"Obama Blew It".....Michael Meyers assistant national director of the NAACP

[ElsewheresDaughter]

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-meyers20mar20,0,3898931.story

In my considered judgment as a race and civil rights specialist, I would say that Barack Obama's "momentous" speech on race settled on merely "explaining" so-called racial differences between blacks and whites -- and in so doing amplified deep-seated racial tensions and divisions. Instead of giving us a polarizing treatise on the "black experience," Obama should have reiterated the theme that has brought so many to his campaign: That race ain't what it used to be in America.

He should have presented us a pathway out of our racial boxes and a road map for new thinking about race. He should have depicted his minister, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., as a symbol of the dysfunctional angry men who are stuck in the past and who must yield to a new generation of color-blind, hopeful Americans and to a new global economy in which we will look on our neighbors' skin color no differently than how we look on their eye color.

In fact, I'd say that considering the nation's undivided attention to this all-important speech, which gave him an unrivaled opportunity to lift us out of racial and racist thinking, Obama blew it.

I waited in vain for our hybrid presidential candidate to speak the simple truth that there is no such thing as "race," that we all belong to the same race -- the human race. I waited for him to mesmerize us with a singular and focused appeal to hold all candidates to the same standards no matter their race or their sex or their age. But instead Obama gave us a full measure of racial rhetoric about how some of us with an "untrained ear" -- meaning whites and Asians and Latinos -- don't understand and can't relate to the so-called black experience.

Well, I am black, and I can't relate to a "black experience" that shields and explains old-style black ministers who rant and rave about supposed racial differences and about how America ought to be damned. I long ago broke away from all associations and churches that preached the gospel of hate and ethnic divisiveness -- including canceling my membership in 100 Black Men of America Inc., when they refused my motion to admit women and whites. They still don't. I was not going to stay in any group that assigned status or privileges of membership based solely on race or gender.

We and our leaders -- especially our candidates for the highest office in the land -- must repudiate all forms of racial idiocy and sexism, and be judged by whether we still belong to exclusionary or hateful groups. I don't know any church that respects, much less reflects, my personal beliefs in the absolute equality of all people, so I choose not to belong to any of them. And I would never -- as have some presidential candidates -- accept the endorsement of preachers of the gospel according to the most racist and sexist of doctrines.

But someone's race or religion is not mine or anybody else's concern. I couldn't care less that Wright is a Christian or that Louis Farrakhan professes to be a Muslim. I couldn't care less whether the hateful minister who endorsed John McCain is, deep inside, a decent man or a fundamentalist. But I do care about these pastors' divisive and crazed words; I do care that their "sermons" exploit and pander to the worst fears and passions of people based on perceptions and misperceptions about race. I hate that these preachers' sermons prejudge people's motives or behavior based on their race or ethnicity. I hate the haters, and I expected Obama to make a straightforward speech about what has become the Hate Hour -- and the most segregated hour -- in America on Sunday mornings.

I expected Obama, who up to now had been steering a perfect course away from the racial boxes of the past, to challenge racial labels and so-called black experiences. We're all mixed up, and if we haven't yet been by the process of miscegenation, trans-racial adoptions and interracial marriage, we sure ought to get used to how things will be in short order.

That would have been the forward-looking message of a visionary candidate. But Obama erred by looking backward -- as far back as slavery. What does slavery have to do with the price of milk at the grocery store? He referenced continuing segregation, especially segregated public schools, but stopped short. What is he going to do about them? How does he feel about public schools for black boys or single-sex public schools and classes? What does the gospel according to Wright say about such race-based and gender-specific schemes for getting around our civil rights laws?


We can't be united as a nation if we continue to think racially and give credence to racial experiences and differences based on ethnicity, past victim status and stereotypical categories. All of these prejudices surrounding tribe-against-tribe are old-hat and dysfunctional -- especially the rants of ministers, of whatever skin color or religion, who appeal to our base prejudices and to superstitions about our supposed racial differences. The man or woman who talks plainly about our commonality as a race of human beings, about our future as one nation indivisible, rather than about our discredited and disunited past, is, I predict, likely to finish ahead of the pack and do us a great public service.

Michael Meyers is executive director of the New York Civil Rights Coalition and a former assistant national director of the NAACP. These views are his own.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-meyers20mar20,0,3898931.story

[LulaMay]

1. Thank you for posting.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

83. Rome wasn't built in a day in terms of race

America compared to other countries is still in the 'embryonic stage of development' it is undergoing changes and unlike other countries of 'one race cultures' it can adapt if it has the right leaders. In terms of racial tensions of white versus black or latino this is a matter that can be developed over the next decades. People obviously are not patient. Obama is saying to you - this is the just the beginning of something of benefit to everyone in America and the world.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

99. ~*~

staying strong sister

[Bullet1987]

2. One negative review out of many positive ones...

[ElsewheresDaughter]

8. from a very important constituent...this is not the MSM this is from Asst Director of the NAACP

[BklynChick]

23. he's not very well respected in the Black community.

