WEBVTT 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (applause) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laura Washington): Good evening and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 welcome everyone, I'm really honored 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to have the pleasure of sharing some 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 conversation up here. Welcome, Michael! 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Michael Eric Dyson): Thank you, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it's great to be here. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> I know you come through Chicago every 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 now and then, but >> Mm-hm. >> this is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 your old home, stomping grounds >> Yeah. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> from time to time when you were 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 teaching at DePaul >> Yes, yes. >> and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 writing. We shared a spot on the Sun Times 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 editorial page >> Mm-hm. >> when you were 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 writing that great column and we miss you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 here! >> Well, I miss being here, and your 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 crisp writing is ever as lively, and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you know, I miss being here in the Chi. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Well you're here tonight >> Mm-hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> to talk about the black Presidency. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Mm-hm. >> And just wanted to open by 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 asking you, what are you trying to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 accomplish with this book? >> Well, I 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 wanted to, and I want to take measure of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the use of race in the Obama Presidency, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to talk about how race was used to frame 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the President before he got into office, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to talk about how race has framed our 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 perceptions of who he is as a human being, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what his political and even personal 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 desires are, and how his personal identity 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 interacts with his political one, and then 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I wanted to also understand the degree to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 which race has been deployed against him 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 since he's been in office. How has it been 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a barrier, how has it motivated people to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 obstruct what he has attempted to achieve, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 how has it facilitated some of those 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 achievements, and how has it been used to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 deflect certain political issues, and how 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 has President Obama himself been a racial 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 procrastinator, and become racially 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 hesitant, when it comes especially to the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 interests, politically and communally, of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 African-American people. >> Now, that's a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 very nuanced, balanced summary, but this 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 book is tough on the President. Really 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 tough. I mean, you had some praise for 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 him, but there was a lot of tough love 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 there. And I know you talk in the book 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 about getting, wrangling an interview with 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The White House, >> Mm-hm. >> an interview 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with the President, that took some doing, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and it wasn't as long as you would have 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 liked, but I suspect that if you tried to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 get that interview now you wouldn't even 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 get past the front door. >> Mm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (audience laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Would you agree? >> Well yeah, but it 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 wasn't person--you know, the reason The 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 White House didn't talk to me wasn't 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because--I don't think--they didn't like 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 me, they didn't want to talk about race. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Mm-hm. >> You know, I've noticed a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 couple of reviewers, they didn't want to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 speak about race, they didn't have 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 anything against me, I was a surrogate for 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the President twice. >> And when you say 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they don't want to talk about race, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you're talking about >> The White House. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The Obama-- >> Are you talking about-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Administration. >> The President. Are 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you talking about the President? >> Well, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they represent him, he hired them. >> But, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 yeah... >>So, the people around him. I 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 didn't have his number, so I couldn't call 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 him directly. >> (laughter) >> Well let me 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 stop lying. I had his number before he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 became President. >> Yeah. (audience laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 That one doesn't work anymore. >> He used 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to call me on his cell phone. >>(laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> So, (laughs) >> So you're-- >> So he's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Drake-ing me. No, so the President didn't 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 want to talk about race, the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Administration didn't want to talk about 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 race, that is not a subject they wanted to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 engage. But most of my book, you know, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it's eight chapters. Only two are taking 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the President under a rigorous scrutiny in 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 regard to him A) scolding black America, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and B) dealing with the police crisis in 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 this nation. I open the book speaking 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 about his extraordinary speech in Selma, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I talk about some of the principle 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 critique that has been put forth, I talk 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 about his role as the American President 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the black face of an American empire, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I talk about his genius as a rhetorical 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 figure within our community, I talk about 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 his relationship to Jeremiah Wright and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I try to balance both speaking about 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Reverend Wright in the historic legacy of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the prophetic wing of the church, as well 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 as Obama's kind of political obligations. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So I think there's a lot of, tremendous 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 recognition for the positive contribution 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he's made, but whenever you criticize also 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it seems to be out of kilter when most of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the book is not that. >> Sure, sure that's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 understandable. And the juiciest stuff 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 always rises to the surface. >> No doubt 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 about it. >> (laughter) >> You know, let 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the beef burn. >> Let the beef burn. Well, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so-- >> Sorry, Biggie. >> A big question 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that you come back to again and again 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Mm-hm. >> is the question of, Barack 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Obama and the Presidency and what does 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that mean, and you ask the question, is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Barack Obama the first BLACK President, or 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is Barack Obama the first black PRESIDENT. