My mom says "Obama is only talking to black people."

[OHDEM]

Yes, my mom actually said this. She's said it a number of times & when I ask for examples, she doesn't want to talk about it. I've explained, as respectfully as I can, that I look at a lot of politics and NEVER got that from him. She also believes that his pastor was terrible. She's a registered Democrat that hates the Repubs & says she's voting for Obama, but I have my doubts. Is this a generational thing? My mom is only 56, but completely missed the sexual revolution & hippie culture. Should we be more concerned about this age group of women?

[Lex]

1. My mom is a 65 year old white southern woman & is voting for Obama.

Loves Obama/Biden.

[Muttocracy]

2. has she actually watched any of his speeches and public appearances

on any topic? :shrug:

[DebJ]

3. Hey1 I'm going on 54 and I will be making calls for Obama all

day tomorrow. 56 doesn't mean you completely missed the hippie culture. I watched it, albeit a bit young. Hubby is 58 and he was actively into it.

[The Traveler]

4. This pale assed Irishman is quite convinced

that Obama has been speaking to me long before I wanted to hear him.

[Midlodemocrat]

5. No offense.. Your II is an idiot.

[Catherine Vincent]

6. I suppose she thought Clinton, Bush 41 and Bush 42 were talking to white people?

Ask her what would she think if Black people thought that about them.

[AlCzervik]

7. My Dad is 68 year old gun loving white guy that id's himself as a libertarian and he

really likes Obama.

[elleng]

8. No;

I think its an individual thing.

[yardwork]

9. Show her the pictures of Obama in Dublin Ohio today. He's talking to a lot of white people.

[mckara]

10. There Are Times When It's Proper Etiquette to Kick Your Mom's Ass

This is one of those times!

[sandnsea]

11. In OR, WA, ID, MT, NE, IA...

Yeah he won those states by talking only to black people. :eyes:

People really have to try harder.

[BlooInBloo]

12. (shrug) Lots of white folks say that. It's why we might lose. Damn bigots.

[jwirr]

13. Remind your mom that he knows he is going to be the first black

president of the USA. He is fulfilling a dream. For that reason he will also want to be the best president he can be which means he cannot be a president for only part of the USA - he will be working for all of us.

[NRaleighLiberal]

14. My mom is 81, recently lost my dad, and LOVES Obama, HATES McCain.

She is in assisted living in Florida and thinks that for the most part, people there have lost their mind....she doesn't understand the one issue voting, the fundie mentality. She does think that most of the people in her facility are strongly racist and strongly right wing.....

[liberalmuse]

24. I've noticed the Depression Generation...

is really cool. I love most of the people I've met who've lived through the Great Depression. Boy, do they have stories to tell, and they seem a lot more open-minded than my mom's generation.

[katandmoon]

15. I just turned 56 and I have loads of friends in the same age range

Most of us were Hillary supporters during the primaries, but we're all very progressive Democrats so we're voting for Obama. One of my friends who supported Hillary is now volunteering for Obama.

Please don't generalize.

[stillcool]

16. No. There are lots of racists..

out there. Some are a dying breed, some are just carrying on the family tradition of being an asshole.

[liberalmuse]

17. Yes, especially for the parents that did not like the sexual revolution.

Elvis was too risque for my mom and she did not get into the hippy thing, and it's a miracle I'm here, considering she freaks out if people kiss on the tv. She used to tell us kids the story of how she was almost pulled off the street into a car full of guys in the Sixties in Cleveland, but a black man came along and told them to leave her alone, she was his girlfriend, so the carload of guys took off. He then apologized profusely for even insinuating she was his girlfriend and went to the back of the bus they both boarded. This is the culture our parents grew up in. I think many of them might not even be able to conceive a black man as President, even thought it's no big deal to us, although we understand it is history in the making, and that this is merely a "meh" to our own kids. I think my mom may be racist without even realizing it, just from the things she has said over the years. Maybe others of this generation could provide some insight?

I'm hoping the church lady on McCain's ticket is not going to sway her from voting straight Dem for the first time in about 30 years, since she is rather cool towards Obama.

[OHDEM]

18. I know & I'm trying to talk to her about it.

She doesn't mean the he literally is only talking to African-Americans, but the things he's saying are directed at them. I know it's total crap. The things he says could be said by a white/black/latino/italian/german/irish-you name it. Even knowing he's making history, he still doesn't play it up, IMO. I asked if she watched the DNCC & she said "some of it" which means she couldn't take the time to learn about him & really hear him. It's tough! And when I said she missed the hippie culture, I meant she missed it ON PURPOSE. LOL She got married the same year she graduated & had me the following year. She believes you should wait for marriage (Catholic) & that all drug use is terrible. She TOTALLY missed the 60s! Glad to here there are so many from her generation that are open-minded & active for Obama! I'm volunteering for him next week with a group I belong to.