[LostinVA]

26. Link -- because I don't believe that

[DemBones DemBones]

109. Is MILK no longer respected? Because he talked

about a dream that his children would be judged by their character, not by the color of their skin.

That's what this man is saying: judge character, stop focusing on race, leave behind the
old racial stereotypes.

Blacks must do this just as much as whites must if we're ever going to move forward.

We mustn't forget all the people who are neither "white" nor "black," either: Asians, Native Americans, Latinos, Filipinos and other Malaysians, Arabs, etc. Blacks and whites must judge everyone by their character, not their skin color or facial features.

[JoFerret]

113. and wright is?

.

[Justitia]

60. FORMER assistant, he is no longer w/the NAACP. -eom

[karynnj]

69. One of his mentors was Roger Wilkins

who I would guess would disagree - Wilkins, Jesse Jackson and Taylor Branch were on a panel together at the Take Back America. From the discussion, it was very clear that all three were highlyt likely to be for Obama. This was after the speech.

[rzemanfl]

3. "Hybrid?" Why am I reminded of George Jefferson and the word

"Oreo" (trademark thingie)?

[Up2Late]

27. WOW, I think you get the prize for the Most Racist post I've seen today!

You really should get an award for that "Oreo" crack.:banghead: :silly:

[rzemanfl]

30. I am not the person who called Mr. Obama a "hybrid" and I

find the term offensive. What was it that George Jefferson called their mixed race neighbors? Maybe I watched too much TV years ago.

[Up2Late]

36. No, you didn't, but you DID call Michael Meyers an OREO and THAT, is Racist where I come from.

Far more troubling than using the word Hybrid as an adjective to describe Obama's candidacy.

[rzemanfl]

44. We are not communicating. Back on the old '70s TV show

George Jefferson had a black and white married couple as neighbors, I think he called them "Zebras." His son married their daughter, who I could swear he called "an oreo." I was using the term as a synonym for the offensive "hybrid" reference to Obama, not to the writer. If anyone else reads this and has a better memory of the "The Jeffersons" than I do, feel free to chime in here.

I disagree that the term hybrid was a reference to the candidacy and not the man. What about the candidacy would make it a hybrid?

[Toasterlad]

68. I Understood What You Were Saying, RZ, Because I Have Reading Comprehension Skills.

However, I can understand how someone with NO reading comprehension skills could have thought you were calling Michael Myers an Oreo.

[rzemanfl]

86. Well, it probably also helps to have seen "The Jeffersons" a

few times. I am reminded of a paper I had to write for a graduate school history class on the Viet Nam War after reading an assigned article written in the '60s giving a pyschobabble explanation for the war. I had in my paper this line: "This article reads like an explanation of the Viet Nam War by Frazier Crane of 'Cheers.'" The professor, a real ivory tower type, wrote in the margin "Don't know this fellow."

[Up2Late]

95. I was a big fan of both "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons" thank you. But to Hybrid...

...he is using it the same way this USAToday writer was using to describe the 2004 candidate Westley Clark (below) as a hybrid candidate "...who can unite Democratic peaceniks with military veterans...," but instead referring to "moderate Republicans and whoever he's supposed to be uniting with them, you tell me who, because at this point I don't see him and his supporters here uniting anyone.

"...Clark's backers tout him as a hybrid candidate who can unite Democratic peaceniks with military veterans. "This man is a gift," filmmaker Michael Moore said when he introduced Clark at a rally in Pembroke. "He'll be able to take our message to middle America." Clark touts himself as more of an outsider than Dean: He says his only other foray into politics came when he ran, unsuccessfully, for homeroom chairman in elementary school.

The "Draft Clark" movement that sprang up over the spring and summer to get the retired general into the race has left Clark in a stronger position nationally than many of his more politically experienced rivals. He's one of only two candidates (the other is Dean) who managed to field a full set of delegates in Ohio's March 2 primary...."

<http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-01-21-cover-campaign_x.htm>

I guess you had to be a politically active Democrat in 2004 to remember that, huh?:grr:

[rzemanfl]

107. Do you collect old issues of USA Today? In this context

"hybrid candidate" makes sense, especially since Clark was a Republican before he was a Democrat.
I am in awe of your finding this 4 year-old article, when I googled "hybrid candidate" I got this:

Lobbyists Produce Hybrid Candidate

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Kierkegaard ([e-mail]) Saturday, 01-Apr-00 08:34:31 EST:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - With Toyota's recent automobile innovation in mind, lobbyists announced yesterday the introduction of the new Hybrid American Presidential Candidate.

