Barack had a mama, and she was white — very white American, Kansas, middle of America.
–Morgan Freeman
Can the race discussion take a different course already?
I know it’s a subject that will always make people stand-up and take notice. From Gwyneth Paltrow tweeting the “N-Word” while dancing on stage to “Niggas in Paris,” to the ongoing, stupid, splitting hairs, semantic argument of President Barack Obama’s race.
STORY: This Again? Morgan Freeman Says Barack Isn’t The First Black President
Which brings us to Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman, who was recently quoted in an interview with NPR, saying:
“First thing that always pops into my head regarding our president is that all of the people who are setting up this barrier for him … they just conveniently forget that Barack had a mama, and she was white — very white American, Kansas, middle of America. There was no argument about who he is or what he is. America’s first black president hasn’t arisen yet. He’s not America’s first black president — he’s America’s first mixed-race president.”
Now, I won’t presume to know anything about how Freeman was raised; he’s a Mississippi boy at heart and if history has taught us anything, it’s that Mississippi was ground zero for racial tensions during the Civil Rights Movement. But his statements regarding President Obama are outdated and old.
Back in 2005, in an interview with 60 Minutes, Freeman said that Black History Month is “ridiculous,” and no one should reduce his history to a month.
Freeman went on to say that talking about race is what keeps bigotry alive, saying he’d prefer if people called him just “a man” instead of “a Black man,” and that the only way to defeat racism is to “stop talking about it.”
Why doesn’t he extend that same courtesy to the President?
The argument on the true nature of Obama’s race is irrelevant; it has become the same argument over and over again.
The same can be said about the use of the word “nigger.” At least a couple of times a year, some white person says the word, jokes about it, circles around it, insinuates it and we (black people) get up and arms.
It usually goes away after awhile and nothing ever gets resolved. We write blogs and opinion pieces to get our points across; but at the end of the day, the word still exists and it continues to be used.
We saw it a month ago with Gwyneth Paltrow and I’m sure before the year’s out, we’ll see it again.
When it comes to race in America, of course it will always trigger emotions and the topic will remain controversial. But when will the time come when we can formulate a different discussion revolving around race that will not be the status quo?
Or should we stop talking about it all together?
Shaka Griffith is the News/Politics Editor of GlobalGrind.com Follow him on Twitter @Darealshaka