[orleans]

29. obama grew up with white people. he was raised by white people.

he talks to them all the time--he understands PEOPLE. he has compassion toward PEOPLE. he has this wonderfully unique background that allows him to relate to everyone.

your mom just isn't listening. but he's talking to her too.

maybe if she closes her eyes and pays attention to *what* he is saying she will hear him better.


i will be honest with you--i have a lot of anxiety when i watch him "live" on tv. my anxiety stems from a fear/worry that someone is going to harm him and i don't want to see it happen. during the convention, last thursday when he was speaking, i was sooo nervous/worried about it i couldn't concentrate for the first couple of minutes. then i closed my eyes. i listened. and i heard everything he was saying. tell your mom he was talking to her too. i know because i heard every word he said. i think your mom needs to do the same thing i did (only for different reasons maybe)--she just needs to *listen*

[OHDEM]

30. I agree...

she needs to listen & I'm trying. I believe she truly can't see past her own stereotypes. It makes me sad because I believe that we have a remarkable candidate. One for the ages & not just because he'll be the 1st African-American President, but because he'll be an amazing President.

I shared your anxiety for Barack Thursday. My only comfort is that I do believe the Secret Service is very, VERY good at what they do!

[Kahuna]

50. Not only that. Obama looks more like his grandpa than his own dad.

she shouldn't worry. Obama is bringing America together as "one" America. That's what I love the most. I cringe when I hear the term "black America." WTF is that??? So called "black leaders" will have to stop using that term once Obama is elected.

[orleans]

52. well, the term "black america" doesn't bother me--i understand

what is meant by it

the term "white america" makes me a bit edgy because i feel i'm being lumped in with the racist fundies

but the term "fundamentalist america" would have me fucking quaking in my boots

[Vanje]

59. No shit

The booming of the fireworks made me crazy

[Tangerine LaBamba]

31. I didn't miss the sixties,

but a lot of people with whom I grew up did - got married right out of high school, never went beyond their small town, same small jobs for all their lives, folks like that.

My guess is that your mother is afraid of a lot of things, and it comes out as anger or distaste. That would include something as inconceivable as a black man becoming President Of The United States. It's not exactly bigotry, although it does smack of it - it's mostly fear, the fear of change, of anything or anyone different from what she is and what she knows. Deep down, she's probably pissed that she missed out on so much.

But, she sure raised a great kid..............

[OHDEM]

62. Thanks!

That was thoughtful. It's tough when people you love are SO wrong.

[Vanje]

58. Does she vote?

It may not matter.

[d_b]

19. too bad your mom isn't like mine =)

[Misskittycat]

20. I'm 57 and I was part of the "sex, drugs and rock 'n roll" college generation.

We're hardly old, bigoted farts. We were manning the barricades in the Vietnam War protests.

[Bluebear]

21. Unfortunately she must have deeply racist views to make such a statement & "not talk about it"

[blonndee]

22. My mom is the same way about both Barack and Michelle.

I'm sorry to say, it is racism. She doesn't even know it, but it is. It's her own latent, unacknowledged racism, fueled by FAUX news. Probably the same with your mom.

[AlCzervik]

26. So is my sister, she has what i call selective racism and i called her on it, even repeated

back to her the statements she made while she was a visitor in my home for 2 1/2 really, really long weeks and she said i made it seem like she was racist. "Your words, your statements" and then she tried to backpedal her way out of it, it was sad and disappointing. Her own 2 kids know it as well and they hate it.

[orleans]

36. ah...a faux watcher. break her tv. n/t

[suede1]

23. Wow, just wow.

[scarletwoman]

25. She's confusing class with race. It's been a long time nifty trick on the part of the Ruling Class

to convince the white oppressed class that they are above the black oppressed class. So when your mom hears Obama talk about raising people's quality of life, she has been trained to assume that it MUST be black people who need raising up.

In any case, don't "be concerned" about me, I'm 58, and my thinking is NOTHING like your mom's.

sw

[Staph]

27. My 84-year-old mother

is voting for Obama. She was raised in a mixed household (one parent Republican and the other Democrat), but she's been comfortably Democratic since the early 1960s. Her three daughters (aged 60, 54, and 49) are happily voting for Obama. All four of us voted for Hillary in the primary. Were my dad still alive, he'd be voting for Obama, too. He always took his daughters' advice very seriously!

[suede1]

28. My 'democratic' mom has issues, too.

She grew up on the East side of Chicago, her father was a union steel mill worker. She was always a dem., but now all of a sudden she's getting all weird.

A few months ago she said," I think I'll vote McCain because his wife is pretty."
I wasn't sure who's brains I should blow out first, mine or hers. (although she had already pretty much blown mine out with that statement.)

So now my husband and I are both working on her. My father, a life long republican, is even asking about why we support Obama. It looks like we are making progress.

