take him to the working-class bars to see where his Aid to Dependent Children money was going. He refused to enter one of the bars.

The people in the town and the police will figure out at some point who the common enemy is.

Lyndon Johnson was a disgusting racist.

No serious person could place Obama in his category, although I do believe that he has a serious chip on his shoulder.

 

[Ahlevah]

In this corner, which I saw yesterday on social media...



... and in this corner some really pissed off police supporters...



https://www.facebook.com/ISupportPoliceNotCriminals

 

[Patrickt]

Lyndon Johnson was a disgusting racist.

No serious person could place Obama in his category, although I do believe that he has a serious chip on his shoulder.

Maybe. He did get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and started the War on Poverty in 1965. Me? I'd classify Lyndon B. Johnson as the most evil and disgusting President in my lifetime but I'm not sure he was close to being as much of a racist as President Obama. Perhaps if President Johnson had gone to a Christian Identity Church for twenty years and had met with the KKK and told them to "stay the course", I'd agree with you.

 

[Ahlevah]

Lyndon Johnson was a disgusting racist.

Why? Because he was a white Southerner born in 1908 who used the "N-word"? Do you realize how common it was in the Jim Crow South to use that word when describing blacks during the time he was growing up? He also was a politician who had the reality of dealing with other politicians who weren't, shall we say, particularly fond of black people. Regardless of whatever his true feelings were concerning blacks, he signed into law two landmark pieces of legislation on race: the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. And if he was, in fact, a racist he also had the good sense to keep his mouth shut in public.

 

[MaggieD]

In the wake of police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota, President Obama issued a statement in which he attempted to link those incidents to alleged systemic racism and bias in the criminal justice system even before all of the facts were known or had been investigated. He said, for example:

Of course, we're left to assume that the reason these two men are dead is because the police in question were racist. This is completely irresponsible and not what one would expect from a president who is supposed to engage in and promote an honest discussion of the topic while serving as a means to unite and calm the public. Instead, almost from the day he entered office when he commented publicly on the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Obama has inflamed the discussion on race in this country and incited passions on both sides. He is without a doubt the most racially divisive president this country has seen in a long time, perhaps since Lincoln.

Enough already, Mr. President. Just shut up--please.

I agree. Shut up already. IMO, had President Obama wanted to uplift blacks in our country, he would have tackled the cultural divide that so plainly exists. He could have hammered home the importance of edication. Looked at reforming education to give young black men the promise of worthwhile jobs. Discouraged the scourge of fatherless homes.

While I admire Michelle Obama's interest in nutrition, she could have done so much more.

President Obama gave blacks in this country victim status. That is sooo unfortunate. I know it was by design. Much of what's happened to blacks in this country has been so. I just dont understand why.

 

[americanwoman]

I agree. Shut up already. IMO, had President Obama wanted to uplift blacks in our country, he would have tackled the cultural divide that so plainly exists. He could have hammered home the importance of edication. Looked at reforming education to give young black men the promise of worthwhile jobs. Discouraged the scourge of fatherless homes.

While I admire Michelle Obama's interest in nutrition, she could have done so much more.

President Obama gave blacks in this country victim status. That is sooo unfortunate. I know it was by design. Much of what's happened to blacks in this country has been so. I just dont understand why.

Why do you think that? I know many different types of black people, from professional to activist to "thug", and I have never gotten the impression they feel like a "victim". Is it from what you see on TV or do you actively know people think they are victims? I see more a victim complex from a mix of people than a specific race.

This has been something that has been boiling for a long time and is just coming to the surface. We can push it back down or let it out. I think Obama knows how it can be and the truth isn't pretty to some, especially white people. Say what you want about what I just said but from what I know it's true and maybe you live somewhere where it's different but my reality is different from yours.

 

[katzgar]

this thread is a bunch of whites not wanting to be honest about racism.

 

[MaggieD]

Why do you think that? I know many different types of black people, from professional to activist to "thug", and I have never gotten the impression they feel like a "victim". Is it from what you see on TV or do you actively know people think they are victims? I see more a victim complex from a mix of people than a specific race.

