Source: (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) / Getty
During a Monday interview with comedian Marc Maron, President Barack Obama used the n-word to drive home the point that the shunning of the word in today’s society doesn’t magically make our society post-racial.
If last week’s massacre at Charleston, South Carolina‘s Mother Emanuel AME Church is any indication, that’s public knowledge. Accused gunman Dylann Roof reportedly told victims he intended to kill them because they were Black, and friends of the high school drop-out have told numerous media outlets that he indeed had a racial bias. But the tragic shooting that left nine dead is an extreme example — for months, a Black liberation movement propelled by the creators of Black Lives Matter and many other newly minted activism groups has brought America’s attention to the injustices Black communities deal with daily. From police brutality to employment, housing and education, Black people are still disenfranchised and underrepresented in a country that has always held a contentious relationship with them.
That’s something that isn’t lost on the president, who in the past year has made attempts to close those gaps with programs like “My Brother’s Keeper.” And on Maron’s podcast, “WTF with Marc Maron,” Obama dropped the n-word to get his point across.
“Racism, we are not cured of it. And it’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say nigger in public. That’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don’t, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior,” he said.
Unfortunately, the comment, dubbed “jarring” by CNN, is taking on new life. The president using the n-word has become the news, not the conversation on race. That’s also not lost on the public, who took to Twitter to defend the president (who, it must be noted, is not the first president to use the term).
https://twitter.com/savie_cee/status/613035050293194752
https://twitter.com/TheyLovetheAfro/status/612995486476144640
https://twitter.com/acubismdream/status/613025644335595521
https://twitter.com/abeerfartloud/status/613024529263104000
Interestingly, the soundbite that could have opened a door to discuss race relations in this country, while shutting down that false post-racial utopia politicians like to think exists, became the soundbite now debated amongst talking heads on news networks for the word’s usage.
Not the context.
Obama, who also said that the legacy of slavery and racism is “still part of our DNA,” was on to something, but sadly, nobody really wants to talk about the complexity of racism. To admit that there’s even an issue is to open up a world of problems that need to be rectified.
And right now, what’s more fun? Acknowledging the age-old systemic racism in America, or that the president actually said a “bad” word? We think the latter won.
SOURCE: CNN, Twitter | VIDEO SOURCE: NDN
SEE ALSO:
U.S. Admits WWII Troops Were Tested By Race In Secret Chemical Experiments
South Carolina Supreme Court Orders New Judge In AME Shooting After Racist Comments Revealed
ARTICLE FROM: NewsOne.com
Article Courtesy of CNN, Twitter, and News One
Picture Courtesy of Getty Images and News One
Tweets Courtesy of Twitter and News One
First and Second Video Courtesy of NDN, Inform, and News One
