# Obama and Divisiveness **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 8, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286 "2016-03-08T15:38:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/281 "2016-05-20T20:14:30Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > There you go. If that doesn’t sound like its giving Zimmerman a burden of guilt it shouldn’t be, or exonerating Trayvon, as if he was just another victim of the White Oppression Machine (even tho Zimmerman wasn’t white). No, it doesn’t sound like that at all. He wants Americans to “take this with the seriousness it deserves” and “get to the bottom of exactly what happened.” A young man died, so I don’t think you can suggest it’s not a serious event. “Getting to the bottom of exactly what happened” is also something all Americans should be able to view as appropriate. It’s about as non-divisive as one can be. I have no idea where you’re seeing White Oppression Machine in the President’s comments. No idea at all. ---
**Author:** ![DerekMichaels00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DerekMichaels00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DerekMichaels00)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/282 "2016-05-20T20:21:01Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > No, it doesn’t sound like that at all. He wants Americans to “take this with the seriousness it deserves” and “get to the bottom of exactly what happened.” A young man died, so I don’t think you can suggest it’s not a serious event. “Getting to the bottom of exactly what happened” is also something all Americans should be able to view as appropriate. It’s about as non-divisive as one can be. I have no idea where you’re seeing White Oppression Machine in the President’s comments. No idea at all. he should’ve left out the “If I had a son” part. He had to know that wouldn’t go over well with some people. Or he also coulda mentioned something about crime too, to at least balance things. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/283 "2016-05-20T20:21:11Z")
Yeah **DerekMichaels00** , I have no idea how you are reading that into what he actually said. His statement was about as neutral as it could possibly be and specifically said that we need to get to the bottom of what happened. You state that he spoke without having all of the information, but what he said was that we need to get all of the information. You seem to be creating most of what you don’t like about Omaba in your own head. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/284 "2016-05-20T20:21:47Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > There you go. If that doesn’t sound like its giving Zimmerman a burden of guilt it shouldn’t be, or exonerating Trayvon, as if he was just another victim of the White Oppression Machine (even tho Zimmerman wasn’t white). Strike three. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/285 "2016-05-20T20:23:09Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > he should’ve left out the “If I had a son” part. He had to know that wouldn’t go over well with some people. Or he also coulda mentioned something about crime too, to at least balance things. It is a factual statement that if Barack and Michelle Obama had a son, he would be a black male. Are you disputing that? The “some people” that it didn’t go over well with maybe need to do some soul searching to figure out exactly why that upset them. Hint, if simply relating to a pair of grieving parents is something they find offensive, then the issue is with them. ---
**Author:** ![DerekMichaels00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DerekMichaels00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DerekMichaels00)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/286 "2016-05-20T20:29:15Z")
> [@Airbeck](#): > > It is a factual statement that if Barack and Michelle Obama had a son, he would be a black male. If that isn’t making it about race before all the facts were known, which it wasn’t actually about, given what transpired and was exposed at the trial, and Zimmerman being not white himself (in fact, like Obama, Zimmerman was half white and thus his son would’ve looked more like Zimmerman’s son than Trayvon), I don’t know what is making it about race. Obama should’ve done what Clinton did about OJ; keep quiet until all was said, tried, and done. Obama was pleasing his liberal base, not trying to be a unifier of the country, which is POTUS should always try to do. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/287 "2016-05-20T20:29:37Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > he should’ve left out the “If I had a son” part. He had to know that wouldn’t go over well with some people. The same people that are angry simply because Obama wakes up every morning? > [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > Or he also coulda mentioned something about crime too, to at least balance things. Based on what evidence of what crime exactly? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/288 "2016-05-20T20:35:05Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > If that isn’t making it about race before all the facts were known, which it wasn’t actually about, given what transpired and was exposed at the trial, and Zimmerman being not white himself **(in fact, like Obama, Zimmerman was half white and thus his son would’ve looked more like Zimmerman’s son than Trayvon)**,… \ WTF? Stop. Seriously. > [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > …I don’t know what is making it about race. You are. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/289 "2016-05-20T20:41:31Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > Obama was pleasing his liberal base, not trying to be a unifier of the country, which is POTUS should always try to do. Obama could have stayed quiet, or he could have said more. Either way, someone would be unhappy, and someone would accuse him of something. I think he found the perfect balance (as he usually does). ---
**Author:** ![DerekMichaels00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DerekMichaels00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DerekMichaels00)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/290 "2016-05-20T20:43:50Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > The same people that are angry simply because Obama wakes up every morning? I’m not angry Obama wakes up. I like Obamacare; it streamlines the process of buying it instead of being hoodwinked by some insurance salesman. I’m pro-choice to the core, even for late term. His SCOTUS judges are great like that. I’m happy he bailed out the banks; it saved the economy. I simply do not like his approach to race; it draws too much from the academic left (both whites and non-whites there), which seems to forget that whites are still the majority of America and that indeed, black crime rates need to be brought down. It also plays into white guilt. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/291 "2016-05-20T20:50:52Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > I simply do not like his approach to race; it draws too much from the academic left (both whites and non-whites there), which seems to forget that whites are still the majority of America and that indeed, black crime rates need to be brought down. It also plays into white guilt. I actually think that whites like me, (still a majority) benefit greatly from productive discussions about race generally, and specifically from people like President Obama who are so good at it. I don’t think I have “white guilt,” but I certainty understand that things are, unfortunately, still easier for white people in the U.S. Not everything said about race by the “academic left” is necessarily brilliant or even helpful, but on the whole, I think it moves us in the right direction. I’ve seen nothing from the “academic left” that implies that white people are not still in the majority, but that’s not really the point. In fact, it is because white people have been and still are the majority, that we need to remind ourselves now and then (constantly) that racial issues remain. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/292 "2016-05-20T20:50:57Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Strike three. Honestly, I was expecting at least a foul ball or two. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/293 "2016-05-20T20:56:44Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Honestly, I was expecting at least a foul ball or two. Oh, it was foul, alright. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/294 "2016-05-20T20:59:15Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > I’m not angry Obama wakes up. I like Obamacare; it streamlines the process of buying it instead of being hoodwinked by some insurance salesman. I’m pro-choice to the core, even for late term. His SCOTUS judges are great like that. I’m happy he bailed out the banks; it saved the economy. > > I simply do not like his approach to race; it draws too much from the academic left (both whites and non-whites there), which seems to forget that whites are still the majority of America and that indeed, black crime rates need to be brought down. It also plays into white guilt. You sure could’ve fooled me based on the multitude of criticisms you’ve made of Obama in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![DerekMichaels00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DerekMichaels00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DerekMichaels00)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/295 "2016-05-20T21:00:07Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I actually think that whites like me, (still a majority) benefit greatly from productive discussions about race generally, and specifically from people like President Obama who are so good at it. I don’t think I have “white guilt,” but I certainty understand that things are, unfortunately, still easier for white people in the U.S. This so-called “white privilege” is not some “privilege” at all…in all societies, the majority race/ethnicity is the one in the best societal position. Try being a white in Zimbabwe today, a French in Canada (you could prob talk about English-speaker privilege there), etc. Its not worth trying to “eliminate” white “privilege” by whining about it to elicit guilt and voluntary lowering of standards for things, erasing history, radically changing culture, or expectations of behavior. How come Hispanics and other groups which had a rough start don’t make the kind of thing of it some AAs make (tho some far-left types want to make all non-whites into “marginalized peoples”)? ---
**Author:** ![DerekMichaels00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DerekMichaels00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DerekMichaels00)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/296 "2016-05-20T21:01:36Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > You sure could’ve fooled me based on the multitude of criticisms you’ve made of Obama in this thread. sometimes, its hard not to be upset with him given how he treats Israel, especially when the Jews were the most friendly non-black group to the civil rights movement, to Democratic and progressive causes over the years, etc. It smacks of ungratefulness, which I personally am insulted by. It then leads me to look at his worldview. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/297 "2016-05-20T21:10:32Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > This so-called “white privilege” is not some “privilege” at all…in all societies, the majority race/ethnicity is the one in the best societal position. Try being a white in Zimbabwe today, a French in Canada (you could prob talk about English-speaker privilege there), etc. Its not worth trying to “eliminate” white “privilege” by whining about it to elicit guilt and voluntary lowering of standards for things, erasing history, radically changing culture, or expectations of behavior. How come Hispanics and other groups which had a rough start don’t make the kind of thing of it some AAs make (tho some far-left types want to make all non-whites into “marginalized peoples”)? Don’t you believe in American Exceptionalism? We’re supposed to be the best, partly because of our ideals that include not giving white people “the best societal position.” I disagree completely that “it’s not worth trying” to improve things, and I don’t think productive discussions about race equals “whining about it to elicit guilt and voluntary lowing of standards, etc etc” Nor does it require “racially changing culture.” If you think you’re hearing that, especially from President Obama, you’ll have to provide a cite. [initial comment here removed by author due to inflammatory language] ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/298 "2016-05-20T21:13:19Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > sometimes, its hard not to be upset with him given how he treats Israel, especially when the Jews were the most friendly non-black group to the civil rights movement, to Democratic and progressive causes over the years, etc. It smacks of ungratefulness, which I personally am insulted by. It then leads me to look at his worldview. Strike four See post 191 up-thread > [@](#): > > In recent interviews with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that aired this afternoon, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and President Shimon Peres praised Obama’s commitment to Israel: > > BARAK: I should tell you honestly that this administration under President Obama is doing, in regard to our security, more than anything that I can remember in the past. … In terms of the support for our security, the cooperation of our intelligence, the sharing of sorts in a very open way even when there are differences. > > PERES: When I look at the record of President Obama concerning the major issues, security, I think it’s a highly satisfactory record, from an Israeli point of view. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/299 "2016-05-20T21:18:00Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > I simply do not like his approach to race; it draws too much from the academic left (both whites and non-whites there), which seems to forget that whites are still the majority of America and that indeed, black crime rates need to be brought down. It also plays into white guilt. You simply don’t like him personally for his background, since once again you chose (and it was a choice by you, considering that he said nothing that wasn’t straight down the middle and non-judgmental to either side) to interpret his statement in a negative way. It has nothing to do with what he said, since what he said is nothing like the way you describe it. You have a blind spot about this man for some reason, and are incapable of reasonably or rationally judging anything he says regarding race or religion, and always interpret it in the worst way possible. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/300 "2016-05-20T21:19:10Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > sometimes, its hard not to be upset with him given how he treats Israel, especially when the Jews were the most friendly non-black group to the civil rights movement, to Democratic and progressive causes over the years, etc. It smacks of ungratefulness, which I personally am insulted by. It then leads me to look at his worldview. More non-factual nonsense. Obama hasn’t done any of this and you have no basis for this criticism. Moshe Ya’alon, Netanyahu’s Defense Minister, has criticized the Netanyahu administration far, far more harshly than Obama ever has. You’re just incapable of judgint this rationally. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286.md?page=16)