This has been something that has been boiling for a long time and is just coming to the surface. We can push it back down or let it out. I think Obama knows how it can be and the truth isn't pretty to some, especially white people. Say what you want about what I just said but from what I know it's true and maybe you live somewhere where it's different but my reality is different from yours.

More than once, many times, he has jumped to conclusions on cop interaction with blacks. He has missed many an opportunity to remind ALL of us to fight our cop disagreements in the courtroom rather than on the streets. When the CIC tells us that we have systemic problems in law enforcement when it comes to race relations, it is incendiary. When he reinforces the belief that cops are racist, it is far from helpful. Are there racist cops? Of course. Is it systemic? Prove it.

My close personal interaction with black families comes mainly from my real estate career. An officer in the US military who looked at homes with his family in his full dress blues because he wanted neighbors to understand he wasnt ghetto. (If you are looking at $400,000 homes, who on EARTH would think you were a thug?) A family who said they were taking down all of their black artwork because they didnt want prospective buyers to know a black family lived there. They and their friends believed white people wouldnt buy their home if they knew. And other interactions that led me to believe black families think prejudice is all around them.

Did i meet some white people who were prejudiced while in real estate. Yes, i did. They were assholes. And far few between.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

In the wake of police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota, President Obama issued a statement in which he attempted to link those incidents to alleged systemic racism and bias in the criminal justice system even before all of the facts were known or had been investigated. He said, for example:



Of course, we're left to assume that the reason these two men are dead is because the police in question were racist. This is completely irresponsible and not what one would expect from a president who is supposed to engage in and promote an honest discussion of the topic while serving as a means to unite and calm the public. Instead, almost from the day he entered office when he commented publicly on the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Obama has inflamed the discussion on race in this country and incited passions on both sides. He is without a doubt the most racially divisive president this country has seen in a long time, perhaps since Lincoln.

Enough already, Mr. President. Just shut up--please.

Yes politicizing this is only making it worse.
Thankfully people like him tend to live outside the real world, where the rest of us have to deal with the consequences.

 

[katzgar]

I think it's clear that the worst racist in 75 years was elected to the Presidency. We knew before he was elected that he attended Rev. Wright's church, famous for "God damn America", and considered Rev. Wright a mentor. Shortly after he was elected there was the fiasco in Cambridge involving Dr. Henry Louis Gates and Sgt. James Crowley. President Obama didn't hesitate to say, ""I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that. But I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home, and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Gates_arrest_controversy

President Obama didn't need to know what happened to jump to racism and his statement is idiotic. I was a police officer for thirty years and I often arrested people in their homes. Domestic violence cases happen disproportionately in the home. Warrants are often served on people at home rather than at work. Violations of restraining orders often resulted in a man being arrested in his own home because he's been thrown out. I suppose President Obama thinks that when a police officer arrives, sees a man in the entry way who isn't opening the door and when the door does open refuses to show any identification should, when the man says, I live here, say, oh, okay, have a good day and can I help you tote that television?

And, it went on. Remember Missouri? President Obama met with the rioters and said, "Stay the course." Oh, but of course, he didn't mean the rioting, looting and burning. He meant the good parts. The good parts were demanding the officer be punished before trial. The good parts were praising the "gentle giant" who'd just committed a strong-arm robbery. Right, Mr. President, stay the course but just for the good parts.

At some point the people will figure out that the conflict is between Americans and the government. The police are the only government representatives found in many neighborhoods. Judges don't go to those neighborhoods. Neither do most politicians except when they're campaigning and then they have bodyguards, often police officers. Can you imagine Rep. Nancy Pelosi showing up in a black neighborhood and going for a walk without machine guns?

