# A proposal to address a racial injustice **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 21, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292 "2009-01-21T13:46:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/81 "2009-01-21T19:26:32Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Oh come on. The guy has enough to do without copyediting the text of the sermons at his own inauguration and going over them with an eye to every word that might offend anyone in the audience. Next thing, somebody will propose he keep an eye on the White House tennis court schedule so nobody hogs court three. Yeah one minute he’s brilliant at managing perception the next he has better things to do. _shrugs_ Maybe he didn’t go over it, maybe he did. All in all it was a mistake. Not on the level of Al Sharpton but an unfortunate comment nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/82 "2009-01-21T19:27:34Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > He meant the other whites not you. Is Contrapuntal ‘one of the good ones’? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/83 "2009-01-21T19:29:03Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > I understand the feeling and have several friends who say “move on” and “get over it”. It occurs to me that if we are annoyed and angered by that little perhaps we can find more patience in understanding the feelings of those who have experienced racism more consistently and in a much more hurtful way. Asking people to be racially sensitive in a moment where we are trying to build unity isn’t the equivalent of saying, “Get over it.” ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/84 "2009-01-21T19:30:05Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I heard Lowery on the radio on Monday talking about his speech. He said Obama’s team had limited him to two minutes, but implied heavily that if Mr. Saddleback went over his two minutes, Lowery would go over his as well. > > Even in the weird chance that Obama decided his time would be best spent reading over all the speeches and prayers prior to inauguration, it sounds as though he wouldn’t have caught this little tidbit, since it appeared (IIRC) after the two-minute mark in Lowery’s speech. > > And really, talk about your molehills turned into mountains. > > Daniel Caring at all is turning a molehill into a mountain? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/85 "2009-01-21T19:31:09Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Nothing “happened.” Nothing offensive was said. This is a manufactured outrage. The problem is something offensive WAS said. You insisting that it wasn’t, doesn’t change it. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/86 "2009-01-21T19:33:03Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Right. The same old tired one you trot out every time anyone suggests that just maybe it’s possible that a white person has been a victim of hate, or racism, or stereotyping. It’s what I say when victimization is being invoked without cause. No white person was remotely victimized by that silly poem. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/87 "2009-01-21T19:39:59Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It’s what I say when victimization is being invoked without cause. No white person was remotely victimized by that silly poem. Is it possible that white people were ‘slightly alienated’? Or are white people’s feelings just irrelevant on the matter in areas where they don’t exactly conform with the feelings of black people? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/88 "2009-01-21T19:43:21Z")
You know, when they come to confiscate all the guns, they’re going to take all the white folk’s guns first, then pause to re-assess the policy. That’s a true fact, you could look it up. Me, don’t much care, don’t own a gun, and resigned from “white” in '68. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/89 "2009-01-21T19:46:18Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I stubbed my toe on the corner of the bed this morning. Obama’s president, so it happened on his watch, and it’s his responsibility. Possibly one of the lamest posts you’ve ever written isn’t it? If his staff put the bed in the middle of the room, then it would be his fault. But judging from your response, I think you know that. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/90 "2009-01-21T19:51:03Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Is it possible that white people were ‘slightly alienated’? Or are white people’s feelings just irrelevant on the matter in areas where they don’t exactly conform with the feelings of black people? I don’t think any insult was intended in the first place. I think it was forced rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![spike404](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@spike404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spike404)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/91 "2009-01-21T19:52:07Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It’s what I say when victimization is being invoked without cause. No white person was remotely victimized by that silly poem. Correct. No victimization. Insulted? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/92 "2009-01-21T19:52:35Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Yeah one minute he’s brilliant at managing perception the next he has better things to do. _shrugs_ False dichotomy here. He’s good at this, but that doesn’t imply he personally reviews everything. Carter is considered a terrible president in part because he insisted on micromanaging crap that he shouldn’t have been bothering with when there were more important things to do. [He really did waste time on things like this at the beginning of his term](http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/pres/fallpass.htm): > [@](#): > > He would leave for a weekend at Camp David laden with thick briefing books, would pore over budget tables to check the arithmetic, and, during his first six months in office, would personally review all requests to use the White House tennis court. (Although he flatly denied to Bill Moyers in his November 1978 interview that he had ever stooped to such labors, the in-house tennis enthusiasts, of whom I was perhaps the most shameless, dispatched brief notes through his secretary asking to use the court on Tuesday afternoons while he was at a congressional briefing, or a Saturday morning, while he was away. I always provided spaces where he could check Yes or No; Carter would make his decision and send the note back, initialed J.) > [@mswas](#): > > Maybe he didn’t go over it, maybe he did. There really is no maybe here. If you can find a cite that Obama or his team personally reviewed the benediction, I’m open to changing my mind. But the idea that he was managing the words of preachers (this includes Warren also) is absurd. It’d be an incredibly self-important thing to do and to much of the public it would look horrendous. ---
**Author:** ![haymarketmartyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/35a633/32.png) [@haymarketmartyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/haymarketmartyr)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/93 "2009-01-21T19:56:51Z")
really slow day, huh? ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/94 "2009-01-21T20:03:02Z")
Seriously. This is the kind of thing you have to really look for and then \*work \*’ for that outraged lather. Let’s look at the excerpt again, shall we? > [@](#): > > “.. we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right…” Erm… y’all are \*aware \*of the historical context, right? Is the OP not sufficient to demonstrate that perhaps there’s still work to be done? Alternatively, did some of you eat a breakfast of brain tumor cereal with some pms poured over it this morning? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/95 "2009-01-21T20:04:10Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > There really is no maybe here. If you can find a cite that Obama or his team personally reviewed the benediction, I’m open to changing my mind. But the idea that he was managing the words of preachers (this includes Warren also) is absurd. It’d be an incredibly self-important thing to do and to much of the public it would look horrendous. There is a huge difference between writing someone’s speech/prayer and knowing what’s going to be in it. Surely you know that. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/96 "2009-01-21T20:15:02Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t think any insult was intended in the first place. I think it was forced rhyme. That’s why I say poor choice of words, more than anything. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/97 "2009-01-21T20:16:11Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > False dichotomy here. He’s good at this, but that doesn’t imply he personally reviews everything. Carter is considered a terrible president in part because he insisted on micromanaging crap that he shouldn’t have been bothering with when there were more important things to do. [He really did waste time on things like this at the beginning of his term](http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/pres/fallpass.htm): Well managing one’s inauguration, particularly the half hour surrounding 12 noon isn’t precisely the same thing. But I concede htat he probably did not review everything. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/98 "2009-01-21T20:22:13Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > False dichotomy here. He’s good at this, but that doesn’t imply he personally reviews everything. Carter is considered a terrible president in part because he insisted on micromanaging crap that he shouldn’t have been bothering with when there were more important things to do. [He really did waste time on things like this at the beginning of his term](http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/pres/fallpass.htm): What does Carter have to do with anything? What did Obama have to do that was more important than sit around all day at the inauguration? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/99 "2009-01-21T20:41:38Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > What does Carter have to do with anything? What did Obama have to do that was more important than sit around all day at the inauguration? Reviewing the material of half an hour takes about, well half an hour. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292/100 "2009-01-21T20:45:23Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Asking people to be racially sensitive in a moment where we are trying to build unity isn’t the equivalent of saying, “Get over it.” okay. There’s such a thing as being too racially sensitive. Interpreting a passing remark like that as a slam against all white people is is it IMHO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-to-address-a-racial-injustice/482292.md?page=6)