Obama: Racism Not Just About Not Saying ‘N***** In Public’

President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks at the Annual Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in San Francisco, Friday, June 19, 2015., about gun violence. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

President Obama joined comedian Marc Maron for his “WTF” podcast on Friday, and used the N-word while explaining that racism still persists in America.

“The legacy of slavery, Jim Crow and discrimination in almost every institution of our lives—that casts a long shadow. And that’s still part of our DNA that’s passed on. We’re not cured of it,” Obama said in the interview taped on Friday and published on Monday.

“Racism, we are not cured of. And it’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say ‘nigger’ in public,” the President continued. “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.”

Obama also addressed the shooting at a historic black church in Charleston last week and his call for stricter gun laws.

“It’s not enough just to feel bad,” he said about the attack. “There are actions that could be taken to make events like this less likely. One of those actions we could take would be to enhance some basic common-sense gun safety laws.”

Listen to Obama’s entire interview with Maron here.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. Right wing outrage over Obama saying the N-word in 5…4…3…2…1…

  2. Fixed that for you.

  3. Unfortunately, getting anyone to see that is an uphill battle even among Democrats and Progressives.

  4. Good. I’m glad he used that word. No way it was accidental or unstrategic.

  5. Avatar for nineo nineo says:

    I like “no more elections” Obama. He’s clearly trying to make a very valid point - but I don’t think he minds how much this exposes the ugliest part of the GOP either. The best thing one can do to expose the lunacy that is the GOP base is to get them talking - and this will get them talking, you can be sure of that. There’s strategy here, good strategy.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

40 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for the_scarlet_pimpernel Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for imkmu3 Avatar for chammy Avatar for arrrrrj Avatar for nineo Avatar for cwazycajun Avatar for becca656 Avatar for inlabsitrust Avatar for randyabraham Avatar for xian Avatar for grawk Avatar for jjrothery Avatar for joelopines Avatar for midnight_rambler Avatar for ottnott Avatar for 538liberal Avatar for fiftygigs Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for chicago11 Avatar for lightningrod Avatar for docd Avatar for puppies

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: