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Thursday, March 20, 2008
Obama on WIP: My grandmother's a "typical white person"
This item has been changed/updated with new information...

We thought we heard this, but we wanted to go back and listen to the clip of Sen. Barack Obama on 610 WIP this morning to be sure.

610 WIP host Angelo Cataldi asked Obama about his Tuesday morning speech on race at the National Constitution Center in which he referenced his own white grandmother and her prejudice. Obama told Cataldi that "The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity, but that she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know - there's a reaction in her that's been bred into our experiences that don't go away and sometimes come out in the wrong way and that's just the nature of race in our society. We have to break through it. What makes me optimistic is you see each generation feeling less like that. And that's pretty powerful stuff"

We doubt this story will have legs, but wonder if Hillary Clinton referred to a "typical black person," would we ever hear the end of it?

UPDATE: We gave the Obama campaign a chance to respond to this post. "Barack Obama said specifically that he didn't believe his grandmother harbored any racial animosity, but that her fears were understandable and typical of those often shared by her generation," said Obama's PA spokesman Sean Smith, who added that Grandma is 86-years-old. He might have meant that specifically, but that isn't what he said, especially as he spoke of his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, in the present tense.  The Clinton campaign has not yet returned our request for comment on Obama's remarks. We aren't holding our breath for a Clinton comment.

UPDATE: We were wrong. The story did have legs. Here's a new post explaining how far it spread and including a funny attack on us.
Posted by Dan Gross @ 11:37 AM  Permalink | 36 comments
Comments
12:00 PM, 03/20/2008
Look at Dan taking a stand. Dan is not your "typical" gossip journalist.
Posted by Anonymous
12:39 PM, 03/20/2008
Change we can believe in!
Posted by Anonymous
12:49 PM, 03/20/2008
A "typical white person..."??? Rather than lecturing others about their attitudes, the Senator should look at himself. It sounds as if he has a problem.
Posted by Anonymous
12:52 PM, 03/20/2008
By the way. BILLARY is a typical wacko witch.
Posted by Anonymous
01:38 PM, 03/20/2008
Maybe Hillary should reference Bama as a typical black person, and see what kind of reaction she gets. That way, she puts him on the spot by referring to his earlier remark (on WIP). And hell, any publicity is good publicity for a politician. P.S. Is Jack Klompus the same Jack Klompus that used to write for Guideposts?
Posted by Anonymous
36 comments | View All Comments
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