If I were living in a black ghetto with no job and no jobs anywhere around where I lived and my kids were going to a failing school plagued with gangsters and if I tried to move out of the ghetto I faced losing my assistance from the government, I'd be angry. If I'd gone to the same failing school my kids were going to, never learned to read well or write, and saw my kids facing the same future I have, I'd be damned angry. If I saw young women being told that if they partnered with the father of their child there'd be no help from the government but if they dump him they can go on welfare for years I'd be really angry. If the people from the government were more concerned about keeping me poor and on the dole and keeping me in the ghetto and keeping me unemployed and keeping my kids in the same, I'd be flat out pissed.

And who could I take it out on?

At some point, people will figure it out.

it is only clear to haters

 

[RetiredUSN]

Why? Because he was a white Southerner born in 1908 who used the "N-word"? Do you realize how common it was in the Jim Crow South to use that word when describing blacks during the time he was growing up? He also was a politician who had the reality of dealing with other politicians who weren't, shall we say, particularly fond of black people. Regardless of whatever his true feelings were concerning blacks, he signed into law two landmark pieces of legislation on race: the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. And if he was, in fact, a racist he also had the good sense to keep his mouth shut in public.

He was a serious freaking racist...period.

And those were not HIS acts.

 

[haymarket]

everything i have heard Obama say so far is spot on.

 

[ocean515]

I agree. Shut up already. IMO, had President Obama wanted to uplift blacks in our country, he would have tackled the cultural divide that so plainly exists. He could have hammered home the importance of edication. Looked at reforming education to give young black men the promise of worthwhile jobs. Discouraged the scourge of fatherless homes.

While I admire Michelle Obama's interest in nutrition, she could have done so much more.

President Obama gave blacks in this country victim status. That is sooo unfortunate. I know it was by design. Much of what's happened to blacks in this country has been so. I just dont understand why.

And, he, along with members of his party, would have been more aggressive in attacking the illegal alien problem, rather than encouraging and rewarding those who accepted their invitation.

If one is truly interested, look at what is happening in Black Communities around the country. Consider the economic harm illegal immigration has inflicted on them. Compton, one of the first Black run cities in California is now 65% Hispanic. Other communities in Southern California show the same result. Cities across the country are under the same pressure.

While paying lip service to Blacks with never ending platitudes, and expecting total subservience, Democrats have opened the flood gates to the next group they hope to exploit.

If Blacks can't get past the rhetoric that has caused them to reject the Republican party, I understand, but they should find something other than the Democratic Party to support, as the outrageous way they are being treated by it should negate any further support.

 

[Patrickt]

it is only clear to haters

I'm glad it was clear to you. It's a shame how liberals hate. I'll never forget presidential hopeful Gov. Howard Dean and "I hate Republicans and everything they stand for," and then there was Gov. Cuomo, "Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that's who they are and they're the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that's not who New Yorkers are."
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...rnor-cuomo-conservatives-not-welcome-new-york
I hate Republicans and everything they stand for. - Howard Dean at BrainyQuote

The haters are pitiful, aren't they? I feel sorry for them. Fortunately, I don't hate anyone but I will resist those who wish to destroy America because of their hatred.

 

[katzgar]

I'm glad it was clear to you. It's a shame how liberals hate. I'll never forget presidential hopeful Gov. Howard Dean and "I hate Republicans and everything they stand for," and then there was Gov. Cuomo, "Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that's who they are and they're the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that's not who New Yorkers are."
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...rnor-cuomo-conservatives-not-welcome-new-york
I hate Republicans and everything they stand for. - Howard Dean at BrainyQuote

The haters are pitiful, aren't they? I feel sorry for them. Fortunately, I don't hate anyone but I will resist those who wish to destroy America because of their hatred.

any attempt to stay on topic would be good

 

[Patrickt]

any attempt to stay on topic would be good

Let's see. This snarky comment was from the guy who said, "it's clear to haters." And me discussing the haters was called off-topic. LibWorld is so funny...and hateful.

 

[eohrnberger]

I agree. Shut up already. IMO, had President Obama wanted to uplift blacks in our country, he would have tackled the cultural divide that so plainly exists. He could have hammered home the importance of edication. Looked at reforming education to give young black men the promise of worthwhile jobs. Discouraged the scourge of fatherless homes.

