Nana-J- I sincerely respect your willingness to be open-minded about Obama’s “typical white person” remark. I will admit to perhaps being overly sensitive to racial stereotyping due to my own experiences growing up as a “mixed” child- Puerto-Rican/Native American/Irish/English. But I would never make a statement declaring my mother or grandmother a typical Puerto Rican, especially in a derogatory way. Similarly I would never refer to my late father as a typical Irish man, or a typical white man.
Growing up surrounded by people of many hues and multiple languages taught me to judge people on their words and deeds, not something as arbitrary as pigmentation, or the lack thereof. Therefore when I hear someone use the word “typical” applied to any racial or ethnic sub-group, that throws up a red flag to me that the person is either a lazy, sloppy thinker, or a genuine bigot. I do not use broad-sweeping generalizations based on race or ethnicity; and I expect no less from someone wanting my vote.
BTW- I also think that purposely exposing young children to hate-speak amounts to child abuse- unless one actually takes the time to explain to the children why some people feel the way a Rev. Wright does, and how that kind of negative thinking can be damaging to a person. Being exposed to racial animosity at a young age is not a positive experience (I can personally attest to that). To willingly do it to your own kids is thoughtless, at the very least.
I’d like to think that the majority of Rev. Wright’s sermons were not like the snippets we’ve heard. But how do I know? Obama left himself open to these types of questions about his own beliefs, and his judgment in exposing his children to this ideology, by choosing to remain in such a controversial church for so long.
