Thought for the night

[RunInRed 16,489]

Has any one else realized that without an Obama candidacy, we would not be having these kind of spirited discussions about race in this country?

I would imagine, conversations are ongoing in communities, on message boards, and throught the public square across the country.

As we work through a race issue that we "really have not worked our way through yet" ... as we continue to work to perfect our union...may we all thank those lucky stars and stripes that we live in a country where this is all possible.

And may G_d continue to always bless Barack Obama and give him the courage, strength, and desire to keep up the fight.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Has any one else realized that without an Obama candidacy, we would not be having these kind of spirited discussions about race in this country?

I would imagine, conversations are ongoing in communities, on message boards, and throught the public square across the country.

As we work through a race issue that we "really have not worked our way through yet" ... as we continue to work to perfect our union...may we all thank those lucky stars and stripes that we live in a country where this is all possible.

And may G_d continue to always bless Barack Obama and give him the courage, strength, and desire to keep up the fight.

Vomit. You and Barack both sell short the American people. As if nobody EVER had a thought about race relations in America before Obama came along.

To assume so little of Americans is an insult to Americans as a whole.

[tgr4lfe 220]

If he wasn't in the race then it would all be about men vs. women. I guess then you would become a feminist?

The only race issue is the one that the african american culture hangs on to from years ago. Yes, there are probably some white people that discriminate, but there are just as many african americans that discriminate. Let's not be so naive to say that a race issue is still only slanted toward the black person. Contrary to that, I think more is slanted against a white male than ever before b/c of the minority tags hung on government jobs and other high profile jobs. Maybe not necessarily slanting toward toward just race, but also sex.

As a police officer, myself and the white officers got called more racial slurs by the african american population than the african american officers by the white population.

[tgr4lfe 220]

And may G_d continue to always bless Barack Obama and give him the courage, strength, and desire to keep up the fightpolitical smokescreen.

fixed that for ya...

it's all about locking in that african american vote

[RunInRed 16,489]

Has any one else realized that without an Obama candidacy, we would not be having these kind of spirited discussions about race in this country?

I would imagine, conversations are ongoing in communities, on message boards, and throught the public square across the country.

As we work through a race issue that we "really have not worked our way through yet" ... as we continue to work to perfect our union...may we all thank those lucky stars and stripes that we live in a country where this is all possible.

And may G_d continue to always bless Barack Obama and give him the courage, strength, and desire to keep up the fight.

Vomit. You and Barack both sell short the American people. As if nobody EVER had a thought about race relations in America before Obama came along.

To assume so little of Americans is an insult to Americans as a whole.

You are wrong saying any one is selling America short...That is not what I think or what Obama has said:

"The profound mistake of Reverend Wright's sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It's that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country - a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen - is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow."

BUT...THERE IS STILL MORE WORK TO DO:

In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience - as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.

Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze - a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns - this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.

.......

In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds - by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.

In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand - that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.

[AURaptor 1,126]

Anyone else find it odd that Barack won't wear a tiny little flag pin on his coat, but he'll practically drape himself in the flag as he places 8 around him during his 'race' speech?

Does that seem right to you ?

[autiger4life 3]

Anyone else find it odd that Barack won't wear a tiny little flag pin on his coat, but he'll practically drape himself in the flag as he places 8 around him during his 'race' speech?

What seems odd to me is that everyone wears the lapel pin and yet doesn't care about what is good for the country or what the flag stands for.

Does it bother me, no. Because I know it is not an issue with him wearing the flag, it is an issue that he believed people were wearing it as a political thing, not actually to pay respect to what it was. I would much rather someone show respect for the flag and its meaning by their actions then by wearing and pin and doing whatever benefits them.

I guess I just don't think wearing a pin means you are patriotic. Maybe its just me.

[MDM4AU 336]

Technically, the flag shouldn't be worn as apparel anyway.

[Bottomfeeder 244]

Technically, the flag shouldn't be worn as apparel anyway.

I agree, BUT the CFR code calls the lapel pin the a replica and is to be worn on the left lapel by the heart. The flag should not be worn as wearing apparel.

(j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.

(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker’s desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/4/usc_se...08----000-.html

[AURaptor 1,126]

Anyone else find it odd that Barack won't wear a tiny little flag pin on his coat, but he'll practically drape himself in the flag as he places 8 around him during his 'race' speech?

What seems odd to me is that everyone wears the lapel pin and yet doesn't care about what is good for the country or what the flag stands for.

Does it bother me, no. Because I know it is not an issue with him wearing the flag, it is an issue that he believed people were wearing it as a political thing, not actually to pay respect to what it was. I would much rather someone show respect for the flag and its meaning by their actions then by wearing and pin and doing whatever benefits them.

I guess I just don't think wearing a pin means you are patriotic. Maybe its just me.

Funny how you see the same thing as I do, yet draw a completely different conclusion. Because I chose to wear a pin, that some how means I'm NOT showing respect, but when I surround myself w/ the flag in an important, nationally staged event , that equates to you respect FOR the flag ? Generally when folks make the choice to wear something on their body, or their clothes, they're making an affirmative statement, showing everyone else something about themselves w/ out having to say it. ( And wearing a lapel pin isn't disrespecting the flag, it's not the same as wearing the actual flag as a hat, a shirt or other piece of garment. ) Granted, if you're just wearing it to " appear " patriotic, when you really don't feel patriotic, please, don't even bother.

