Sunday, April 18, 2010

Not talking about race

"I’ve learned a very important lesson. It is not worth it for me to talk about race in a spontaneous way. The only time it’s worth it for me ... to talk about race is when I can completely control the environment." --Barack Obama, as quoted by biographer David Remnick
Remnick recently explained that Obama made the following observations as a lesson he gained after speaking "truthfully and emotionally" about the Henry Louis Gates, Jr. arrest controversy. The political firestorm related to Obama's comments was a problem for the president. "Obama made the terrible mistake of speaking the truth spontaneously," noted Remnick. "But he's, you know, he's a very disciplined guy, and I guarantee you it won't happen again. He's a very very controlled political actor."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I really don't understand why people aren't allowed to speak from their heart...whether they agree or disagree with me. I'm not so sensitive that I can't allow people to express their hurt/anger/frustration/whatever emotion they're feeling over a situation. This reminds me of when Kanye West "spoke out" after Hurricane Katrina.