The hybrid candidate will run on a combination of campaign contributions and hot air, lobbyists said.

Like electricity in the Toyota hybrid car, the candidate will never require recharging and will never run out of hot air. The candidate will also feature a brain that smarts enough to determine when money should be used to woo voters and when hot air is sufficient.

Creators of the Hybrid Candidate are reportedly the same people who did Max Headroom in the 1980s. Also working on the project were designers from the movie "Bicentennial Man."

[rzemanfl]

58. I found the "Zebra" reference, but not the "oreo" one:

From Wikipedia:

During the January 11, 1975 episode of All in the Family, Edith Bunker gave a tearful good-bye to her neighbor, Louise Jefferson, as she and her husband, George Jefferson, and their son, Lionel, moved from a working class section of Queens into a luxury apartment in Manhattan, thus launching a spin-off of All in the Family and creating the 11-year run of The Jeffersons. George had long ago begun his career as a dry-cleaner and now was operating seven stores in ghetto sections of New York City. Louise made friends with Tom and Helen Willis, an interracial couple, who George insultingly called "zebras". Tom and Helen Willis had two children: Allan Willis, their overzealous college drop-out who abandoned the family, passed as a full-blood Caucasian and lived in Paris for two years, and Jenny, their beloved, hard-working, fashion designing, daughter, who dated Lionel. Jenny and Lionel were married on Christmas Eve, 1976, but then divorced in the winter of 1985, due to marriage problems and disagreements regarding their daughter, Jessica (Ebonie Smith).

[JuniperLea]

89. Read and learn

Merriam-Webster
hybrid
4 entries found.

hybrid
hybrid
computer hybrid
tea rose hybrid
vigor



Main Entry: hy·brid
Pronunciation: \ˈhī-brəd\
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin hybrida
Date: 1601
1: an offspring of two animals or plants of different races, breeds, varieties, species, or genera
2: a person whose background is a blend of two diverse cultures or traditions
3 a: something heterogeneous in origin or composition : composite <hybrids of complementary DNA and RNA strands> <a hybrid of medieval and Renaissance styles> b: something (as a power plant, vehicle, or electronic circuit) that has two different types of components performing essentially the same function



2: a person whose background is a blend of two diverse cultures or traditions



2: a person whose background is a blend of two diverse cultures or traditions




2: a person whose background is a blend of two diverse cultures or traditions




I guess some people here need to take it up with Merriam Webster.

[JuniperLea]

91. You should learn more about the English language... he was right.. you aren't

Merriam-Webster
hybrid
4 entries found.

hybrid
hybrid
computer hybrid
tea rose hybrid
vigor



Main Entry: hy·brid
Pronunciation: \ˈhī-brəd\
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin hybrida
Date: 1601
1: an offspring of two animals or plants of different races, breeds, varieties, species, or genera
2: a person whose background is a blend of two diverse cultures or traditions
3 a: something heterogeneous in origin or composition : composite <hybrids of complementary DNA and RNA strands> <a hybrid of medieval and Renaissance styles> b: something (as a power plant, vehicle, or electronic circuit) that has two different types of components performing essentially the same function



2: a person whose background is a blend of two diverse cultures or traditions



2: a person whose background is a blend of two diverse cultures or traditions




2: a person whose background is a blend of two diverse cultures or traditions




I guess some people here need to take it up with Merriam Webster.

[Texas Hill Country]

4. OH DAAAAAAMMMMMNNNNNNNN - not good.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

87. I would say so

[Bonobo]

5. More from Michael Meyers: "Nooses are No Big Deal"

http://mirroronamerica.blogspot.com/2007/10/michael-meyers-says-nooses-are-no-big.html
In a recent NPR interview Meyers says that Black folks should just let it go... that the recent rash of nooses is no big deal. According to Meyers, they could all be a practical joke for all we know. He also makes similar comments in a recent editorial.

No... I am not making this up. The head of a New York Civil Rights group (New York Civil Rights Coalition), says that the nooses are just a joke.

He seems to believe that these noose incidents are taking place in a vacuum... with no historical connection or no historical context attached. He seems to ignore Americas history of lynchings. He talks as if the hanging of nooses has no more meaning than random vandalism, such as a TP'd door or tree. It's just a practical joke as far as he's concerned.

He even had the nerve to say "We don't know why people are doing this" (referring to the hanging of a nooses).

