Post Racial President?

[stashbin]

"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world."

I can't believe none of the christians here haven't heard, for that matter sang this song as a child. It is standard in every church I have ever attended for the preschoolers first song to the congregation.

Isn't it possible the preacher was just using the theme of this childrens song, only changing it to his own rhyme?

Much ado.

It is possible. But I think that people are tense right now. I really don't think people know how to act or what to say...what's appropriate, what's offensive. I work in a school and the kids are tense. Racial tension is high...it seems like everyone is waiting for someone to say the wrong thing so they can pounce. At least that's how it feels around here.
Sad as it is, it may be this way for a little while. At least until the media calms down with all the First AA president talk and the new President can get down to the business of running this country!

 

[islandmum]

I dont know how I feel about that benediction speech being appropriate in that forum at all .... but what I do know from being here amongst a black population is that they CHEERED it .... so maybe its the non-black population who found it offensive and want to move on and forget about all that, and yet the black population still totally identifies with it is a huge part of their very recent history - many of whom lived during those times.

Would be interesting to see on the board how many of the people who found it offensive are white and how many are black.

Its a period of history the American white population is accutely embarrased of as whilst being the most advanced nation on earth the country also supported and enforced appartheid, generations after all the other major societies deemed it illegal and immoral. For the black American this is the point where their America was born - only a very short 40 years ago so its still highly influential to them.

 

[bicker]

Truly, I think there are things that a member of a racial group can say in reference to his/her own racial identity that members of other races cannot, and perhaps that's part of the issue.

I don't think that offense is something that is subject to a vote. Rather, if any significant number of people find characterizations in reference to them to be offensive, then it is offensive.

 

[WhereOWhere]

Funny how the facts were twisted right from the beginning in this thread.

 

[Buckalew11]

[QUOTE="Got Disney";29793641]I started laughing when I heard it and noticed Pres Obamas face....I thought to myself...WHAT did he just say It had the rhythm of what a hippie would have said....maybe not the words but the rhythm.

I did not find his words offensive as in that he was being racist like REV Wright did...not even close but I think he could have used different words to get his point across. He is an older black man that has lived much of his life dealing with inequality. I found him to be a very proud man of what was about to happen....the first black POTUS.

I got the feeling from what he said, that he is hoping that all in the world can live as one...not as of different colors.

That is what I took from it. Nothing more nothing less.[/QUOTE]

You know, you are right. He is an older black gentleman who has lived during in a time which I have not. A man can't know what it is like to be a woman in this world and a white cannot understand what it is to be black--esp. in days of old. Heck, I see those pics of water fountains for "colored" people and I am like yet, as a child, I remember blacks being called colored (among other words, some better than others).

But, my point is, I am not coming from where that man has been. I cannot understand his life. When my nana was in the transitional care unit at the hospital for some long term care after hip replacement surgery, she had an African-American girl who worked there and took care of her. Nana would say, "Where's that little n____ girl?" YIKES! and she had no idea how LOUD she even said it! I'd go around the corner to talk to the girl and apologize and she would say, "It is OK. She is from a different generation. I allow older people to say those kinds of words to me. Now, if it were you, it'd be different. ."

That kind girl was very kind to my nana even though. She was forgiving and let it go. Sometimes you just need to do that and you have reminded me of just that today. Thanks!!

 

[Buckalew11]

The issue isn't just about the reference to color; that frankly isn't that significant. The issue is the line "white will embrace right".

That was what got me. But, I've worked it all out in my own head in my above post. I'm moving forward.

 

[JMD]

Funny how the facts were twisted right from the beginning in this thread.

Hmmm......

Joined Dis on 1/20/09, and already jumping all over the political threads? Interesting....

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

You know, you are right. He is an older black gentleman who has lived during in a time which I have not. A man can't know what it is like to be a woman in this world and a white cannot understand what it is to be black--esp. in days of old. Heck, I see those pics of water fountains for "colored" people and I am like yet, as a child, I remember blacks being called colored (among other words, some better than others).

But, my point is, I am not coming from where that man has been. I cannot understand his life. When my nana was in the transitional care unit at the hospital for some long term care after hip replacement surgery, she had an African-American girl who worked there and took care of her. Nana would say, "Where's that little n____ girl?" YIKES! and she had no idea how LOUD she even said it! I'd go around the corner to talk to the girl and apologize and she would say, "It is OK. She is from a different generation. I allow older people to say those kinds of words to me. Now, if it were you, it'd be different. ."

That kind girl was very kind to my nana even though. She was forgiving and let it go. Sometimes you just need to do that and you have reminded me of just that today. Thanks!!

For the second time today I applaud a great post of yours!

A little understanding and forgiveness can go a long way in this world. Not everyone is so perfectly PC as those here on the DIS and very often in life, odd things are said without intending malice.

 

[bicker]

So what's Rev. Warren's excuse?

 

[Mikelly1221]

Indeed, yet there is no way, and no reason, to prohibit those of African American descent from reveling in the fact that someone they consider one of their own has achieved high office. Just because someone is a member of a racial minority doesn't mean that that they will necessarily hear, understand, internalize, acknowledge, agree, ratify, and agree to abide by President Obama's perspectives. President Obama surely will be working to project the message to all Americans that they should move beyond these issues, but it is unreasonable to expect that he will need only to move Caucasians to that post-racial perspective -- he'll also need to move folks like Rev. Lowrey to the post-racial perspective as well. President Obama is there (mostly). Many folks, like myself, are there (mostly). But clearly many people, of all colors and persuasions, are not there, yet.

