Two Quotes From Barack Obama:
"The point I was making was not that Grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person, who, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know, you know, there's a reaction that's been bred in our experiences that don't go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way, and that's just the nature of race in our society."
"It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." --explaining his troubles winning over some working-class voters
Um, ok. If this isn't genetic fallacy, what is? If you are reading this and have found that you've been struck with confusion because you have no idea what 'genetic fallacy' means, then let me help you out. It's defined as a conclusion is based on an argument that the origins of a person, idea, institute, or theory determine its character, nature, or worth. Hmm, in the first quote, the one about his grandmother, Obama claims that all people (not just whites), are prejudice toward other races because there is some inescapable force influencing them from within. So racism is...natural? According to what Obama said, it's not grandma's fault she says some bad things every now and then. If not, please correct me now, but that's what I got.
In the second quote, which I'm sure nearly all of you have heard before, Obama basically comes out and calls all of middle America ignorant, too dumb to understand their own frustrations. What? He wants to be president of the US and is putting himself on a pedestal, like he's better, more educated. I wonder how many people from that part of the country he's actually stopped to talk to in order to come up with that opinion. Maybe instead of preaching in Europe, he should start talking to his own country because that is one of the most prejudice things I have heard in my lifetime from someone who's supposed to lead this country.
ANOTHER ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT, PLEASE DON'T BE A OFFENDED, ARGUE WITH ME ALL YOU WANT. :)
7 comments:
Oh, dear, sweet, foolish Sean. No, that is NOT what Barack was saying. Did he say "if she sees somebody on the street who's black"? Answer: no. And even if he had, yes, racism IS natural. It goes back to cavemen...or, wait, you're Conservative...you probably don't believe in evolution? Regardless, our ancestors had to fear other tribes, because other tribes wanted few things more than to kill them. So, from a genetic standpoint, it's completely natural to have a certain amount of xenophobia; and if nothing else, fearing that which we don't know is not only natural, but smart. I'm not saying that all black people are inherently evil, nor than all white people are inherently good; I'm not even saying the majority of each group is good or bad, respectively. But if I'm Barack's grandmother, all old and shit, walking down the street alone with my purse, and I see a big tattooed black guy wearing a doo-rag (spelling...?), a 50 Cent shirt, and sneakers coming my way, I'm probably gonna be on edge too. Especially if I grew up in a time where fearing black people was the norm. But if, in the same situation, I see a big neo-nazi looking white guy coming down my way, I'm gonna be equally frightened. Which is what Obama is saying.
As for his second quote, which, yes, we've all heard before, thanks to Republicans jumping all over any chance to make Obama look bad (something he makes very difficult, since he's such a badass), firstly, when has Obama ever "preach[ed] in Europe"? But secondly, and more importantly, most of middle America IS "ignorant, too dumb to understand their own frustrations." Now, I'm not agreeing that this is what he was saying (it isn't), but if it was (it wasn't), it would be completely right. Likewise, IF this is what he was saying, he was NOT saying he is better than those he was discussing; he was not being "elitist", as so many Conservative pundits would have us believe (thank you Fox News...fair and balanced my ass). Obama was simply saying that these people have that same fear of those who are different that we previously discussed. Could he have put it a bit more eloquently? Definitely. But that's no excuse for Republicans to turn Obama into some sort of high and mighty monster, determined to disrupt the middle class American way of life. In fact, much of Barack's economic policy is designed to help middle class Americans.
first off, to make a simple clarification, I do believe in evolution. Now, back to the argument, you do make a valid point that racism may have have a natural installation, however, as humans, this is something that can be overcome. Just like a sex drive is natural and selfishness is nature, racism may fall into the same category. But, that's what makes humans different from animals, where we have the ability to think and discipline ourselves. I don't think I have to elaborate on this idea, I hope you understand what I'm saying, and if you're lost, I'm at band everyday. What I will take further is why I think Obama is way out of place in the way he put out his opinion. As a person running as the first elected black candidate for president in US history, where he will ultimately take on the responsibility of helping his country (if elected) get over the race issue, I believe that there was a much better way of presenting the theory that racism is 'natural.' And if it is natural, the responsibility is a lot greater because it becomes a legit mental challenge. As a leader, the way Obama came out with his opinion on racism was inappropriate because it was like he was admitting defeat. It's as if he said, racism...it's engraved in our brain, nothing we can do about it, that's a pity. Instead of presenting the idea as a problem that the country could rise above and overcome, he just said there's nothing he (and we) could really do about it.
