Keillor: "He's a young black guy and that's a problem for some folks"

[EffieBlack]

He's a young black guy, and that's a problem for some folks
But Barack Obama has gifts that transcend race and his own slim résumé.
By Garrison Keillor

<snip>

And now we are all staring at Barack Obama, who is -- if you listen to him on the radio -- a commanding presence and a towering candidate for president. I heard the speech he gave in St. Paul to an arena full of supporters, and the man can give a speech. Nobody else surfs on applause like Obama and drives his point home, and it all sounds as if he were telling you what he thinks and not reading off a Plexiglas reflector.

But when you look closely at him he is a skinny young black guy, and this is going to be a problem for some folks.

The year my father graduated from high school, Duke Ellington toured the country with his 15-piece orchestra, playing his hits "Mood Indigo" and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" to ballrooms packed with his fans, but things being what they were, they traveled in a private railroad car because you just never knew if you could get a hotel room or a meal in a restaurant or be turned away by some jerk in a suit and tie . . . Ellington didn't complain. He loved his work and he was cool and he didn't deign to address bigotry -- he just played right through it.

That era is not so distant. A culture doesn't turn on a dime. Race is a part of this race, even though nobody wants to think so. But Obama has gifts that transcend race and his own slim résumé. On the radio, he is an orator resurrected from a distant time when people had higher standards for that sort of thing. He is graceful and quick and possessed of confidence, and if you like the English language you'll find a lot to admire in him. People can dismiss the importance of speaking, but that is a big part of the job he's running for . . . I know plenty of regular fellers, some smarter than others, and at the moment I am leaning toward Obama. He has those gifts and when he launches forth against the dismal darkness of recent Republicanism, he is throwing nothing but strikes.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/keillor/2008/06/11/keillor/

[Thrill]

1. He's just as much white as he is black

Even raised by his white grandparents. Why should anyone have a problem with his race??

[wellst0nev0ter]

4. Obama Said As Much

If he was not an Ivy grad running for president, but instead you saw him in a mugshot on the 11:00 news, there would be no doubt that he's black.

[EffieBlack]

5. Yes - partially white black folk (and most black folk are just that) usually don't have time

to pull out their "I'm part white, so don't mess with me" card before they are arrested and/or beaten up for dwb, followed around the department store, told the job is filled or apartment already rented, or left standing on the corner by cab after cab after cab.

Funny that.

[TahitiNut]

13. Ain't that the truth!

Well put! :thumbsup:

I want to say the same thing when I see that tripe ... but you found the words. Perfect.

[Doityourself]

18. Bingo & Amen. I sho ain't eva had time to pull my "white" card out

[AspenRose]

20. Word

:applause:

[panader0]

2. Garrison Keillor is a big Obama fan

He is also a huge bush foe.

[Zhade]

10. He is a national treasure, too!

: )

[marylanddem]

3. "Some folks" need to wake the hell up.

Anyone who would vote against Obama because he's a "skinny young black guy" would vote Republican anyway. So screw 'em.
Also what the hell does this mean" at the moment I am leaning toward Obama" - instead of McCain???

[KittyWampus]

9. that's just artistic license. Keillor is not very likely to vote for a Republican

[ejbrush]

15. Upper Midwestern Vernacular

Once you get far enough north, expressing opinions with any real conviction becomes a sort of cultural taboo. When he states "at the moment I am leaning toward Obama," Mr. Keillor is actually stating "Even if he were caught on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, nude, in broad daylight, eating live kittens and washing them down with bootleg Ukranian vodka spiked with peyote, he's still got my vote."

I, too, am leaning towards Obama.

[madrchsod]

16. it took me 58 years to appreciate Garrison

...yup that`s pretty much how things are up here

[Muttocracy]

21. Keillor endorsed back in Feb - on Obama's site:

(and ditto the MN understatement stuff others have mentioned)

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/CP5J

In a letter to Senator Obama, Keillor wrote:

“I'm happy to support your candidacy, which is so full of promise for our country. Seven years of a failed presidency is a depressing thing, and the country is pressing for a change and looking for someone with clear vision who is determined to break through the rhetorical logjam and find sensible ways to move our country forward. That's you, friend.

“I can't think of a happier prospect for next January than to see you and your wife and children stepping out on the platform in front of the Capitol for the inauguration. The sight of this will bring to an end a long sour chapter in our history. It will be an enormous moment. And of course it will be exciting to have a president who can speak with grace and power to the American people. Your campaign is a great tonic for America and that's why so many young people are excited about it. I congratulate you on your awesome achievement so far and pledge my support toward victory in November.”

Keillor is best known as the host of Public Radio’s A Prairie Home Companion and is also a best-selling author and humorist.

“I’ve been entertained and inspired by Garrison Keillor’s work through the years,” Obama said. “His tales of life in Lake Wobegon tell the story of life in quintessential middle America. I’m honored to have his support and, as president, I will wake up every day thinking about how I can help make life better in places like Lake Wobegon all across the country.”

[Captain Hilts]

6. Women couldn't serve on juries in NYState until the '60s. that's even more recent.

That's why the movie is entitled "Twelve Angry MEN."

No women allowed.

Women weren't allowed into the state-funded University of Virginia until 1973. That's more recent still.

[EffieBlack]

7. What does any of that have to do with Keillor's column?

Unless we're playing "my oppression is worse than your oppression so let's only talk about mine."

And I don't think that's the name of this game.

[Teaser]

8. Let's play RATE THAT OPPRESSION!!!

.

[Doityourself]

19. I'll take diminish that struggle for $100 Alex.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

11. Do they want an Orwellian future with no freedom with McBushCain?

[David Zephyr]

12. Thanks for the article.

But I think (and hope) that this is a generational issue.

I think that Americans like Barack so far and are getting pretty sick of the GOP's slime.

[rucky]

14. I really like his message and his policies

but man, his melanin content is pretty high. I just don't know.

[The Straight Story]

17. Cause you know us dems think about race and sex in an election

:)