Meyers is clearly either losing his mind, or he is having a serious bout of denial.
Now I am not one of these folks who is hysterical about this. I don't believe that the sky is falling. However, I am astute enough to recognize that there is a problem with race relations in this Country and that the noose incidents are- in many cases- a manifestation and representation of deep-seeded racial animosity and intolerance. And I recognize that more needs to be done in terms of improving relations, providing an education and a context to younger generations about lynchings & the significance of these symbols, and making sure that laws are changed and enforced so that those responsible for these kinds of incidents can be dealt with. Yet Michael Meyers, the leader of a Civil Rights organization, can't recognize this? He doesn't recognize that the hanging of a noose amounts to a threat.... and amounts to a hate crime (based on certain facts and the context of the specific incident)? He doesn't recognize that a noose is used as a symbol of terror, designed to intimidate and frighten? His comments were unbelievable. (Link to audio interview provided above).

[roguevalley]

6. thank you, bonobo

[Bonobo]

80. I knew it didn't sound right. So I googled. No big deal, but thanks for saying thanks.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. FORMER assistant director.

:rofl:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

9. and that diminishes him how?...is that like a laugh at say..."former" President?

please tell me?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

How?

Pretty much the same way your comments about black people yesterday diminishes you.

[Zhade]

39. Oh, PWNED!

:P

[Eric J in MN]

18. He apparently left to join an organization with a different view on civil rights.

You can agree or disagree with it, but it's not the NAACP's perspective.

[Texas Hill Country]

22. they thought enough of him to make him the #2 guy...

[Window]

11. Jealous Michael Meyers can eat shit and die.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

90. Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.

[comrade snarky]

29. Well...

That's it for taking him seriously. What an ass hat.

I grew up in the south and there is a clear and well understood meaning to a noose, and it's not pretty.

[Zhade]

37. Holy fuck. That's reprehensible!

NT!

[redqueen]

40. Well isn't that special.

:wow:

WTF is up with this guy?

[Zhade]

43. He doesn't like Obama, so he's okay by some clintbots - disgusting remarks be damned!

NT!

[redqueen]

53. I can't get my head around it... wtf did he expect them to do?

Ignore the threats behind those stunts?

Seriously... :wtf:

[Leopolds Ghost]

72. These people are neoliberal snakes intended to discredit liberalism in general

And relate self-hatred in the black community (especially the upper middle
class, conservative black opinion leaders) to the more general self-hatred
among would-be liberals at large. It's ok for "angry old men" to be
shunned, thay are saying. They are economically obsolete.

Now Hillary has the gall to pander to the folks her ilk despise most --
angry, old, working class white men and women -- by attacking people
JUST LIKE THEM -- the Wrights of the world -- who happen to be black.

Dis. Gust. ing.

[Teaser]

10. Why should I care what some cheap horror movie villain has to say?

.

[2rth2pwr]

12. I wonder if he has any thoughts about Obama'a "typical white people."

[Ron Green]

13. Jesus Christ. Before we all belong to the "human race" together, we've first

got to talk about race in an honest way. And that's exactly what Obama has started to do; the first candidate for the highest office to do so, or even to have the credentials to do so.

[madfloridian]

14. Then Mr. Myers should vote for Hillary...endorse her. Stand with her.

.

[Barack_America]

15. Wow. Obama's speech went right over this guy's head.

And by the way, he is the FORMER assistant national director of the NAACP.

He laments:

"He should have presented us a pathway out of our racial boxes and a road map for new thinking about race."

Seems that this guy missed the entire portion of the speech where Obama addressed that the racial tension many groups feel towards one another is really the result of failed Republican economic policies and NOT due to race at all.

-and-

"He should have depicted his minister, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., as a symbol of the dysfunctional angry men who are stuck in the past and who must yield to a new generation of color-blind, hopeful Americans..."

Yeah, that was actually in there too. Remember that whole bit about Rev. Wright making the mistake of thinking that our country was "static" and without progress?


Sounds like this guy didn't make it through the full 37 minutes.

[Drachasor]

98. Failed policies in general

Affirmative Action was something he named -- and I agree here. Affirmative Action is a top-down solution to a bottom-up problem. We should fix the schools, inner cities, and other unequal opportunities in America as best we can -- focus on the causes to cure the symptoms. That said, the Republicans deserve a larger share of the blame (they haven't wanted to do much to address the problems in any way at all).

I agree fully with your other points though.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

106. "Looks like this guy didn't make it through the 37 min." and you know this how?

[WDIM]

16. I loved you in waynes world!

but Austin Powers did you really have to do a third one?

[DerekJ]

17. Dear NAACP executive director,

Obama has done in one speech, what you have failed to do in your entire career.
Jealous much?
Don’t worry he is not after your career.
:rofl:

[LostinVA]

24. Please do not mock the NAACP and its staff, past and present

Seriously, do you realize how you just diminished him and everything he's done and worked for? Disagree with him all you want, but disagree, don't "throw him under the bus."

