In a recent interview, President Barack Obama did not hold back when discussing his thoughts on race in America. While speaking with comedian Marc Maron on his WTF podcast, President Obama used the n-word to emphasize that racism as a whole goes deeper than superficial terms and surface issues.
“The legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, discrimination in almost every institution of our lives, you know, 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, posted in full on Monday. “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 2-300 years prior.”
In true American fashion, many people missed the point altogether and are choosing to focus on the fact that the n-word even left President Obama’s lips as opposed to the point he was trying to make by saying it. We can sit here and write an entire essay as to why this isn’t as dramatic as many are making it out to be — OR we can show you this collection of tweets from people who eloquently demonstrated why there are much more pressing issues in 140 characters or less.
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/612968714040934400
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/612978606835286016
The n-word was a regular feature in Lyndon B. Johnson's conversations. http://t.co/ABWEqIlmPn
— Gramps (@capetownbrown) June 22, 2015
(Yes, Lyndon B. Johnson, the guy people were so up in arms about because he wasn't portrayed as the white savior in the film Selma.)
— Gramps (@capetownbrown) June 22, 2015
Right wing outrage about Obama saying the "n-word" boils down to:
"Hey! That's OUR word for YOU! If we can't say it? You can't!" #NWord— The Foncé Is Fully Vaxxed n' Boosted😷 💉 (@ChocnessMonsta) June 22, 2015
The very white panel at Fox News is going to decide whether it was okay for our black president to use the N-word.
— Christopher Keelty (he/him) 🏳️🌈 (@keeltyc) June 22, 2015
https://twitter.com/PhillyD/status/612984119690051584
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