Obama Drops the N Word in Recent Interview on Racism
By Associated Press. President Obama said the United States has not overcome its history of racism and is using the N-word to make his case.
In an interview, Obama weighed in on the debate over race and guns that has erupted after the arrest of a white man for the racially motivated shooting deaths of nine black church members in Charleston, South Carolina.
“Racism, we are not cured of it,” Obama said. “And it’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say nigger in public. That’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don’t, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.”
Obama’s remarks came during an interview out Monday with comedian Marc Maron for his popular podcast, where crude language is often part of the discussion.
The president said while attitudes about race have improved significantly since he was born to a white mother and black father, the legacy of slavery “casts a long shadow and that’s still part of our DNA that’s passed on.” (Read more from “Obama Drops the N Word in Recent Interview on Racism” HERE)
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President Obama Doesn’t Regret Using the N-Word
By Jordyn Phelps. President Obama did not plan to use the n-word in his interview with comedian Marc Maron, but he doesn’t regret the word choice either.
“As is as evident from the conversation, it was a free-flowing conversation,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl at Monday’s press briefing. “It was pretty wide-ranging, and there was no decision made on the part of anybody here at the White House that we are going to capitalize on this audio interview from somebody’s garage in California, that this would be an opportune time for him to get this particular point off his chest.”
Although the president’s word choice was unconventional in the interview on Maron’s “WTF” podcast, Earnest said, the point he was making was “entirely consistent” with a message he has made numerous times on race relations — that although much progress has been made in recent decades, “we’re not cured” of the “legacy of slavery” and Jim Crow.
“It’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say n***** in public,” the president told Maron. “That’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don’t, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.”
While the president said the history of slavery still “casts a long shadow” on American society, he also reflected on the progress that’s been made. (Read more from this story HERE)
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