Not a Genuine Black Man

Here's a thought - do we really need South Carolina?

Can't we review their paperwork from 1865 when we let them back in the union to see if something wasn't filled out correctly? Then we could let them out of the deal.

They could form their own country, (maybe take the rest of the South and all the tea-baggers with them). Then they could form alliances with other nations with similar ideology - like Darfur.

Another thought - I like the part where Joe Wilson said that Michelle Obama and he had "a kind of relationship" ....

Implying that his great grandpappy owned her great grandpappy.

All you have to know about that idiot is that he was an aide to Strom Thurmond.

That's the charge against Cory Booker when he first ran for office in Newark - you're not a REAL black. It would be laughable if it wasn't sad.

The hypocrisy on how Obama is being treated disgusts me. Bush was treated far worse over 8 years than Obama has been up to now. This has little if anything to do with race. Jimmy Carter was the worst president this nation has had in over a century, but we are going to listen to him? Now? You are kidding, right?!

A white president would be treated the same way if they came up with this proposal. Institutional racism does not exist in 2009!

I don't think about race in any capacity when I think about Obama and any of his policies. "Obamacare" is going to devastate our economy. It has nothing to do with race. Obama's POLICIES scare and frustrate me. Please keep race out of it! It's a red herring used by anyone who do not want Obama criticized for any reason at any time.

Racism is a state of mind. Therefore, unless one is walking around in a white roab with a pointy hat on, it's probably hard to tell…

Sure there's racism out there, but what there's a lot more of these days, is disdain for the opposing political perspective. I say that as someone who previously didn't care much about politics but after GW Bozo got elected, I realized that there is truly a disparity between what I think of as a normal perspective & what the other side perceives as the "right" point of view. The fact that a buffoon was electable & to add insult to injury was propped up for a 2nd term, indicates there is truly a need for a liberal system of education in this country; if not to reclaim some of the lost minds out there that will do what ever Jesus would do, at least to teach them that a diversity of perspectives is what informs & colors (pardon the pun) the debate on any issue. I am a liberal (Ta-daaaa! There I've said it!!) but unlike my conservative brethren I'm willing to give the other side a chance to articulate their perspective. I may disagree & will so state! What wouldn't matter is whether the Bozo is brown, white, purple ("rainbow" as my four year old says her favorite color is) or African mulatto.

So yes racism is alive & well in the US. But I wouldn't attribute every cat call to racism. l'd say there a lot of pent up anger for what this country was dragged into, unapologetically I might ad, by the previous administration. So if you hear some liberal out there refers to former president Bush as a bone head, I don’t think there would be a CIA investigation launched into whether the guy was black, white or dingle berry. Racism too cuts both ways. Let's face it given the choice between lunch with president Obama or former president bush – I would think a "normal" person would pick the obvious! But hey, I'm a liberal no a lemming!

If I think Barack Obama is a better President than Jimmy Carter is, does that make me a reverse racist?

Mike, if we don't do something about health care, the country will go bankrupt. Get sick and watch the costs mount up - even if you have reasonably good health care you'll be paying thousands of dollars to insurance companies.
So far, there is no "Obamacare" - so what are you talking about?

deth sqads?
soshalism?
bert certifikats?
Mooslems?

When President Obama is discussed in the media, no matter what the policy or political topic at hand, the issue of his race always comes up—always. Why is that? Commentators will, within the context of the original topic, manage to state “he is Black”. We are reminded, quite often, that he is our first Black President. To be fair, I also hear Mr. Obama referred to as “half-White”—but it seems to depend on the group the program is targeting. I cannot recall ever hearing the President referred to as “half-Black”--he’s either “Black” or “half-White”. Would the President, I’m curious, be as popular in the African-American community if he was referred to as “half-Black”?

Love to hear Brian Copeland’s view (missed most of his segment, unfortunately—plan do download).

I’m a middle-age White (as best I know, anyway) urban male Progressive Democrat working as a software programmer for Online Media companies. I’ve met a great many people over the years and have attended conferences all over the country. However, the only place I get to hear about race anymore is in the media so listened to your show today with nostalgic interest. As someone who used to enjoy guessing which region or state a new acquaintance was from by their accent and colloquialisms, I think we should all enjoy our differences while last as.

Hi Pat,
As with most of your show’s topics, I wish you could go on for hours about one subject and even that wouldn’t be enough time. This one is very close to me as a black (don’t get me started on this “African-American” tag) man who, with my parents as a child, legally immigrated to the US from the Caribbean and became American citizens. Since my family history experience did not come directly (an important caveat) from the legacy of slavery, I too experience the issues of being/not being viewed as “black enough” despite the fact that I am a pretty good shade of dark brown! Celebrating and appreciating one’s cultural and historical lineage is one thing. Generally, it's a good thing. However, the bottom line that I really wanted to express to show my view of how all this racial/cultural identity tagging has evolved to the point of ridiculousness is: if anthropologically it’s been shown that all humankind stems from Africa, then aren’t ALL we humans “African-hyphen-something”!?

[my response to David's comment above ... with all due respect, what planet are you living on?!]