[pensacola tiger 0]

I disagree that Mr. Obama's speech has caused people in the country to talk about race relations. What it has caused people to talk about is Mr. Obama's speech and how wonderful it was and how open minded and how it got the country talking about race. When the country starts talking about race we will hear both sides of the conversation. And people like Mr. Obama will not be able to skate by using terms like "typical white person" while those same typical white people are burned at the stake for making any negative statement about or questioning anything about black people. Case in point...he can say "white" people while I knew when I typed "black people" rather than Africa-American that I would be called on the carpet by someone for being racially insensitive or worse. So until the rules for this debate is the same for all we cannot say that the country is having conversations about race.

And as an aside, what we really need in this country is to stop having hyphenated Americans and just have Americans.

[BamaGrad03 0]

The whole concept of "Americans finally having a discussion about race"...is code for "white people are still racist at heart and need to change"...and as a non-racist white person, I'm offended.

It's not like we are stuck in the 60s...no it's the opposite. A black person in america has MORE opportunity than a white person of the same socio-economic status. But we aren't allowed to have that discussion.

The "discussion" that we are supposed to have puts all the negative, and all the onus on ANY marginally (or better) successful white person. If you're a poor white person, you can be mad too. But if you have any money in the bank, and are pigment challenged...then YOU are the problem.

[AURaptor 1,126]

The whole concept of "Americans finally having a discussion about race"...is code for "white people are still racist at heart and need to change"...and as a non-racist white person, I'm offended.

It's not like we are stuck in the 60s...no it's the opposite. A black person in america has MORE opportunity than a white person of the same socio-economic status. But we aren't allowed to have that discussion.

The "discussion" that we are supposed to have puts all the negative, and all the onus on ANY marginally (or better) successful white person. If you're a poor white person, you can be mad too. But if you have any money in the bank, and are pigment challenged...then YOU are the problem.

Sorry, but Obama thinks that " typical white people " are inherently racists, so unless you're lying, I guess that makes you a-typical. When Ross Perot was invited to the speak before the NAACP, he referred to them as " you people " . You'd have thought he called them all the N word. He was speaking before an organization, and " you people " could have been used in any situation, describing the members of a group which had invited him to speak, whether it was the Boy Scouts or The United Apple Growers of Eastern Washington. And yet when a white guy like Perot utters " you people " in front of a black audience, everyone automatically assumes he was being " racist "

Conversely , when Obama makes a specific claim that whites ( typical whites ) are bred to be racists, that's not suppose to be inflammatory in the least ? Please

[aumd03 2]

I get the impression from runinred that if you do not support affirmative action, then you are racist at heart. People are ethno-centric. We are built and wired that way. For us to try to become one, or one race and not notice differences is absurd.

If you don't think there is a difference in acceptable racism, try saying white racial slurs on here. Hell, I'll do it. Honkie, cracker. Doesn't really get that gut emotional reaction that saying the N word would does it? But if I used a black slur, people would be on me like flys on poo. We have been so entrenched that racism against blacks is so offensive but we don't have the same emotional gut aversion to white racism.

[arnaldoabru 11]

Anyone else find it odd that Barack won't wear a tiny little flag pin on his coat, but he'll practically drape himself in the flag as he places 8 around him during his 'race' speech?

Does that seem right to you ?

Rep. Jack Kingston R (dumbass from my own state) was on MSNBC the other night blasting Obama for not wearing the pin.Abrahms looks up and says to Kingaton 'Where is your pin."The dumbass wasn't wearing one and blasting Obama for it.

'What, you not wearing de ribbon"

Gay guy to Kramer

[tgr4lfe 220]

The whole concept of "Americans finally having a discussion about race"...is code for "white people are still racist at heart and need to change"...and as a non-racist white person, I'm offended.

It's not like we are stuck in the 60s...no it's the opposite. A black person in america has MORE opportunity than a white person of the same socio-economic status. But we aren't allowed to have that discussion.

The "discussion" that we are supposed to have puts all the negative, and all the onus on ANY marginally (or better) successful white person. If you're a poor white person, you can be mad too. But if you have any money in the bank, and are pigment challenged...then YOU are the problem.

BINGO

[CCTAU 3,349]

I get the impression from runinred that if you do not support affirmative action, then you are racist at heart. People are ethno-centric. We are built and wired that way. For us to try to become one, or one race and not notice differences is absurd.

If you don't think there is a difference in acceptable racism, try saying white racial slurs on here. Hell, I'll do it. Honkie, cracker. Doesn't really get that gut emotional reaction that saying the N word would does it? But if I used a black slur, people would be on me like flys on poo. We have been so entrenched that racism against blacks is so offensive but we don't have the same emotional gut aversion to white racism.

We know you don't really mean it. You are just "taking ownership" of those words.

You people disappoint me. I thought I was the resident racist for not cowering in fear to the hyphenateds.

But you guys make me sick with all of your hate. Why can't we all just get along?

If you are white and you are more concerned with the rights of other races than your own....If you are so busy worrying about the other race that you forget none of those other races are worrying about you, then you are in for a rude awakening. I do not see white America standing up and preaching unity against all other races. A few small misguided groups do it, but not the whole of white America. If whites preached and stuck to unity as blacks do, woe be unto any other race in this country. Preaching that "unity" is racist within itself and no one says a word.

And in the end, achmed is black. He will use it to get as much of the black vote possible. And has. What percentage of blacks voted for him? Now take a poll and ask them what he stands for other than he's black. It's been preached since birth. UNITY.