And, I doubt he's jealous. He's a successful man.

[Zhade]

47. Anyone who says "nooses are no big deal" deserves nothing but scorn.

Seriously. That's disgusting.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

52. racist

[Bonobo]

54. That sobriquet belongs to you, my filth-spewing daughter.

[Leopolds Ghost]

81. You know a racist when they toss around the accusation as as sarcastic joke.

Or use the phrase "I don't care if he's green!"

[Up2Late]

19. You need to edit this down to 4 paragraphs before it gets locked for posting too much of it...

..., you don't want to give them that excuse to lock it and nobody here is going to read past the headline anyway. I posted this in "Editorials and Other Articles" a few hours ago and if 5% of those who responded read it, I'd be surprised. Other than that, I agree. You are very brave to post it here, good luck and have fun with all the Haters here.

[Hoof Hearted]

20. Wondering how far downthread I will find the first post throwing Meyers under the bus.

It is getting CROWDED under there.

[FrenchieCat]

25. Are all Black people alike to you? Cause I can make a list of the ones that

as a Black person, I throw under the bus.

Do you have a good reason why I can't.......:shrug:

[Hoof Hearted]

96. What the hell does that have to do with the growing crowd under Obama's bus?

Touchy kitty.

I don't care what color you are, if you do not kiss O's ring, you go under the bus.

[Major Hogwash]

42. Did Meyers get the license plate of the bus that drove over him?

Or did he jump under the wheels his own damned self?

[rodeodance]

115. very crowded

[FrenchieCat]

21. Brother hatin'

Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us -- the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes.....The pundits, the pundits like to slice-and-dice Videotapes, people, ideals, the constitution, and anything else that gets in their corporate master's way --That's how we went to war with a country that did nothing to us

[Little Star]

28. Michael Meyers sounds like a very deep and honest thinking person.

[Zhade]

50. "Nooses are no big deal" - still sound deep and honest?

NT!

[grantcart]

31. What in the hell does he mean 'hybrid'

I waited in vain for our hybrid presidential candidate

[Bonobo]

32. "Hybrid" eh? This guy would have agreed with Mengele, probably.

[krkaufman]

101. Oh the irony.... "our hybrid presidential candidate"

I waited in vain for our hybrid presidential candidate to speak the simple truth that there is no such thing as "race," that we all belong to the same race -- the human race.

Ummm... if there is no such thing as "race," then what exactly is Obama a hybrid of?

This guy doesn't seem too swift.

[Kashka-Kat]

33. Well gosh - "race aint what it used to be" is exactly what I got out of Obama's speech

What he wishes Obama had said, I heard in the speech. How do you explain that??

Perhaps he could have done it more emphatically, I dunno! He did make quite clearly the point that Wrights comments came out of experiences of the past generation. But tempered with some understanding and compassion about how it could be that some black men of that generation could be left with unmitigated rage.

[Barack_America]

35. Either he didn't listen to Obama's speech -or- He has an agenda

-or- Both.

Given his use of the offensive term "hybrid", I'm leaning towards 'agenda' and 'both'.

[redqueen]

45. Given his 'ah that's nothin, let it go!' attitude about nooses...

I'd say he's got an agenda, all right.

[Eric J in MN]

34. This essay is bogus.

The author refers to the...

"black experience" that shields and explains old-style black ministers who rant and rave about supposed racial differences...

Firstly, the only difference between the races discussed by Rev. Wright is that blacks are subject to particular racial prejudices.

Secondly, how is Rev. Wright shielded?

A few controversial things he said have been played a zillion times on TV to make him and Obama look bad, while the thousands of other things he's said in sermons are ignored by TV producers.

Rev. Wright has been criticized by many and defended by few.

[kikiek]

38. I see people are choosing to miss the message he sends. His message is clear to me though.

Well, I am black, and I can't relate to a "black experience" that shields and explains old-style black ministers who rant and rave about supposed racial differences and about how America ought to be damned. I long ago broke away from all associations and churches that preached the gospel of hate and ethnic divisiveness -- including canceling my membership in 100 Black Men of America Inc., when they refused my motion to admit women and whites. They still don't. I was not going to stay in any group that assigned status or privileges of membership based solely on race or gender.
We and our leaders -- especially our candidates for the highest office in the land -- must repudiate all forms of racial idiocy and sexism, and be judged by whether we still belong to exclusionary or hateful groups. I don't know any church that respects, much less reflects, my personal beliefs in the absolute equality of all people, so I choose not to belong to any of them. And I would never -- as have some presidential candidates -- accept the endorsement of preachers of the gospel according to the most racist and sexist of doctrines.
Same link as in op http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-meyers20mar20,0,3898931.story

Obama needed to clear up more than he did.

