In an interview with BET, President Obama spoke to the one truth that Republicans always avoid. The president said that racism is deeply rooted in American society.
Video:
http://youtu.be/cuQYQCEd5X4
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In a clip from an upcoming interview that will air on Monday, December 8 at 6PM ET on BET, President Obama spoke the truth about racism, “When you are dealing with something as deeply rooted as racism in any society. You gotta have vigilance, but you also have to recognize that it is going to take some time and you just have to be steady.”
The president later said, “This is something that’s deeply rooted in our society, deeply rooted in our history. But the two things that will allow us to solve it: Number one: Is the understanding that we have made progress and so it’s important to recognize that as painful as these instances our, we can’t equate what’s happening now with what was happening 50 years ago. If you talk to your parents, grandparents, uncles, they’ll tell you that things are better.”
It can be difficult to practice the kind vigilance that the president stressed. Progress comes in many forms. After the killings by police officers in Ferguson, MO and New York City, the nation is discussing the issue of racism and violence.
The president spoke the truth when he said that racism is deeply rooted in American society. The conservative position has long been that racism is no longer an issue. The conservative majority on the Supreme Court used this exact justification in their decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act.
The election of the first African-American president brought many of these racial issues back to the surface. Republicans, especially in the South, have been using raced based politics to fan the flames of opposition to this president.
The reaction by many white conservatives to the fact that an African-American man is president is proof that racism is alive and well in this country. It is important for the president to openly state the great unspoken truth about our society.
Racial divides have never gone away. Obama has been the target of, not the cause of, worsened race relations. The deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner are the latest chapters in America’s ugly racial saga.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