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Right. >> And you actually elude that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you believe the President, Barack Obama, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 thinks he is the latter, he would prefer 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to be seen as the latter. >> Understandably. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> The first black PRESIDENT. >> Right, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 right. Understandably, right. >> Talk a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 little bit about that. >> Well, if you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 want your adjective to modify your noun... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Or, you know, this President did not want 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to be "blackened" in a negative fashion. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Right? Because his enemies were waiting, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 champing at the bit, to demonize him. To 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 suggest, "Ah-ha! We have found and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 discovered that you have paid more 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 attention to black people than anybody." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Or, "You're trying to hook black people 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 up." Or, one of the fears, people tend to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 forget this, before Obama became President, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "He's going to do to us what we did to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 them." Now you can take that however you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 want, speaking in more abstract and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 general terms. So there was a great fear 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 among certain subsections of white America 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that Obama was going to show the vitriol 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the anger and the rancor that they 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 thought was coming to them that they 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 thought black people were harboring in 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 their hearts against white America. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> I think that our experience in, you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 remember back to the day of Harold 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Washington, and I think there was a lot of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that feeling in the community back then. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Sure. >> And that's why whites were so 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in fear of that >> Mm-hm. >> historic 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 election, and many people might say that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the white-led city council opposition 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 spent a lot of time pushing back >> Sure. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> to prevent that terrible thing from 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 happening >> Sure. >> when they were going 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to get their comeuppance, and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they wanted to make sure they never got 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 their comeuppance. >> The Vrdolyak-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> The Vrdolyak 29. >> Yeah, no doubt. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> And this is the same thing all over 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 again. >> Absolutely right, it's a great 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 parallel. And so, Obama didn't want to be 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 judged by anything but by what other 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Presidents are judged by. Judge me 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 according to the job I do. Judge me 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 according not to my personal identity, or 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 my pigment, or your fetish for the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 epidermis, judge me based on the integrity 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of my gestures in office and who I am as a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 political figure. >> And what's wrong with 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that? >> Nothing at all. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >>So...you don't have a critique as far 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 as--you feel that it's fair for him to not 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 want to be judged as a black man, and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because-- >> Black President. Right. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Black President. >> Well, but here's the thing, if he wants 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to be judged like every other President, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 every other President has been judged 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 according to what he did with race. If you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 want to be like them, >> Mm-hm. >> they did it too. And if I recall, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 none of them, despite conspiracy theories, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 were African American. >> Mm-hm (laughter) >> You know, some black people 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 come up to me, "You know there were five 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 black Presidents." Bro, if nobody knew 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they were black, they wasn't black. >> (laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> It didn't make a difference, because if 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you don't treat them that way, if you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 don't know that they are...you know you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 can discover late in life, "Oh my God, I 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 didn't know that I was a Negro." >> Mm. >> But if you had been treated 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 like a white person your entire life, then 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the difference that makes is minimal. >> Mm-hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> So, my point is this, that every other 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 President has been judged according to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what he or...he...has done-- >> (laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Maybe soon that will change. What he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 has done in regard to the nation, but also 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what he has done in regard to the nation 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 as it results in relationships to African 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 American, black people, colored, negro, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the like. They've had to deal with 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 segregation, they've had to deal with 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 slavery, they've had to deal with Jim 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Crow, they've had to deal with Affirmative 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Action, so why is it that the first black 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 President thinks because of personal 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 discomfort, or the willingness, or the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 desire, excuse me, to distance himself a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 bit clinically from the discomfort he may 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 feel because he doesn't want to be judged 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 as a "black man" and as a "black President," 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that creates an entire set of fears that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 other Presidents have not had. That 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 creates another layer of, I think, problematic 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 distancing of black people from their 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 representative government. >> Ok. Now, you say it has a lot to do 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with his personal discomfort, and I know 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you've got that phone number, you talk to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 him all the time, but some people might 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 think there's other issues that he's, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you know, he's got this incredibly hostile 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 opposition in Congress-- >> Sure. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> In the Republican Party-- >> I talk about that. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> You talk about the racist response-- >> Yes, yes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> He's got a lot on his plate, he is the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 leader of the entire world, he's a busy 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 man, so why is it that-- >> That he ain't got time-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> that some of those are some of the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 reasons that maybe he didn't get as much 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 done or address race head-on as he should 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 have? Does it have to do with him 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 personally, or it has to do with-- >> No-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> his job? >> No, well, it has to do--look, we don't 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 have any comparative analysis here. >> Mm-hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> He's the only one. >> That's true. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> That's what happens when you're Jackie. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Hey, what did all the black--? Oh, there 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 aren't any. So when you're Jackie 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Robinson, Willie Mays hasn't come along 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 yet. Larry Doby is not in the dugout 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 waiting to take his swing at bat. So, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you know, Don Newcombe is not yet present. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So, he is Jackie Robinson. And an extraordinary 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 figure Obama is, being the first equanimity, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 equipoise, balance, self-deprecation, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 humor, I mean, he's from Central Casting, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 let's be real. >> From Central Casting as far as the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 first black President-- >> I'm saying-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> The kind of right person-- >> Right. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> At the right time. >> He's pretty good for white people too. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Mm-hm. >> I mean, if he was just a plain old 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 white guy he'd be extraordinary. >> Mm-hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> But for a black man, even more so given 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what it took for him to get elected. And I 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 mean from Central Casting, for white 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 brothers and sisters who have a problem, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I'm saying if you got a problem with 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Barack Obama, you in trouble, because 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 there ain't a black man been made that's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 going to be more amenable to the dominant 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 culture than Barack Obama. Don't get mad, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 don't say stuff in anger, don't "Yes we 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 can," "Yes I can," "Of course we will," 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "We'll try," and even when he gets mad he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 signifies. Right? Not the last State of the Union 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but the one before that. When he announced 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that, "I have no more races to run--" 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you know, very nice, casual, and the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Republicans are trying to get a shot in 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 across the bow, "Yeah, thank you." And 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Obama goes, "That's because I beat you." >> (laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Now, if I can be his anger translator, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I could tell you what he was really saying 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in black speech. >> (laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Like, "What you want me to do? I beat 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 yo [silently mouths expletives]." >> (laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Alright? I mean, so the reality is that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Obama is signifying, radiating-- >> For those-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> the implicit inferential value of blackness. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> For those in the audience who may not 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 know what you mean by "signifying"? >> Well, I'm just saying 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what "signifying" is is that he is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 suggesting something that is beyond what's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 on the page. He is engaging in a symbolic 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 representation of an experience that may 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 not be literal but communicates something 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to people who are on the "inside." When 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you signify, you are looking at a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 particular experience, and the people who 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 get it. When Jesus said, "Let those who 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 have ears, let them hear"? Well, those 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 who have ears, African American people, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we get what he was saying, we get what he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 was suggesting, because of a culture. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I don't mean that we were born with black 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 interpretation as part of our birth--we 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 were handed a bottle and a black 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 interpretation box, that's not what 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I'm saying. >> (laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> I'm saying because of the cultural 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 signifiers that Obama was reared with, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in part, you know, there was a communication, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that's what I mean by signifying. And I 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 think that--but to get to the point, to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 get back to my point, the point is that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the President of the United States of America, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when I say "personal discomfort," I don't 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 mean that he didn't face all the stuff you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 talked about. But look how insulting that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is, "Hey black people, he's too busy for 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the stuff you're doing. He's taking care 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of the real business." >> Mm-hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Right? Like, the real business--I think 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 race is pretty real business. And I think 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 race effects everything, and why do we 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 know this? Because nothing he said about 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 anything else may have occasioned the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 similar response that he got when he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 talked about race. And isn't it interesting? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 You know, when people defend the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 President, and rightfully so in some cases 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when they say, "Look, the moment he speaks 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 about race, it's radioactive." Oh yeah, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 versus, say, ISIS. >> (chuckle) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Yeah, yeah, they loved him on that. Oh, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they loved him on--they haven't tried to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 rescind-- >> Well race is a radioactive topic no 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 matter who brings it up. Right? >> But this is my point, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but I'm saying it's not just who brings 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it up, it's WHO is speaking about anything. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's not the topic of race, this is what 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I'm trying to say, Barack Obama speaking 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 about anything is the racial division. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Because he is a black man, he is embodied. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And as a result of that, whatever HE speaks about 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is automatically subsumed under the rubric 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of race and is automatically, if not that, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 radioactive because he's the black man. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I'll tell you what I mean. Republicans 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 had ideas that they loved that Obama 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 promoted. When he started promoted them, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they didn't like them no more. >> Mm-hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Now that doesn't mean that that's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 automatically a racial problem or a racist 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 problem, I am suggesting that the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 accumulative impact of his presence there 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 has suggested that no matter what Obama 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 speaks about, that it will be divisive to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 some people. >> And do you think that's any different 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 from past Presidents? >> Of course. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> From Bill Clinton, from-- >> Of course. Other Presidents 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 have had horrible responses-- >> Right. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> And people beating up on them, impeaching them, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 saying that they were murderers and stuff, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 all that is real. But I'm saying there's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 an extra layer with Obama. Right? As a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 University of Chicago law professor said, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 no other President has been subject quite 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to what he has been subject to. So I think 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that to acknowledge that is to talk about 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what a difficult situation he's in. But, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the point I was trying to make is that to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 dismiss however the issue of race by 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 saying, and he indicated this in the "Race Speech," 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the famous race speech he gave in March-- >> In Philadelphia. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> In Philadelphia in 2008, in response to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Reverend Jeremiah Wright's "Goddamn America," 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 extracts of that speech exerted and not 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 seen in the context in which they were 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 delivered, but he suggested there that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 there are a lot of things going on. And 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we bought Obama's narrative with that. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But race is what's going on as well. The 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 interest of black people--and when you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 said earlier, you didn't say it quite the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 way he said it when you said, he's the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 President of everybody, Obama has 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 constantly reminded black people, "I am 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 not the President of black America." Wow. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Is that right? Didn't know that. Didn't 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 know that he was not--you know, I don't 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 think black people thought you were the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 head of the NAACP, I think they actually 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 knew you were the president. You didn't 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 tell gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 people you weren't the President of them 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when you stood in defense of gay marriage, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 which I stood with and for, masses of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 black people were mad at Obama for that, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I thought he was heroic to stand 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 against the vituperative, nasty hatred of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and suspicion of gay people in America, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 including in African American communities. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But, I'm saying that when you say I'm not 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the President of black America, that may 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 be true, but you are the President of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 black Americans. We are citizens of the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 United States of America and we deserve 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to have respected, like any other 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 constituency, the interests we bring to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 bear and demand from the President. >> And you argue that African Americans 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 are disrespected and not given the same-- >> They're treated differently. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> LGBT's, you mention Jews, other 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 interest groups-- >> Environmentalists-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> have gotten more out of Obama than 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 black people have. >> Well, yeah, for obvious reasons and for 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 some not so obvious reasons. >> And what are the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 not so obvious reasons? >> Well, the obvious reasons would be 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he doesn't identify in public as gay, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 lesbian, transgender, bisexual or you know, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so he's not seen as hooking his own people 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 up, his own particular tribe. Whereas with 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 black people it would be like, what are 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you doing there? Now, what's amazing to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 many white people--most white people have 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 voted for a white candidate for President. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It never occurs to white people, "Am I 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 being a racist? I've only voted for white 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 people, I've only voted for white Presidents, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 43 times," black people do it one time, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "Oh my God, Jiminy Cricket, what's going on?" 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> (laughter) >> "There's a racial rebellion here." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And yet, 43 Presidents--ok, white people 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 remind me, my brothers and sisters, that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he's half-white too--43 and a half Presidents 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 have been white. >> (laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Ok, so black people are understandably 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 defensive about the half-brother we got 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in The White House. Right? And so, yes, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what I'm trying to suggest here is that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the President made a distinction when 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 speaking to black people that was condescending. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 To remind black people that after all 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he is not their President alone, is to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 insult their sensibilities and their 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 political sophistication. These are people 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 who have elected mayors, and Congresspeople, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and Senators, and council people--these 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 people are relatively sophisticated about 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what it means to engage in the political 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 process, so to remonstrate against them 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 morally in public had a dual function: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 not only was it meant to distance himself 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 from a narrow, race-based thinking, it was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 also meant to signify to white America 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that he was capable of holding his own in check. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Hm. Ok. Now you've also argued that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he treats--in his speeches, in the way he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 handles his policy--he treats whites and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 blacks differently in terms of expectations. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 That, you know, African Americans are-- he scolds--there's a chapter 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 where you talk about his scolding of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 African Americans-- >> Mm-hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> and where he tends to let white 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Americans off the hook, and one line that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 jumped out at me, I'd just like to read, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is, you said that, "Obama is willing to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 underplay evidence of persistent black 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 suffering while promoting a naively 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 optimistic view of the depth and pace of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 racial progress." >> Mm-hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Those are two sort-of connected points there. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Yeah. >> Expand on that. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Well, I mean, to link them to the point 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you were making earlier about the scolding 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of black America... When you go to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Morehouse College, which is a historically 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 black college, a black male college, where 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Martin Luther King, Jr. graduated, Maynard Jackson, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the mayor of--the first black mayor of Atlanta, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and many other distinguished figures that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 went to that school, when you go there to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 their graduation, and you use that as an 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 occasion to excoriate them, and to chide 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 them about responsibility and not making 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 excuses and getting things that you work-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you know, getting things that you don't 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 really deserve, I think that's an ironic time to do that speech, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and it's an ironic audience to which he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 delivered it, because they were, after all, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 not making excuses, they were graduating. >> Mm-hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> So, they were actually putting putting 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 hoods on. And on top of that, he says, for 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 people who get things...you know, people 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in America--he said in a global economy as well-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 are not going to have any sympathy for 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 people who get what they have not earned. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The only person who didn't earn a degree 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that day was him, he got an honorary degree. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The rest of them had earned their degrees. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So, before--and I was there, at the 50th Anniversary of the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 March on Washington, which was a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 breathtaking, and I do mean breathtaking, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 dispiriting display of I think one of his 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 lowest moments as a public interpreter 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of race. He's such a brilliant man, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he's such a smart man, he understands the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 history of race in this country like few 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 other Presidents ever had, and yet in that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 celebration, sitting there, he said that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 black people were particularly responsible 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for the stalling of racial progress in America. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And he went on to suggest that because of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 poverty, black people had made excuses not 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to rear their children and the like. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 You would have thought that you were 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 listening to a neo-conservative or a right-wing analyst 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and sociologist and social theorist who 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 was trying to pinpoint the pathology of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 black culture as the basis for our suffering. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And it was--speech after speech he's done this. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Yeah. >> I was there at the Congressional black 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 caucus when he said, "Take off your 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 bedroom slippers and put on your marching shoes. Stop complaining." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Wow. >> Mm-hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Now, John Lewis is in that audience, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 John Conyers is in that audience, Maxine Waters 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is in that audience, people when he was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 knee-high to a tadpole, who were engaging 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in serious and sustained argument against 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 social injustice-- >> Mm-hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> It was rather insulting. >> So why do you think--he's doing that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because that's what he really believes, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that he disrespects, does not appreciate, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is ashamed of black folks? Or is it for 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 other--is it a strategy? Is it a political 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 strategy? >> Mm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Some people say, you know, he can't 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 talk about race, or he can't talk nice 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 about black people because then white folks won't trust him. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I mean, now, whether that's true or not, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that is a belief that's out there. So why 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 does he do that stuff? >> Yeah, you give me the answer--that's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 interesting what you just said there. >> (laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> None of which is in my book, but maybe 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the second edition I can quote you. >> (laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> You know, look, it's a complicated story. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 No, he's a highly intelligent man, and, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you know, the late, great Maya Angelou is, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 maybe it's apocryphal, I'm not sure, but 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 she is rumored to have said that when 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 people tell you who they are, believe them. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So we're trying to figure out, "What'd he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 mean by that?" Let's just take him at his 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 word, maybe he actually A) believes it... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Alright? And there are--look, he is a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 moderate Democrat. He is not a progressive 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the broader sense, even though as one 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 white author from Union Theological Seminary argues, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I think convincingly, that among 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 people who could be elected President, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he's one of the most progressive Presidents 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that we've had in quite some time, and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that is actually electable. I actually 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 agree with that. But in the broad scheme 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of things, you know, we see that Obama is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 subject to double standards relentlessly. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Right, right? What was this fear about Obama: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "You're a SOCIALIST!" Now you got a guy 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 running, he ain't even hiding it! >> (laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> "I am a Democratic Socialist!" Right? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Ok, that was a bad Larry David impersonation. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> (laughter) >> I'm better with Ronald Reagan, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "Now there you go again." So now, you got 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a guy who's out front admitting that he's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a Democratic Socialist. So we see that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 white privilege operates not only in terms 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of Republicans and conservatives, but even 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 within liberal and Democratic circles. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 My point simply is this, is that Obama 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 believes, I think, what he said, we have 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to take him at his word, and then beyond 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that, I think he also understands, as he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 did in the church here in Chicago, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Jeremiah Wright's rhetoric was radioactive, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 let me go to a black church and not be 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 heard criticizing white people, but let me 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 be seen criticizing black people. Would he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 go to a white church and call Fathers, as 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he did at that church here in Chicago, fools? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He said, "Any fool can have a baby, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it takes a man to raise one." First of all, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Jesse Jackson said that 30 years before 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he did. >> Hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> But Jesse Jackson was balanced. He was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 talking about the people who were engaging 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in certain kind of practices that were 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 destructive within black America, and he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 was also highlighting and underscoring the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 vicious effect of white supremacy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So there was a balanced attack. Obama sees 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 one side--you know, he is wont to quote 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Chris Rock, and that famous saying of Chris Rock-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Chris Rock says, the comedian, he says, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "Some black people want to be praised for 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 stuff they should be doing." And then he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 gives the example, "I take care of my kids." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And then Chris Rock goes, "Idiot, you're 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 supposed to take care of your kids. Why are you asking 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for praise for that?" Obama will quote that. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Mm-hm. >> But he won't quote what else Chris Rock 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 says. Chris Rock also goes on to talk about 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "Cracker-ass crackers." Now I don't expect Obama-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and excuse me, I'm quoting a comedian. I don't want you to think-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> (laughter) >> I love you, white America, I love you. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I want you to buy my book and I'll sign it for you. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> (laughter) >> So, I don't expect the President to say 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "Cracker-ass cracker," but he also says, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "You know what, white people also," this 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is what he said in an interview in 2015, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 let me give you a more powerful quote that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Obama might site. Chris Rock says, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "When people look at my--" he said, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "I have beautiful kids. They're intelligent, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "they're smart, they're well-behaved, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "they're disciplined." He says, "So to ask 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "me, has there been racial progress, is to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "assume that black people were themselves 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "part of the problem as to the reason why 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 there wasn't progress." He says, "White 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "people are now less crazy than they used 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "to be. Let's keep hoping that white people 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "will continue to be less crazy than the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "crazier white people that we knew 50 years ago 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "who disallowed progress." Now, some 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 version of that the President might put forth. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Not calling white people crazy, I'm not crazy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 What I'm saying is that he might also say, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "You know what, white brothers and sisters? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "There's a shared responsibility here. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "There are things that must be done on 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "this side of the aisle, but there are 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "also things that the broader society must 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "engage in as well." The failure to do so 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 gives the perception to even well-intending 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 white people, "You know what, he never 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "criticizes us, but he's always 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "criticizing black people. They must 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "really have a problem." When he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 constantly lacerates them for failure-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 let me give a perfect example--let me give 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 an example. When he came to Newtown, which 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he should have come to, which he should 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 have gone to, and he shed a tear in The White House, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 down his cheek, he should have, he went 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 there and saw the wanton destruction of a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 young man out of control. And Obama shed 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 tears over the deaths of those 20-some-odd 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 children because it represented, he said, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the worst day of his Presidency. And yet 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 people begged him to come to Chicago and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 other places, and you can't cry where you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 won't go. And, beyond that, the President 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 refused to go to Ferguson, refused when he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 was--the other day in Detroit--to go 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 60 miles up the road to Flint, Michigan 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 where vulnerable, black children are 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 being poisoned by their government because 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of the water that is there. What am I 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 saying to you? I'm saying that Obama not 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 only did that, but he went to Chicago. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When he came, he sat down, and afterward 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he gave a speech, he says, the family 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 structure's wrong, the fathers are not 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 here, and so on. The young man who 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 murdered the people in Newtown? Child of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a broken family. He did not-- >> That was something he never 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 talked about. >> He did not say to white America, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "You know, I'm afraid for you. Your 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "families are being stricken by divorce 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "at rising rates, the pathology that is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "inherent in the destruction of the family 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "is of cause and concern for us." That's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 not what he said. So why is it that when 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he comes to black America he gives 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 lectures and moral remonstration, when he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 goes to white America he offers resources 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and empathy. And I'm saying to you, as a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 fair criticism, not a bitter, nasty criticism of him, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I think that's something we have to point out. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> And that's interesting you bring up bitter and nasty 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 criticism, because there's some bitter 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and nasty critics out there that you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 identify in the book, and maybe you don't 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 use that term, but the Cornell Wests of the world, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the Tavis Smileys of the world, and you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 distinguish them, but from people like 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 yourself, other critics--what's the difference 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and what's going on there? >> Well, Tavis less so than 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Professor West, who has been nearly 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 unstinting in his vitriol and unrelenting 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the personal ad hominem attacks on the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 President. Which is pretty--it's just unprincipled. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> It's, again, it's not balanced. >> It's not--well, I mean, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ain't no balance in, "Am I going to call 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you a doofus or a nut?" You know, I mean, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you know, there are choices among many 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ad hominems. One is less abrasive than the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 other, but I'm saying the resort to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 name calling itself is a moral flaw at that level, right? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There are many legitimate criticisms to be 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 made of the President, calling him names 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is not one of them. "A mascot of Wall Street," 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "A Republican in blackface," calling 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 people like me, or Al Sharpton, or 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Melissa Harris-Perry "sellouts," "bootlickers," 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "prostitutes." Now, for the brothers and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 sisters sitting here today, is that, West 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 calls Dyson "a sellout because he's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "consumed with Obama in a positive fashion?" 