[DURHAM D]

61. Yep - I was disappointed when Obama didn't talk about the way forward.

Obama explained/embraced the old problems and then remained stuck there with them in the last century. Obama's speech was five minutes too short. Bill Clinton's comments and speeches could have been consulted for help in how to move forward and discuss solutions.

[rodeodance]

64. he was too busy 'spaining' himself.

[kikiek]

67. And the slams against Meyer are so unwarranted. His thought is how to end race issues

once and for all and move on. They will make a demon out of anyone. http://www.nycivilrights.org/about/director.jsp
He has spent his entire professional career working in the fields of civil rights, civil liberties, law and education, and urban affairs, and, as such, is regarded as an expert on civil rights matters and race relations. Born in Harlem, Michael Meyers knows first-hand the ghetto experience which, as he puts it, "contributes to the defeat of the human spirit; the only way to end the ghetto is to get out of it."
Funny that everyone has their own opinion, but if it isn't with the crowd now you're gonna be trashed no matter who you are or what you've done.

[Bonobo]

71. The problem is that you think his credentials are that he is black.

That's wrong. Sad that you don't yet understand that at this point in your life. Perhaps as you grow...

[DURHAM D]

85. Sad -

An awful lot of Obama supporters (non-AAs) throw shit around without really thinking about it. I have come to the conclusion that most of them have never ever had any sort of discussion or thought about race issues before this election cycle. Discussion about race is a complex and sometimes difficult subject but the dialog needs to happen and it needs to happen by listening to each other instead of yelling. I am afraid that Obama is not the right person to lead the discussion. Peace.

[Zhade]

41. How does it feel to promote a guy who says "nooses are no big deal"?

Recommended to show just how low some clintbots will go.

[Joe the Revelator]

46. We're sourcing Michael "Lynch 'em All" Meyers?

Sorry, I'll pass.

[Tatiana]

48. Forget about what FORMER asst. national dir. Michael "Nooses Are No Big Deal" Meyers has to say.

Let's hear from Uncle (Clarence) Tom.

[Life Long Dem]

49. Obama blew it?

Hmmm... because Obama should have said "...race ain't what it used to be in America."

So now that makes McCain a better choice now. Go figure.

[Bonobo]

51. This OP shows perfectly how some Clinton supporters will post ANYTHING, no matter how vile.

They don't care.

They haven't any discernable and abiding principles. Nothing that they wouldn't throw away to get their "girl" in the WH.

They haven't any morals.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

55. !

[Beastie]

59. really?

That's your reply? How about owning up to the nasty original post? You know, the one where you called the current front-runner and probable Democratic nominee a racist?
Honestly, the way the Clinton supporters (and really the entire campaign team) is willing to trash the party is so vile.
Wake the F up, please.

[rodeodance]

65. we are gentle little folk. IT is BO supporters who constantly call us racists.

[rodeodance]

62. you must have missed all those posts about BillC being a rapist, and his penis.

[Bonobo]

66. Okay. "Some Obama supporters are willing to post anything to win, no matter how vile!"

It's true too!

[rodeodance]

79. ok, enough for now. thanks

[emilyg]

76. Such outrage.

Re=read some Obama supporters posts.

[Bonobo]

77. Some are equally bad, Emilyg.

[Life Long Dem]

56. Obama did say that actually

Obaama carried it from MLK's speech "I have a dream". Obama has lived and is living THAT dream. That "my friend" is saying race ain't what it used to be in America.

[NYDem Observer]

57. Seriously the NAACP is a joke to most black people

I, for one, am a black man and I can tell you that they have no real standing in the black community and it has been that way for quite sometime. I could care less what this guy has to say.

National Association for the Advancement of COLORED People, the name alone represents outdated thought.

[Leopolds Ghost]

75. The NAACP is a "high-toned" organization that urged restraint on MLK.

They criticized him for being a socialist.

[Leopolds Ghost]

78. By "High-toned" I am referring to a class thing that used to be a color thing. its all relative, but

They have a word for angry poor (& middle class) that Myers disparages: "Trifling"

Anyone who is not up to their social snuff is "trifling"

That includes "angry" men, young or old, black or white... poor folks.

Who refuse to blame themselves for not "making it in the global economy".

We are supposed to dismiss the very notion of anger... of dissent...

as non-upwardly mobile not to mention un-American.

[Justitia]

63. This guy is all over the map. However, calling nooses a "practical joke" & "no big deal" is nutso.

[Leopolds Ghost]

70. Self-hating Preachers Who Insist We Live in A "Color-Blind Global Economy"

In which all "dysfunctional angry working class men" (be they white or black) are obsolete and should be shunned.

