You fail to understand that it isn't a free pass, Phil. Obama's getting flak for it. Is he getting less flak than if Hillary said something similar? Of course. Obama has a mitigating factor, Hillary doesn't.
Your argument about there being a "mitigating factor" is enough of a free pass for me.
You want me to believe that Clinton and Obama are on the same footing to begin with, and the broader proposition that blacks and whites are on equal footing (or rather equal enough footing)? And if they're not, why can't we take the disparity into account when analyzing why we all suppose Hillary will get different treatment compared to what Barack has gotten?
I am in no way saying that or believe that. I'm simply fighting the hypocrites that want to talk about us all moving forward together towards racial equality (people like yourself, I'm sure) and then make an excuse everytime a black person does something like this.
By the way, I don't want to live in a color
blind society. I want to live in a society where we embrace our differences.[/quote]
Okay, maybe my hyperbole/exaggeration was a bit out of line there, but every time a black person does something like this? So far I (since you've basically equated myself and the rest of those hypocrites) have only defended Obama's comments and the some of the factual components of his pastor (another story entirely and if you want to dig into that, go ahead, but you may wish to do so in another thread).
It's unreasonable because there has to be a time when enough is enough. You still didn't answer my question: when will enough time pass so that we don't have to excuse people when they do this? When will minorities reach the point where they've gotten their "revenge" for being put down? When do we move forward? We are constantly told that this must be done and yet everytime someone of the "unpriveledged" status slips up, there is an excuse. When does that end or will the finger pointing go on forever? If it is never ending, don't lecture us of the "priveledged" position about not making advances in race affairs. Thanks.
[/quote]
I never said that the finger pointing should last indefinitely. But to think that after a good 150 years+ of slavery, another 100 of segregation and Jim Crow, and not even including any more modern and less obvious forms of inequality, that its okay to say, enough is enough.
Yes, as we both have Italian ancestry we both know it wasn't just african americans who got the shaft, but they got it especially bad and perhaps still do.
No, we can't allow a tit for every tat that's ever occurred throughout our country's history; however, to be like (and i'm not really attributing this anything you've said) look, we've made you equal under the law and done our best to try and improve your socio-economic fortune, you need to get over what happened in the past and not harbor any animosity. I just don't see that as being realistic right now. Heck I'm still not even sure that despite what the law says, everyone is equal under it. So while its obvious to you and I both that Obama or the average black guy can't and shouldn't hold a grudge forever, I guess I can maybe see why they may think the typical white person has some sort of racial aversion considering our history. And perhaps I can sort of in a sense be a little more forgiving when they blurt out a plain ole dumb remark than I would from someone or some group who hasn't been subjected to what other groups have had.
And you, from my interpretation from what you've said (and I probably am wrong), seem to think that now that everyone's equal (be it equal under the law, or has equal opportunity or both) everyone should get the same sort of repremand for similar offenses. And if that's actually true, maybe you have something but...
I guess when I see it, things currently aren't equal enough, and I'm not advocating some sort of massive shake up of the existing order (Opebo's right, i favor the status quo too much), I don't see the speakers as necessarily being equal in the first place (unfortunately, and maybe Phil you're right, I'm a hypocrite) and thus I don't necessarily see the meaning behind the words (despite the textual similarities) as being the same and thus meriting the same sort of rebuke.
So yes, both Obama and Hypothetical Hillary should be rebuked, but I can't see them getting the same admonishment.
Shrug.