Wow, Bicker, it is a new day. I agree with you!

It wasn't the colors themselves that offended me, it was the connotations that were ascribed to them. I came along after segregation was over-I know nothing but integrated schools, public places, etc. While I don't want to gloss over the struggle, it seems to me that the days we live in now are the days that the civil rights movement was fighting for, esp. today with Obama's inauguration. These are the days to be savored, to be perfected. Living in the past with the old inflamatory rhetoric will only continue the divide, because there are multiple generations now that are saying, "What in the world are you talking about?"

It's not perfect, and there are idiots on both sides, but I'm confident things can continue to improve.

 

[Goofyluver]

So what's Rev. Warren's excuse?

Word.

 

[polineedyan]

If it is indeed an old saying, who coined it? What does the part of Obama's heritage thats not 'right' think of it? Its a shame that despite the President's very obvious attempts to stay in the middle, that others simply wont allow it.

 

[clgwli]

Mixed race here. I had no issues with it and it made me smile.

 

[Buckalew11]

Wow, Bicker, it is a new day. I agree with you!

It wasn't the colors themselves that offended me, it was the connotations that were ascribed to them. I came along after segregation was over-I know nothing but integrated schools, public places, etc. While I don't want to gloss over the struggle, it seems to me that the days we live in now are the days that the civil rights movement was fighting for, esp. today with Obama's inauguration. These are the days to be savored, to be perfected. Living in the past with the old inflamatory rhetoric will only continue the divide, because there are multiple generations now that are saying, "What in the world are you talking about?"

It's not perfect, and there are idiots on both sides, but I'm confident things can continue to improve.

I wouldn't call him an idiot though. He's a old guy who lived through things we didn't. He should probably work on that bitterness esp. considering he is a minister and while he does that, I'll work on my own stuff too.

Thanks, Pirate Pete. Sometimes it feels good to coming to an understanding or at least try. These boards aren't for that though. A thread can have 9 positive posts and 1 negative one and we pounce on and rehash the negative. I just got back from 10 days in WDW. I'm just FULL of pixie dust!!

 

[Barbossa]

"When brown can stick around. When black doesn't have to go to the back. When yellow can be mellow. When the red man can get ahead man. When white embraces right".

I thought Obama was the post racial candidate?

There's a new Sheriff in town, get used to it.

 

[Mikelly1221]

I wouldn't call him an idiot though. He's a old guy who lived through things we didn't. He should probably work on that bitterness esp. considering he is a minister and while he does that, I'll work on my own stuff too.

Thanks, Pirate Pete. Sometimes it feels good to coming to an understanding or at least try. These boards aren't for that though. A thread can have 9 positive posts and 1 negative one and we pounce on and rehash the negative. I just got back from 10 days in WDW. I'm just FULL of pixie dust!!

Oops, I wasn't calling him an idiot! I'm sorry if it came out that way. Let me rephrase: there are racists on both sides, but I know we can continue to improve.

Thanks for pointing that out to me!

 

[Cindy F]

Y'all do realize he's in his late 80s right? No one has ever heard an old person try to be relevant and funny and have it fall flat?

He was born in 1921 and I'm sure he has been through and seen things none of us can imagine in our wildest nightmares. Probably even worse than not getting a coveted reservation at Disney World.

I find it odd that people are (generally speaking) very sensitive and skittish regarding Muslims and people of Middle Eastern descent and (again, generally speaking) have little to no problem with racial profiling if "it keeps the nation safe" in a post 9/11 world BUT...

No one can comprehend how a man in his late 80s whose experiences with white people have been generally negative...would have some reservations about that group as a whole.

As far as it being inappropriate....I don't know..has "white embraced right"? Really? Do all Americans have the same rights?

 

[polineedyan]

I dont know..are all white americans decendants of slave owners and other racist whites? My Italian grandfather and German grandmother chose this country because of the freedoms it gives, not because it was segregated..

 

[gottaluvPluto]

I dont know how I feel about that benediction speech being appropriate in that forum at all .... but what I do know from being here amongst a black population is that they CHEERED it .... so maybe its the non-black population who found it offensive and want to move on and forget about all that, and yet the black population still totally identifies with it is a huge part of their very recent history - many of whom lived during those times.

Would be interesting to see on the board how many of the people who found it offensive are white and how many are black.

Its a period of history the American white population is accutely embarrased of as whilst being the most advanced nation on earth the country also supported and enforced appartheid, generations after all the other major societies deemed it illegal and immoral. For the black American this is the point where their America was born - only a very short 40 years ago so its still highly influential to them.

I found it offensive and I'm multi-racial.

 

[Cindy F]

I dont know..are all white americans decendants of slave owners and other racist whites? My Italian grandfather and German grandmother chose this country because of the freedoms it gives, not because it was segregated..

Regardless...are ALL Americans afforded the same rights?
Yes or No? Caucasion is the majority, majority rules (generally speaking) so the answer to the above question reflects on the majority race.

So there again whether "white has embraced right" depends on whether ALL Americans are afforded the same rights. That's my point.