Has CNN ever asked: "Is President X simply responding from his perspective as a white man?"

[EffieBlack]

I don't recall if they ever did. Then why are they asking if President Obama is coming at this from the perspective as a black man - as if all previous presidents' perspectives were normal and acceptable, but President Obama's is somehow different and deserving of scrutiny and even suspicion..

[dgibby]

1. Yes, Rick Sanchez just did. n/t

[EffieBlack]

6. Please reread my corrected post - meant to say "white man"

I was actually commenting on Sanchez's question which I found to be a little insulting - not because the President wasn't responding from his perspective as a black man but because it's being treated as anomaly that a president's race influences his thinking - and only a president of color would be so influenced.

We saw the same attitude in the Sotomayor confirmation and it's extremely backward, narrow-minded and annoying.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

2. It's like Colbert said here:

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/238783/july-16-2009/the-word---neutral-man-s-burden

[TheKentuckian]

3. White, protestant, upper class, and male is the default/"neutral" status

anyone else is very questionable. Questionable at best.

[Prism]

4. This CNN coverage is something else

Not only have they practically convicted Professor Gates, but their otherworldly dismissal of any form of sensitivity is really something to witness. People are upset, and these two anchors are joking about the seargeant's favorite beer?

This "coverage" is simply a Professor Gates pile on.

[MADem]

5. We haven't had any other presidents who acknowledged any black ancestry before.

They're trying to flog their ratings, and it's a way for them to frame it. They're being simplistic...but do you expect anything more than that from the cable news outlets?

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. Wait, Malcolm X is the President?

This conspiracy goes deeper than I thought!

:-)

[Uzybone]

8. as someone posted yesterday: the white perspective = the american perspective

non white perspective is the abnormal one.