In which it is acceptable for a pastor after Myers' own heart to ask a
candidate to "RENOUNCE" any religious BELIEF that is "against the
interests of this great nation" on national television.

In which it is not OK to even utter white racist televangelists' name
in context of the Wright scandal, lest the implication linger that
there is an obnoxious, pink tutu, self-hating, double standard here
that extends beyond the ranks of black commentariat into the minds
of Democrats in general who have been brought up to loathe all things
liberal, poor, anti-wealth, and dark-skinned.

[Mithreal]

73. "our hybrid presidential candidate" ?

Are we all the same race or is Obama a hybrid? Seems like Meyers may be contradicting himself? I don't see how he can claim both points let alone even in the same sentence.

Like this is the final Obama speech on race, gimme a break.

Some of the other points Meyers makes I actually like, but "Obama blew it" no way.

[Leopolds Ghost]

74. What's the name of the character on Boondocks who talks like this?

Or the black professor (opponent of Affirmative Action)
who crusades with white students who claim to have been
injured by Affirmative Action?

If we're so color-blind, how come there are no successful cases
of black students who claim to have been injured by preferential
treatment of white students?

It's all in the DOUBLE STANDARD people.

That is how racism WORKS -- and always has.

Overt hatred is a minor component, expressed only against those who
overstep society's bounds that are set for each caste.

(Don't think this asshole Myers is not in a very specific caste.
We live in a caste system.)

[Withywindle]

104. He runs on diesel and electricity?

Gets great mileage I hear. But I can't afford one. :shrug:

[Mooney]

82. Oh god, a BLACK MAN didn't like the speech!

Then it must have been bad, because all black people have the same opinions about everything, and none of them are capable of independent thought!

/sarcasm

[Emit]

84. If Michael Meyers were to have read his own writing and listened to Obama's speech more carefully

I think he would see that Obama, does, in fact, present a pathway out of our racial boxes and a road map for new thinking about race.

And, I'd really like to ask him what he means by: "... race ain't what it used to be in America."

[JuniperLea]

88. Just in case...

Merriam-Webster
hybrid
4 entries found.

hybrid
hybrid
computer hybrid
tea rose hybrid
vigor



Main Entry: hy·brid
Pronunciation: \ˈhī-brəd\
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin hybrida
Date: 1601
1: an offspring of two animals or plants of different races, breeds, varieties, species, or genera
2: a person whose background is a blend of two diverse cultures or traditions
3 a: something heterogeneous in origin or composition : composite <hybrids of complementary DNA and RNA strands> <a hybrid of medieval and Renaissance styles> b: something (as a power plant, vehicle, or electronic circuit) that has two different types of components performing essentially the same function



2: a person whose background is a blend of two diverse cultures or traditions



2: a person whose background is a blend of two diverse cultures or traditions




2: a person whose background is a blend of two diverse cultures or traditions




I guess some people here need to take it up with Merriam Webster.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

93. damn that racist bastard Michael Meyers !

[havocmom]

92. hybrid? Boy does that word speak volumes about you

Pathetic. Fucking pathetic. Yeah, we're gonna take your opinion of race and anger seriously! NOT!

[Catherina]

94. Michael Meyers? OMFG. Some of you have lost your damn minds.

Michael Meyers is the rightwing NY Post columnist who defended the NYPD after they shoved a broom up a Black man's rectum and TORE HIM UP. Anytime the media needs a token Black guy to come out and Uncle Tom, Meyers is their guy.

You can't be serious.

This is the same asshole who said Don Imus shouldn't be removed from the air for his nappy headed hoes comment and sits on the board of the America-Israel Friendship League which is a sister organization to JINSA and Daniel Pipe's CAMERA. Its BOD roster is filled with cheerleaders for nuclear war from the Hudson Institute.

This sorry sack of shit testified that shouting "Shut up, you water buffaloes! If you want a party, there's a zoo a mile from here" to a group of Black female students on their way to a party wasn't using a racial epithet.

YOU CAN'T BE FUCKING SERIOUS. Why are you posting right-wing trash written to keep an anti-PNAC candidate like Obama out of office?

WHY ARE YOU DOING PNAC'S WORK FOR THEM?

Mr. Meyers sees it as his obligation to speak out, which has made him a darling not only of the media but, because of his ideology, of some white conservatives with no civil rights credentials who now provide him with most of his financing.

That hurt him with many civil rights organizations. Most that had been members of the Coalition -- formed in 1986 after whites chased a black man to his death in Howard Beach -- have been forced out or quit over Mr. Meyers's conservative friends and his strong positions.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A06E3DF1239F935A25752C1A963958260

You bet your sweet ass those views are his own. Clinton can have him. They'd get along royally on blowing up the Middle East with the rest of their neocon friends.

