Barack Obama 1995 speech on Blackness and multiculturalism

[Piff Perkins]

The second to last question highlights another major component that people overlook: judges. I'd have to look this up to be sure but I want to say Obama has now appointed more judges than W Bush. Most of them will be in the court for the rest of their lives and will continue to shape policy. There are still Reagan appointed judges to this day, doing shyt. And just as Reagan and HW Bush judges have spent decades eroding civil rights, Obama's judges will spend decades re-affirming civil rights. Voting rights come to mind. Discriminatory laws come to mind. Hell, drug laws too.

I know not everyone here agrees with gay marriage but a major reason why it has so quickly taken root in the US is because of Obama and Clinton appointed judges striking down laws. This summer the Supreme Court will likely make gay marriage legal in all 50 states. Why? Largely because of Clinton and Obama judges. Likewise in a few years it's very like that the Voting Rights Act will return to the Supreme Court. Which is why it's essential that you vote for a president who is serious about defending voting rights. Because if not we'll see what happened a couple years ago, with republican appointed judges striking down one of the most important pieces of legislation. Because, as Chief Justice Roberts said, racism is dead.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

The second to last question highlights another major component that people overlook: judges. I'd have to look this up to be sure but I want to say Obama has now appointed more judges than W Bush. Most of them will be in the court for the rest of their lives and will continue to shape policy. There are still Reagan appointed judges to this day, doing shyt. And just as Reagan and HW Bush judges have spent decades eroding civil rights, Obama's judges will spend decades re-affirming civil rights. Voting rights come to mind. Discriminatory laws come to mind. Hell, drug laws too.

I know not everyone here agrees with gay marriage but a major reason why it has so quickly taken root in the US is because of Obama and Clinton appointed judges striking down laws. This summer the Supreme Court will likely make gay marriage legal in all 50 states. Why? Largely because of Clinton and Obama judges. Likewise in a few years it's very like that the Voting Rights Act will return to the Supreme Court. Which is why it's essential that you vote for a president who is serious about defending voting rights. Because if not we'll see what happened a couple years ago, with republican appointed judges striking down one of the most important pieces of legislation. Because, as Chief Justice Roberts said, racism is dead.

 

[iceberg_is_on_fire]

Obama been trill brehs.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Obama been trill brehs.

 

[Piff Perkins]

Adjusted is simply soft speak for his attitudes shifted. The idea that he is still 1995 Obama playing a persona is hilarious and idealistic.

I think you're simplifying a complex issue of identity breh. Many people change or evolve their views as they get older, that's to be expected. Someone who is pro-choice might become pro-life after having their first child, for instance. But issues of identity aren't as easily tossed aside for most people. Obama went through quite a journey to reach his own personal racial beliefs. He was trying to understand himself, as many of us do. I'm not mixed, but I remember reading various books as a kid, trying to further connect to the idea of being black and what it meant beyond myself. That's why I and many other black kids read stuff like Malcolm X's autobiography, or Invisible Man, or Black Boy, etc.

I didn't hear a single point in that video that Obama didn't say in 2008 with this


He talks about internal white racism/fear, he talks about black resentment/anger towards whites, etc. If not for this speech he might not even be president breh. It saved his campaign from the Rev. Wright stuff and was one of the most honest discussions of race I've ever seen on a major platform. Like the 1995 video he focuses on the idea that we must recognize and respect our racial differences, but also that if we look at things honestly we'll recognize we also have a lot in common. The example about his white grandmother feeling on edge in Chicago until she walked into Michelle's mom's house and seeing similar food is a great example of that.

When asked about how he'd address racial issues, Obama gave a pretty simple answer. It could be boiled down to the redistribution of wealth, from a conservative perspective. What did he do as president? Passed a stimulus bill that pumped money into cities, and passed a healthcare bill that is primarily focused on poor and working class people. Both could be seen as examples of what he talked about in 1995, just on a less broad scale due to compromises.

I don't mean to play Obama slappy here. Yall know I have criticized him many times. I'm just saying the idea that he threw his racial identity and views in the bushes between 1995 and 2008 doesn't make any damn sense.

 

[Steady B]

Wow this is great!! This is the REAL Barack talking. The position he is in now, we know it can't really allow for him to express how he really feels about society. Sidebar: it felt weird hearing the Prez say "p*ssy" Salute the thread starter

 

[ReturnOfJudah]

lol nikkas dikk riding Obama. I dont care what he said 20 years ago. Hes been pro corporate and pro homo since hes been in office. I don't see none of that pro black shyt when its time for legislation to be passed.

 

[Calmye]

This Obama and President Obama are night and day. We'll see the real Obama come back when he's on his 12th hour and those pardons start dropping

 

[Poitier]

When asked about how he'd address racial issues, Obama gave a pretty simple answer. It could be boiled down to the redistribution of wealth, from a conservative perspective. What did he do as president? Passed a stimulus bill that pumped money into cities, and passed a healthcare bill that is primarily focused on poor and working class people. Both could be seen as examples of what he talked about in 1995, just on a less broad scale due to compromises.

The bank bail out and his foreign policy say otherwise. Obama is the face of capitalism and imperialism, at the moment, which are 2 ideologies directly opposed to Blackness. Yes he has enacted a few socially progressive things but it pales in comparison to the things he has done to further the very White supremacy he spoke of in 1995.

 

[Piff Perkins]

The bank bail out and his foreign policy say otherwise. Obama is the face of capitalism and imperialism, at the moment, which are 2 ideologies directly opposed to Blackness. Yes he has enacted a few socially progressive things but it pales in comparison to the things he has done to further the very White supremacy he spoke of in 1995.

I agree, Obama is clearly a corporatist like every other US president except Jimmy Carter. and JFK. I'm just saying it's not fair to say his racial identity no longer matters to him today, and I simply pointed to a couple examples of his 1995 ideas being turned into policies.

 

[Poitier]

I I'm just saying it's not fair to say his racial identity no longer matters to him today

I never said this. Only that it his changed over the time. I don't doubt he still believes some of the stuff in this video but his respectability politics tells me he has moved on from some of that line of thinking.

 

[Piff Perkins]

I never said this. Only that it his changed over the time. I don't doubt he still believes some of the stuff in this video but his respectability politics tells me he has moved on from some of that line of thinking.

Could you give an example of his respectability politics? From what I've heard a lot of it feels rather "old black person talking about young people" to me. I've never heard him say white people kill you because you act like an animal, for instance.

I have heard him shame black people for not voting. But then again, black figures have done that for generations.

Personally I think most of his racial views are the same today, based on what he said in 1995 and what he said in 2008.

 

[Poitier]

Could you give an example of his respectability politics? From what I've heard a lot of it feels rather "old black person talking about young people" to me. I've never heard him say white people kill you because you act like an animal, for instance.

His speech to Nigerians pre-elections and at Morehouse or after Mike Brown's death all come to mind.

 

[El Bombi]

Nikkas who said Barrack is a c00n, never did their homework. I'm interested to see what he does after he's out of office.

 

[Piff Perkins]

His speech to Nigerians pre-elections and at Morehouse or after Mike Brown's death all come to mind.

Don't remember the Nigerian thing, but the Moorehouse one seemed fine to me. The "no more excuses" argument is problematic in the sense that white supremacy still rules, but I took Obama's point to be that it shouldn't stop you from putting yourself in position to succeed. It's an argument that my parents and a lot of other black people's parents make all the time. I think it's a generational thing.

In terms of the Brown thing...are you talking about the night of the protests where he tried to calm people down? I didn't like it, you could tell he didn't want to give that speech...but I understand why he did it. It was a failed attempt to calm tensions.