While I admire Michelle Obama's interest in nutrition, she could have done so much more.

President Obama gave blacks in this country victim status. That is sooo unfortunate. I know it was by design. Much of what's happened to blacks in this country has been so. I just dont understand why.

Agreed.

Further Obama could have said something to include respect for authority, the police won't harm you unless you threaten them or make make threatening action, and if you feel discriminated against in a police encounter, please call this 1-800 number hot line and report it, and we'll look into it.

 

[katzgar]

Let's see. This snarky comment was from the guy who said, "it's clear to haters." And me discussing the haters was called off-topic. LibWorld is so funny...and hateful.

classic right wing personal attack

 

[katzgar]

Agreed.

Further Obama could have said something to include respect for authority, the police won't harm you unless you threaten them or make make threatening action, and if you feel discriminated against in a police encounter, please call this 1-800 number hot line and report it, and we'll look into it.

the problem is what you say just isnt true.

 

[Ahlevah]

this thread is a bunch of whites not wanting to be honest about racism.

This country is full of liars who don't want an honest discussion of officer-involved fatal encounters. For example, the death of this woman is held up as an example of racist cops:

Kansas City, MO: Chandra, 48, was killed by Kansas City, MO police, who crashed their patrol car into the driver's side of her Pontiac Grand Am.

Police killed more than 100 unarmed black people in 2015 — Mapping Police Violence

But then you go to their link and you read this:

Police said two officers were driving south on Paseo in a marked patrol car when a woman driving a Pontiac Grand Am east on 83rd Street pulled in front of them.

The officers attempted to avoid the vehicle, however they struck the Grand Am on the driver's side.

Woman killed in collision involving police car | Local News - KMBC Home

In another incident, a suspect allegedly involved in a crime spree with five other individuals, which included carjacking, armed robbery, and multiple shootings, is held up as a "victim." He was killed when he was struck by a police vehicle after exiting a stolen Jaguar sedan (Carjacking leads to death of suspect, police standoff in Newark, officials say | NJ.com).

I mean, WTF?

 

[Painter]

Obama's words are definitely helpful, but they will also aggravate both whites and blacks alike who are unaware of their own racism or who do not actually "listen" to the words he is speaking.
Yes, there have been some words spoken that were simply in error, wrong, and unhelpful, 2009 for example.
The vast majority of what Obama has said regarding this topic is "spot on".

In order for these topics to be fixed, they must first be addressed.
In order to address these issues, we first must admit they even exist.
So yes, Obama is most definitely helpful in the larger picture.

However, It is clear that Obama's words can also further aggravate people who are already compromised with hatred, fear, or racism.
Some blacks become angered because the problem becomes more visible and more "in their face".
Some whites become angered because they do not want to admit the problem is there.
Other whites become angered because their sheltered lives have led them to believe that the problem really isn't there at all.

These same blacks will interpret it as a rallying cry.
These same whites will view Obama as causing racial strife as opposed to trying to eliminate it.

In the big picture, the truth is that Obama's words are exactly what is required if we are ever to move forward into better days. The problem has to be exposed in order to be discussed and corrected.

BTW, I read a lot of propaganda and hate speech that fingers Obama as black man who hates white people.
I hope you people realize that Obama is much more white than black. He is a 50% white man who was completely raised by his white family. To me that makes him white.
In any event, it puts him in a pretty good place to speak about this sort of thing.

 

[katzgar]

This country is full of liars who don't want an honest discussion of officer-involved fatal encounters. For example, the death of this woman is held up as an example of racist cops:



But then you go to their link and you read this:



In another incident, a suspect allegedly involved in a crime spree with five other individuals, which included carjacking, armed robbery, and multiple shootings, is held up as a "victim." He was killed when he was struck by a police vehicle after exiting a stolen Jaguar sedan (Carjacking leads to death of suspect, police standoff in Newark, officials say | NJ.com).

I mean, WTF?

those sorts of lies will happen but really you just made my point with your obfuscatiuon