Nukes and clusterbombs for everyone. :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[JoFerret]

97. "amplified deep-seated racial tensions and divisions."

seems to be an obama campaign specialty.

And for many - an unintended consequence. Probably for Obama himself.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

103. sound like Meyers listen closely

[krkaufman]

100. Did this guy even listen to the speech?

He should have depicted his minister, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., as a symbol of the dysfunctional angry men who are stuck in the past and who must yield to a new generation of color-blind, hopeful Americans and to a new global economy in which we will look on our neighbors' skin color no differently than how we look on their eye color.

Obama did just that. He characterized Wright as a construct of the past, and criticized him for viewing America as static.

[zulchzulu]

102. Another dog has to come up and pee on the tree

Give me a break! Meyers wanted Obama to do a speech about how race isn't an issue any more in America? Meyers wanted Obama to say that we're all "mixed up" now anyway and race is just a political construct...or whatever.

Yeah, that would have flown over well. It seems like Meyers needed to write a column and decided to act like racial predjudice is something long passed...

:crazy:

[Withywindle]

105. This article reads like a Stephen Colbert parody.

including canceling my membership in 100 Black Men of America Inc., when they refused my motion to admit women and whites.


...

[lark]

108. OMG Excellent post

Thank you Michael Meyers for an extremely insightful and eloquent article. You got to the deeper truth that so many have missed in the "halo" glow.

[Bonobo]

114. Ha ha ha! You are praising the worst asshole and you don't know it!

You assume because he is black that his view is correct, showing us who the real racists are.

[DemBones DemBones]

110. Great article. Obama is looking backward, not forward.

I think he was already looking backward before he found Wright's church, looking for someone to replace the black father who abandoned him when he was just a toddler.

Unfortunately, Obama has shown that his loyalty to his mentor/surrogate father, Jeremiah Wright, is far too important in his life. He threw his white grandmother under the bus while defending Wright. To me, that was a really cheap shot, just inexcusable. The woman loves him and helped raise him.

She is still living but I've read that the Obama campaign "will not make her available." Obama supporters defend that by saying that at 82 she's a "frail old lady" but I know at least a dozen women in their late eighties and early nineties who are not at all frail. They're also far from senile. I'd like to know the truth about Obama's grandmother's health.

I would also like to hear her side of the story. Her grandson accused her of making a racist comment on the basis of what his grandfather said.

Has it ever occurred to Obama that his grandfather could have lied? Perhaps Stanley, his grandfather, wanted to win young Barack's loyalty over to himself, and sought to do so by claiming his own wife, "Toot," made a racist comment. "Toot" had loved and cared for her biracial grandson for years. How likely is it that she was actually a racist?

"Toot" was also more successful in her career than Stanley ever was, from what I've read, so Stanley may have resented her for that reason as well as perhaps feeling Barack loved her more than him. Stanley had wanted a son so much that he named his only child, Barack's mother, Stanley Ann. It seems logical that he would have wanted to be first in his grandson's affections.

[anonymous171]

111. Meyers served on the board of the America-Israel Friendship League

Look at some of it's members:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America-Israel_Friendship_League
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_%22Scoop%22_Jackson#Influence_on_neoconservatism

[JoFerret]

112. Backward looking. And an important question about single sex schools

I expected Obama, who up to now had been steering a perfect course away from the racial boxes of the past, to challenge racial labels and so-called black experiences. We're all mixed up, and if we haven't yet been by the process of miscegenation, trans-racial adoptions and interracial marriage, we sure ought to get used to how things will be in short order.

That would have been the forward-looking message of a visionary candidate. But Obama erred by looking backward -- as far back as slavery. What does slavery have to do with the price of milk at the grocery store? He referenced continuing segregation, especially segregated public schools, but stopped short. What is he going to do about them? How does he feel about public schools for black boys or single-sex public schools and classes? What does the gospel according to Wright say about such race-based and gender-specific schemes for getting around our civil rights laws?

[LowerManhattanite]

116. Michael Meyers? You've got to be kidding...

As a lifetime New Yorker, this clown is renowned for his lunacy, and his backing of every conservative nut to come down the pike.

He was Giuliani's main apologist for racist words and acts here when he was the “head” of a shadow, non-impactful, joke civil rights organization in town.

He effectively became the successor to the laughable Roy Innis (Father of Fox' execrable Niger Innis) here as the loyal rent-a-negro to go to when one was needed to talk down Black folks.

He has about as much credibility in Black America as his benefactor Rudy does...which is none.

My God, don't folks even check up on who the clowns are who say this stupid shit? LOL!