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Geez, where was he, and what's he listening to? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Right? Because I try to be balanced in my 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 understanding of what this man has faced. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The difference in us I think is that many 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of the critics who are principled, critics 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of Obama, understand what he's up against. >> Hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> That every day he goes to work--a lot of people 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 are trying to kill him. The most threatened President 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the history of this country by far. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A man, if he says "left" they say "right," 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 if he says "up" they say "down," if he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 says "wet" they say "dry." The first President 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the history of this country to not have 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 an automatic rise on the debt ceiling. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Republican and Democratic Presidents 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 before him: Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the like--automatic. With Obama, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 not so. Cost us a bond rating, lowered it 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in this country, in other words, a faction 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of citizens who happen to be political 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 figures and representatives were willing 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to cut a hole in the boat of the ship of State 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to satisfy their thirst to sink him, and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the process, help sink the nation 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because they were obsessed with him. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 That's the kind of thing that many-- >> So-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> of us who are critical of Obama also understand. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> And you don't think that Cornell West 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 appreciates that, or maybe might have said 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it doesn't matter. >> It hasn't made a difference in his 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 rhetoric. >> Yeah. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> It hasn't tampered--you know, it hasn't tempered 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 his assault upon the President, and beyond 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that, you know, he was a person who was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 very close to Bill Clinton. Now, as Al Sharpton says, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Reverend Al Sharpton says, whatever 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 criticisms you have of Obama, he said, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 at least he didn't do something against 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 black people in the way that Bill Clinton 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 did when he signed the crime bill, welfare reform, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and did horrible things to his friends 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Lani Guinier, Joycelyn Elders, and not his friend, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Sister Souljah. >> Mm-hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> (chuckles) So, he's got a point. >> Mm-hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> And at that point Professor West was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 duly in the camp and he says he disagreed 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with President Clinton when it came to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 welfare reform but he didn't call him no 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 names. I know it's "any names." >> (laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> He ain't called him no names. >> Yeah. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> He didn't attack him, he didn't assault 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 his character, and he didn't viciously say 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the kinds of things about people around 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 him, like me, his former student, and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 others, who took a principled difference 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with him. And I spoke to Professor West 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 here in Chicago, and he said to me, he says, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "You know what, you are just as critical 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "of Obama as I am, but you don't catch 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "nearly as much hell." I said, Well I 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 have a sixth inning theory of baseball. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And in the sixth inning of baseball, if 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the game is called because of rain, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 whoever is ahead is going to win. So I 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 said, I'm not going to start on the black 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 President. I have enough pride in his 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 achievement of office, I have enough 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 understanding of the incredible difficulties 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he confronts, that I've got to talk about 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Mitch McConnell, and John Boehner, and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 then Eric Cantor--I've got to talk about 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you know, resistance to this man and the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 obstruction that he has confronted, the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 opposition that has been unprincipled, and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 then engage in some serious analysis about 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what he does. And I said, I always 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 emphasize my respect and love for him, and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 appreciation for the difficulty he has to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 confront. And I maintain that to this day. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> So what has he done right? Is he-- >> A lot of stuff. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Ok. Give me some pointers in terms of-- I mean, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 has he advanced race relations in this country? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Are we a different country or a better country 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 racially because of him? Has he--you actually say 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 at one point that there are other Presidents 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that have done a lot more for black people 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 than he has. >> I don't just say that, that's the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 record. You probably agree with that as well. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Well you think-- >> You think he's done as much 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 as LBJ? No. So, I mean-- >> LBJ and you also mentioned 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Lincoln. Used as another example-- >> It's hard to free the slaves, yeah, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it's hard to imagine that. >> (laughter) It's hard to beat that one, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 huh? >> It's hard to beat that. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 You can't get the high score on that. That's not-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> So what's he done right? >> A lot of stuff. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But see, that's the false positive, right? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 That's the false opposition in an equivalence. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's not that because I'm talking about 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what he's done on race that therefore 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he hasn't done anything right, he's done 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 huge amounts of work that are right. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Right? Things that are right. He got into 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 office, he saved the economy. That's huge, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that's number one, he got into office, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the banks were about to fail. Now, I know 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a lot of people are critical of him and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the capitulation to Wall Street--imagine 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the headlines when the first black President 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 gets into office, and the next day the banks fail. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Dude, you ain't gotta worry about a second 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 term, you might not make it to next week. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Alright? They gonna be on you. So he can't 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 allow that to happen, I mean, in any sense 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of a world that we think is viable. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He saved the banks, he saved the economy, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he bailed out the automobile industry, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and he gave us health care. I mean-- >> Ok-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> That's pretty remarkable. >> And so why isn't that good enough 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for black folks? Black folks all benefited from those accomplishments-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Well you're a black person, you answer that. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Do you think that's good enough? >> I'm asking you. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> When black people are dying in the streets? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Look, you ain't going to have no healthcare 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 if you're dead. >> Mm-hm, ok. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> So, you have to live first. Black lives matter because 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in order to have healthcare you have to be 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 alive in order to receive it. In order to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 make money you have to be alive to make it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So there are some fundamental structures 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 here that need to be addressed--why isn't that good enough? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Why isn't that good enough for anybody? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's not good enough for anybody. The lack 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of dignity is not a good state of being. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And so--and not only that, the President, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in going out of his way to castigate and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to cast dispersions against black folk 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and to lecture them, was depriving them of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 one of the most valuable and viable mouthpieces 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for a set of issues that the nation needed 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to grapple with, not just black people. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 You know, I don't expect Obama to give the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Presidential speech on white privilege. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He knows about that. He's subtle enough to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 understand how to thread that needle. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Right? He's "signifying" again, he knows 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 how to do that. >> Right. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> So there are ways in which he could have used his talent, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 as he did with Trayvon Martin, after that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 speech he gave, and by the way, he was pushed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He didn't just give that speech because he wanted to. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 What was the first response of Obama to Trayvon--to the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 George Zimmerman verdict? Five, six lines, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "We're a nation of laws," "the verdict has 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "been rendered," "don't burn stuff up." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Hm. >> I think his own-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> So when you say he was pushed-- >> I think his own wife and kids came on 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 like, "bro, bro, bro--" >> (laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> "What you got? What you got? What you got? What you got? What you got?" 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> "Gotta do better than that." >> "What you got? What you got? Come on 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "now. You the man, you got skills, you can speak, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "I know you got skills, man." >> Mm-hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Alright, so--and let me tell you why I 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 know this, let me say this, this is a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 small rabbit, but I'll chase it--a former 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 secret service agent wrote a book, two of them. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The second book, he talks about why the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 secret service people loved Michelle Obama. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A) because she was very warm to them, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 she would touch them, ask how they were doing. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 B) they loved her because she would scold 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Obama. She would say, "You are making 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "these men wait, they have schedules too. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "Stop making them late!" You know Michelle 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 broke it down on him like that. >> (laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> But here's why they didn't like her. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A) she was hard on the Republicans. (gestures) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and B) in the back seat of the limo, they 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 said they heard her say, "Every now and again, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "take the black people's side." >> Hm. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Now that's south side Chicago black woman rollin' hard. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 That's representing. But! The fact that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 she had to tell him is as revealing as the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 fact that she told him. >> Yes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> And so I'm saying, therefore, that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Obama was pushed into that--what's wrong with pushing? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 FDR, if it's an apocryphal story, Harry Belafonte tells it and others, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 FDR meeting with A. Philip Randolph, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the great black labor leader, and Mary McLeod Bethune, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the great educational leader, and they met 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with FDR in The White House, and they put forth 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a program--help the negro do this, you know, jobs, voting and stuff. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He says, I believe in everything you're doing now go out there 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and make me do it. So Obama, in theory, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 said that before he got elected. When you get elected 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it's different. But secondly, let me tell 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you who prevented that--the masses of black people. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Black people did not want Obama to be pushed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And I can understand that. He's the first one-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when you've had 43 Presidents you're bored. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Whatever...it's a dude...he's doing what he does. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 For us, it's everything. Everything is on that thin frame of Obama. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So, as a result of that, when Obama was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 pushed he did great things, he did better things, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he gave that speech after Trayvon and he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 explained to white America, "Hey, let me 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "ask you a question. If Trayvon Martin," 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 this is what he said, this is how he talked about 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 white privilege without calling it that, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he said, "If Trayvon Martin had a gun and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "defended himself against George Zimmerman, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "would the outcome be the same and would he be allowed 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "to defend himself in a 'stand your ground' law?" 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He said, "And if there is even a question 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "about whether or not that may be true, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "then we need to revisit that." >> Right. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> All he's saying is, this is white privilege, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 examine it in a serious way. So he did 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 tremendous things when pushed in principle to speak. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He gave a great speech at Selma, I was there, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it was an incredible speech. The eulogy he gave 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 at the Reverend Honorable Clementa Pinckney's funeral 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is one for the ages. So there's a lot that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Obama did that was beautiful. I think 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he'll go down as one of the greatest Presidents ever-- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it will not be race that wins him that plaudit. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 >> Yeah. Got you.