Mom (and probably dad in the background) watched quite a bit of the dem. convention. I am sure they will be watching the rep. as well, on the 'f' channel, of course.

Now I will have to watch it, too just so I can see where they are coming from.

Then I give mom 2 weeks or so to get her act together re: issues vs. wive's looks then I tell her/demand that she not vote if she is going to act like a 5 yr old.

I am sooooo embarrassed.

[orleans]

33. obama supports unions. mcbush could give a rats ass about

the welfare of union workers.

[eshfemme]

34. Well, I wish you luck.

I really like that Obama is pretty much already doing what Bush didn't do with his promise to be a unifier. This kinda stuff is what should have happened after 9/11 and not the crazy ass extreme radicalism on both sides of the spectrum.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

35. Welcome to DU

But there is no "East side of Chicago."

Well, there is - it's called "Lake Michigan."

[Vanje]

61. Tell he that McCain divorced his first wife

so he could marry the "pretty" one

[ColbertWatcher]

32. If he's only talking to black people, how does she know what he has to say?

Does she go out of her way to avoid what he says, or are her ears specially "whited" so as to avoid what he says?

How does she know that what he says is for black people only?

[Dem2theMax]

37. My 90 year old mother, a born repuke, is voting for Obama.

Dad and I showed her the error of her ways and she turned Dem just before the last election. After watching Obama's acceptance speech, she came to me and thanked me for helping her see the truth. This woman comes from a L O N G line of repukes. Her sisters are livid that she is now a registered Democrat. Hahaha.

(Mom used to listen to Rush for 'something to do' while she was at work.) That tells you how bad it was. Took Dad and I about two years to get her to face up to what was really going on in this country. But we did it! :)

[Mopar151]

38. Well, there's a couple things

You could mention to Mom... Thhey are some of the things that my Mom likes (78 yo Yankee liberal!)

First, that he is very careful to use good, clear "American English", and does NOT "talk trash", use a lot of jargon, lingo, slang, or bury things in legalese. I beleive that he does this especially to talk to folks like your mom and mine.

Second, that throughout his campaign here in NH, and likely everywhere, is that everyone to do with the Obama campaign has been trained to be polite and nice. They do not use push polls (which infuriate my Mom) or robocalls, or, AFIK, paid phone contractors, and they have been instructed to avoid attacking other canidates. That nice young fellow must have been raised right.....

[donheld]

39. You and I must be siblings.

[Skittles]

40. Skittles says, "Your mom imay be racist."

sorry but I call 'em like I see 'em and that is what it sounds like

[REP]

41. Oh yeah, I'm very CONCERNED

Dumb women can't tell one from another, especially when they get old like that. Be "concerned."

[Skittles]

46. you want we should kick some CONCERNED ass, REP

it could make for a fun time :D

[REP]

47. Hell yes - lemme get my "Concern" boots laced up

[woolldog]

42. Register one younger voter to cancel out your mom's vote then.

:)

[entanglement]

43. How the hell does he do that anyhow? Speak Ebonics?

:eyes:

[coalition_unwilling]

44. Obama is not talking enough

to black Americans. He sold out his pastor of 20 years and continues to spout that Cosby BS about black fathers being AWOL.

Just sayin'

[Duppers]

45. Not a generational thing!!! NOT.

Me and several others on DU are 60 & over.

Sorry, but your mom has a problem.

[Hissyspit]

48. My mom is 69 and has no problem voting for Obama and is helping in this county

to get him elected. She hasn't said anything about him only talking to black people. I think your mom may have a racism problem. Sorry.

[Kahuna]

49. Okay. I'm black. I can promise your mom that Barack is not only

talking to black people. I hope that makes her feel better. :)

[Solly Mack]

51. so..are white candidates only talking to white people?

funny how that never seems to be a problem with some white people.....the assumption of "one of us"

and now for some white people...it's not Obama is a Democrat or Obama would make a decent President... it's Obama, he's "one of them"

LMAO

miracles of affliction to quote Alice Walker

[treestar]

53. Black people are a minority no one would run for "only Black people"

Get her over her racism by showing her Barack's speeches and his white half of his family (ok that's pandering to her racism but these are desperate times).

[draftedin66]

54. She has the angle wrong. A lot of white people aren't listening to him.

It's a matter of perspective, I think.

[Jazzgirl]

55. Your Mom totally avoided the sexual revolution

and hippie culture 'cuz she was right in it while it was happening. I'm two years younger than your Mom and I call bullshit. Oh...thanks for your concern.

[Vanje]

56. I must be black

I'm in my 50's, blue-eyed ,middle aged , rural idaho spud.

Obama speaks to me.

Tell your Momma.

[Vanje]

57. My Mom is 78

white, and is proud to support Obama.

[SammyWinstonJack]

60. Huh??

Should we be more concerned about this age group of women? :wtf:


Other than that, this is not worth a reply.