The Briefing Room
General Category => National/Breaking News => Topic started by: rangerrebew on July 24, 2014, 07:50:08 pm
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Obama to Black Youth: Nothing Wrong with “Acting White”
by Keith Koffler on July 23, 2014, 6:45 pm
In comments little-remarked upon by the media, President Obama Monday suggested that too many African Americans are using their culture to separate themselves from mainstream society, and that this should come to an end.
Obama spoke during an event for his “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative in Washington. I don’t support the initiative: I think its goals are worthwhile, but I believe government shouldn’t be establishing programs targeting specific races. Nevertheless, Obama made many constructive statements to the youth attending the question and answer session, which went on for nearly an hour.
Addressing a question that was actually about Native American culture, Obama said cultural pride could be maintained even as minority cultures wove themselves into the larger society. And then he pivoted to black culture.
As the heads of African Americans in the audience shook in knowing agreement, Obama criticized a penchant within the black community for castigating those perceived as “acting white.”
From his remarks:
There’s no contradiction between knowing your culture — the traditional cultures out of which your families come, but also being part of the larger culture.
And I think that one of the things — this is true not just for Native Americans, but it’s also true for African Americans. Sometimes African Americans, in communities where I’ve worked, there’s been the notion of “acting white” — which sometimes is overstated, but there’s an element of truth to it, where, okay, if boys are reading too much, then, well, why are you doing that? Or why are you speaking so properly?
And the notion that there’s some authentic way of being black, that if you’re going to be black you have to act a certain way and wear a certain kind of clothes, that has to go. (Applause.) Because there are a whole bunch of different ways for African American men to be authentic.
Obama touches on something it’s hard for people – particularly white conservatives who care about the issue – to say: that the real problems of black Americans today stem not from a lack of government assistance or quotas, but from intractable problems within their own culture and community.
Obama Brother's KeeperIt’s hard to say because you get accused of being racist. But it’s important to state because until liberals, black leaders, and African Americans themselves fully recognize the problem, blacks are going to have trouble ascending to full economic and social equality in America.
I don’t deny that part of what is wrong in black culture is due to the legacy of slavery, racism and discrimination. And there’s still some amount racism and discrimination. But that’s not, at this point, what is holding black people back.
What’s holding them back is a culture in which fathers are often not present, marriage is in a state of near-total destruction, the work ethic is not what it must be, and sexual and violent images are pervasive.
Obama is to be commended for delving into this. He talked also in his remarks about the need for hard work, goal setting, networking, and other tools of success.
If only he could see that the dependency on government his policies foster, as well as his divisive rhetoric, are defeating such useful advice.
Here’s some video of his remarks. The portion related to black Americans begins at about 4:30.
http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2014/07/23/obama-black-youth-wrong-acting-white/
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Well, now..........THIS is a first.
I actually agree with Obama!
:thud:
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Well, he's half right.
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I, too, give the president an :amen: on those remarks.
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Synopsis: Ghetto culture is destructive and becoming educated is a large part of how you fix it.
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How ironic, as he himself has received plenty of criticism from the far left black community for acting "too white", some of which still insist that Slick Willie was the first "Black President".
:smokin:
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How ironic, as he himself has received plenty of criticism from the far left black community for acting "too white", some of which still insist that Slick Willie was the first "Black President".
:smokin:
Some of that is because Obama did not do 'reparations' as many Blacks thought he would combined with his seemly boundless love for Latinos. In many minority neighborhoods, Blacks and Latinos are at war and Obama appears, at least to some, to be fighting for the wrong side.
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Some of that is because Obama did not do 'reparations' as many Blacks thought he would combined with his seemly boundless love for Latinos. In many minority neighborhoods, Blacks and Latinos are at war and Obama appears, at least to some, to be fighting for the wrong side.
yah....LBJ's whole "Great Society", the sub-prime mortgage crisis, Obama-phones, and now demands for free water in Detoilet......it will never be enough.
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Well, he's half right. white.
there...fixed it. :seeya:
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From the article:
[[ In comments little-remarked upon by the media, President Obama Monday suggested that too many African Americans are using their culture to separate themselves from mainstream society, and that this should come to an end. ]]
Frankly, this is astounding, that Obama would make a comment like this.
It's something I would be more likely to attribute to Thomas Sowell.
I wonder what got into him, to make him say that...?
More from the article:
[[ Obama touches on something it’s hard for people – particularly white conservatives who care about the issue – to say: that the real problems of black Americans today stem not from a lack of government assistance or quotas, but from intractable problems within their own culture and community. ]]
Huh?
I've been "saying" things like that for years.
Others who say the same are often called (you guessed it).... "racists".
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Don't forget clean and articulate.
Honestly this is the most anti-black racist white house since Wilson.
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From the article:
[[ In comments little-remarked upon by the media, President Obama Monday suggested that too many African Americans are using their culture to separate themselves from mainstream society, and that this should come to an end. ]]
Frankly, this is astounding, that Obama would make a comment like this.
It's something I would be more likely to attribute to Thomas Sowell.
I wonder what got into him, to make him say that...?
More from the article:
[[ Obama touches on something it’s hard for people – particularly white conservatives who care about the issue – to say: that the real problems of black Americans today stem not from a lack of government assistance or quotas, but from intractable problems within their own culture and community. ]]
Huh?
I've been "saying" things like that for years.
Others who say the same are often called (you guessed it).... "racists".
This is exactly why the country is in the shape it's in.
Your point is exactly right. For years, lots of people have been talking about the destructive influence of the predominate culture of the black community and have been hammered for it. The state of our country is largely because of numbskulls like this writer who try to claim up is down. It hasn't been hard for conservatives to say that culture and community are causing the problems of black Americans. It's as plain as day, even if we hadn't been saying it. Welcome to the party, Mr. Koffler, even if you're 2 or 3 generations late.
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As a software engineer, I have never heard a coworker say, "What I is saying yo, is that the way you dereferenced that hash is whack dude. You is be getting a random memory array, sucka!"
I have never heard a lawyer say, "Yo Mr. Judge sir, what I be saying is dat habeas corpus is da bomb dog!"
The point is that once a young person, Black or White, commits to that culture, the rest of their life is going to be severly limited.
But this culture is supported and encouraged by the, so called, 'Black leadership'. Because it keeps them poor, uneducated, and angry, which is exactly how the Dem/Black leadership wants them to be, so that they can control and exploit them.
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I live in a mostly white suburban town near Lost Angeles. I think that most blacks who live in my town, realize they have it better, than in nearby black "ghettos" of the bigger cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach etc.
In over 20 years of AA, I have met several of these guys. Not a word indicating they find a racist environment, or that they hold racist views themselves, beyond a normal human nature level of same.
I think they recognize they are better off, have better futures, by being closer to whites, and distant from blacks of the inner-city type.