I just tuned in to the festivities., and they keep telling me that the new President is BLACK. I had no idea. Oh, he’s also African-American, which means black. But still, I am shocked! SHOCKED!
We get it. The man is black. Can we just move on now? We all know he’s the first black president, don’t we? He didn’t try to sneak one by all of us on his application. Is there anyone in this country that doesn’t know he’s black? Stop beating the horse and call him the President. Not the First Black President.
I was waiting for the theme song to “The Jeffersons” to be playing when they walked along Pennsylvania Avenue. “We’re movin’ on up!”
I pit the media for acting like we are a nation of idiots (wait… maybe we are). Obama was elected, and everyone knows his skin color. Is it really something that needs to be mentioned every five minutes? I realize the historic nature of the whole thing, but for crying out loud… let it go. I’m sure we’ll all discover that a black guy can screw up just as royally as a white guy. And THAT’S what Dr. King was talking about. Content of character, not the color of skin.
I don’t care if the man is plaid. He’s my president. I wish him nothing but success.
PS. Rumor has it that Michele Obama is the first black First Lady. Scoop!
I think you’re over reacting. I think it’s a pretty big deal that a country that was founded on equality, yet had mired itself in slavery and other forms of institutionalized racism, can finally claim to be moving past that. The founding principles in the Declaration of Independence have never been closer to reality. I think that’s a pretty big deal. It might not seem that big a deal to some of us, but for the millions of black kids, the world looks different. This is a wonderful shift.
Now, if the media keeps going on and on about this on Day 2,3,187, etc. I’m SO with you. But for today, it seems appropriate.
Look, it’s Inauguration Day of the first non-white President this country has ever seen. Therefore, YES, it’s historical. It’s important. It’s something worth mentioning. It’s worth talking about for a while - the country’s 233 years old, and this is a major first.
So yea, try to find it within yourself to put up with, just a little while longer, a discussion of the major difference between this President and every single other President we’ve ever had. And what that difference might mean for the people of this country.
Has his color changed significantly since election day?
Didn’t think so.
We’ve had 2+ months of it. I think it would say a lot more if it wasn’t acknowledged at all at this point. Let’s judge him on “the content of his character, not the color of his skin.” Until we stop making it an issue, it will be an issue. He was elected in November. It just doesn’t matter any more. The moment has passed.
That’s true. But how is talking about it ad nauseum changing racism?
Black people know he’s black. White people know he’s black. Obama knows. White people voted for Obama. So did black people. I don’t think repeating it over and over today changed anything.
His mother was white; doesn’t that mean that the honkies can claim him, too?
Honestly, his ‘blackness’, or lack thereof, was way down on the list of reasons I voted for him. I’m just hoping that the nightly news doesn’t start off each broadcast with, “…and in the political news today, the BLACK president signed into law…”
This is a silly pitting. Part of what made today so historic was that Barack Obama is black. Of course the media is going to frequently mention what makes today so historic over and over. If it had been Hillary, it would have been gender. If it were McCain, the fact that he would have been the oldest first-term president. Everyone knows these things, just like everyone knows as they watch Neil Armstrong walk on the moon that this is the first time it has happened, but that doesn’t mean the media coverage is going to ignore it.
It is pretty history. If, like magellan said, they talk about it constantly during his presidency, it’ll get annoying, but this demotivational says it pretty well:
for the record, I didn’t vote for him because he’s black (I think voting for a guy BECAUSE he’s black is almost (or just) as bad as NOT voting for a guy because he’s black) I voted for him because I think he’ll make a much better president than McCain (or gods forbid Palin) would have made
It’s being repeated because this country is just so fucked up when it comes to issues of race. You know it’s fucked up when almost every black person says they didn’t think someting like this would happen in their lifetime. To me thats MAJOR.
Hell, I’m white, within a month of turning 60, and I for damn sure never thought it would happen in my lifetime. That Obama is black was icing on a fabulous cake: not why I voted for this extraordinarily gifted man, but an extra added bonus.