Glen, Obama was all over Europe this summer telling them about all his policies and acting as if he already was president. Maybe you got confused by my use of the word "preach" but his summer campaign is what I was referring to. And while I'm on this note (it'll be brief), why did Obama speak to thousands of Europeans who can't even vote for him, yet pass up on the opportunity of talking to American troops fighting so that his family could live in freedom? Because he's got no balls to stand up in front of real MEN and tell them his ridicules ideas on foreign policy. He would have gotten booed. No hostile nation respects "peace talk."
As for the actually quote about religion and guns, I liked the fact that you could neither agree with what Obama said nor argue why I was wrong. Again, I go back to what it means to be a leader. You cannot, as a candidate for President come out as say that middle americans are too ignorant to even understand their own frustrations. A true leader does not say that. As an example, the captain on a football cannot start getting up in someone's grill every time they make a mistake, or call a certain player dumb because they forgot the snap count. They could, but then what kind of team will you have, what kind of chemistry? none. The leader will create enemies and eventually lose followers. This is essentially what Obama has already started. Just because you believe something or see something, doesn't mean you always say it. A good leader would know this.
Finally, Obama absolutely acts as if he's on a pedestal. He already thinks he's president, he talks as if he's smarter than everybody, and he receives WAY more media coverage than McCain. The New York Times is all Obama, and so is CNN and NBC. Did McCain's family get a huge magazine article for themselves? No. Opera is all Obama too, and do you know how many people she influences? Every women on ABC's morning show "The View" (with the exception of one) is pro Obama. The list of media attention goes on and on for Obama, so please don't gripe to me about how FOXNEWS is a little bias in the direction of McCain. A better complaint would be why the possible first lady, Mrs. Obama, doesn't even really like America.
Sean, I think you're reading too much into some of these quotes, and putting a lot of words in mouths.
First of all, yes, old white people tend to be racist because when they grew up, racism was the norm. My grandparents occasionally give off-color remarks.
Obama's not saying that racism is natural. He's definitely not saying it's OK. He's pointing out the reality that we live in. There are people, who despite what they say and what they try to be, still are a little bothered by the color of someone's skin.
Secondly, I don't understand how you're getting that Obama is calling these people stupid. He's pointing out that when people are stressed and under pressure, they often look to a scape goat or vent their pressure and energy towards something they understand. It didn't come off as the most eloquent quote, and you aren't doing anyone justice by nit-picking at it.
As for Obama thinking he's better than us? Well, I sure as hell hope he thinks that. In the words of John Stewart, he's running for a job, where if he's good at it, they might carve his head into a mountain. I hope he's smarter and more educated than me. He's potentially the next ruler of the free world. I sure hope he's a better man than the most of us.
I'm just going to point out one thing and that he never said racism was a natural sentiment we are born with-- "there's a reaction that's been bred in our experiences that don't go away." he links it back to experiences, so I do very much agree with him on that matter. we generate a great variety of feelings, stereotypes, and even prejudices from experiences; even the good ones may produce prejudices: ie, i had an amazing experience at a coldstone ice cream shop on monday--now i think that place is incredible and way better than any other ice cream!--- if the situation was reversed, and i had a shitty time then i would not like cold stone.
ok so i know that wasn't an example of racism, but i just wanted to show that experiences breed prejudices.
...yea thats all i have for now
heres a tip: read the quotes you post.
"there's a reaction that's been bred in our experiences that don't go away"
if it were "genetic fallacy" would the judgment be based on experience? no, it would be objective, universal, constant, if martians came to earth and saw black people they would think theyre scary, but thats not at all what hes saying.
albert einstein says that "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." our instincts are developed throughout our lives by the culmination of our experiences. people who spend a lot of time around people of different races probably wouldnt bat an eye at a black man walking down the street, but for someone who only sees them on the news in relation to gang violence or some such, yeah its going to cause a knee-jerk reaction of fear.
why would people be afraid of whats different? because in order to be rational about the topic we must doubt it. to question is to doubt, and when you doubt something you are not going to automatically be comfortable with its existence; its essence and validity must be questioned. for instance: a monkey finds some red berries in the woods, he doesnt eat them right away but when he sees another monkey eat one he feels secure and chows down.
some aspects of humanity get a bit too much credit, we are simple creatures in a convoluted world.
and yes, im pretty sure (not 100% because im an ass) that he is smarter than me, you, and perhaps a few of us combined. (note: i cant honestly say that about his opponent, or their predecessor)
hahaha sorry michelle, i read that line and jumped on it, didnt bother to read all the posts... redundancy for the win!
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