On a podcast with comic Marc Maron—because comedians ask such probing questions and have such high journalistic standards—President Barack Obama, while musing on the topic of race, said, among other things:
“The legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, discrimination — in in almost every institution of our lives — that casts a long shadow, that’s still part of our DNA that’s passed on. Racism, we are not cured of it. And it’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say “nigger” in public. That’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don’t, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.”
Whatever the pros and cons of that statement—and it really isn’t especially remarkable—, it is Obama’s use of the word “nigger” that has cable news and the internet buzzing, fainting and drooling. To take some media idiots at random…oh, let’s say, the Fox and Friends crew, along with some commentators Fox dug up someplace. you would think that Obama was doing a Samuel L.Jackson imitation.
If a President is going to talk about racism and raise the perfectly relevant issue of racial epithets such as nigger, it is reasonable, competent, civil and appropriate for him to speak the word he is talking about. Of course it is. No, “Fox contributor David Webb,” whoever you are, it is NOT “beneath the office of the president” to say the words that express the idea you intend to express. It would be beneath the office of the Presidency” for the grown man in that office to use juvenile code-words like “N-word,” which is the way my wife and I talk around our dog, since Rugby goes ballistic if we say “walk,” “outside,” “nap.” “treat, “cheese,” “food,” or “The Adventures of Lassie” out loud. Someone tell various news outlets that the undignified, foolish ones are all of them, treating their audiences or readers like children (or Jack Russell Terriers) and playing hangman and “Wheel of Fortune”—“He said n- – – – -!” I’ll buy a vowel, Pat!”—when they should be telling us exactly what the President said.
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you! Now maybe if people are talking about the word nigger, they will use the word they are talking about, because that’s how human beings communicate.
Except on Fox news. I swear, sometimes, I don’t know what the hell they are doing.
Ethics Alarms 
Soooo, can I now tell the sprinkler joke (what do you get if you put three Hispanic guys, one Chinese guy, and four black guys together)?
I don’t get it. Where does the “L” come from?
I dunno, where does it come from?
Don’t ask me, it’s your joke!
Maybe one of them is a lesbian…
Haha, no. And no, I won’t tell the punchline here, it’s casually racist.
I am surprised you are defending this. The problem is not that he used the word per se — I get that people should say what they mean. The problem is that he is using the word in furtherance of his and other Democrats’ efforts to score cheap political points in a way that is ultimately divisive. It is the same message Hillary gave when she criticized Trump (though not by name), which you rightly condemned. Its “lets have a discussion about race, but if you disagree then shut up.” Obama and leftists like him would be the first one’s to criticize use of the word if somebody they disagreed with uttered it.
People are finally starting to tune Obama out, so this time he ups the ante by saying a naughty word, knowing that he can get away with it (and get headlines) while anybody who disagrees with him can’t. There are worse things in the world, but please don’t portray it as ethically courageous. It wasn’t.
I don’t disagree with you, Dan, but the post wasn’t about Obama’s usual race-dividing and base-inflaming tactics, but his use of the word. My approval goes no further than that.
Oh — I over-read your endorsement.
http://m.memegenerator.net/instance/22122141
That’s Uncle Ruckus, from “The Boondocks”.
How the heck did they find Jason Bourne and why is he acting like such a pansy? (Let’s see who catches that obscure reference)
Have you apologized to your dog for comparing him or her to a fox contributor.
He wouldn’t mind too much. Comparing him to a Fox Terrier, though…Jack Russells just hate that.
Personally, I hate the idea of even having a word that is considered “vile, horrible and should be banned”. I realize that the Constitutional guarantee of free speech is aimed at LAWS limiting it, but what about free thought? Are we to be told, next, what we can think? “Nigger” is, in fact, a nasty word, and should not be used in intelligent, rational conversation, but who decides? I have just stated my own personal belief, but do I have ANY right to enforce that belief on anyone else? I think not.
I think not as well, as you know. If one word can be banned, any word can be banned.
Back in 2012, there was a web page on Regretsy where you could download several clips of Obama swearing profusely. I recall one where he said “I ain’t your bitch, nigger! Get your own damn fries!” Alas, that page (and its hilarious sound clips) are lost to time, though I did find a description of the page:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021362990
!!!!
If you follow the link, you’ll see that it’s not quite as bad as it sounds. The clips were all taken from an audiobook written and read by Obama, and all of them were quotes of Ray, Obama’s foul-mouthed high school buddy. Still, it was really funny hearing Obama cuss like that, and I wish I could share it with you.