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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 | 37 comments
Comments   
Posted 12:00 PM, 03/20/2008
Anonymous
Look at Dan taking a stand. Dan is not your "typical" gossip journalist.
Posted 12:39 PM, 03/20/2008
Anonymous
Change we can believe in!
Posted 12:49 PM, 03/20/2008
Anonymous
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 12:52 PM, 03/20/2008
Anonymous
By the way. BILLARY is a typical wacko witch.
Posted 01:38 PM, 03/20/2008
Anonymous
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 01:40 PM, 03/20/2008
Anonymous
I would strongly suggest that Obama meant nothing derogatory about white people in his comment. I heard the interview and he seemed to be reinforcing that stereotypes are bad. Lay off. The guy is a lot less racist then BILLARY.
Posted 01:57 PM, 03/20/2008
Anonymous
What exactally is a "Typical White Person"? If ANY white person made a comment like that about ANY "minority" group they'd be tagged a racist. That is a racial statement if ever I heard one...Obama just lost himself a vote.
Posted 02:46 PM, 03/20/2008
Anonymous
If Hillary Clinton referred to a "typical black person," we would never hear the end of it! Racial issues are not a "2-way street"! Hillary would never "throw her grandma under the bus" for anyone!
Posted 02:48 PM, 03/20/2008
Anonymous
For thoughs of you not familiar with Hillary's tactics of implimenting the race card to win votes only, take a look at this link; http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/03/20/the_race_card_is_the_wild_card/
Posted 02:58 PM, 03/20/2008
Anonymous
I'm Morty Seinfeld's obnoxious cigar smoking neighbor from Del Boca Vista!
Posted 03:19 PM, 03/20/2008
Anonymous
As a "typical white person," I can't relate to fearing people of color. However, after Obama's recent statements and associations, I do fear Obama's lack of qualifications to serve as President.
Posted 05:34 PM, 03/20/2008
Anonymous
He will never get my vote. All I can hear is Go%(% America evry time I look at his face (and his wife's face). And now this!!! He better step down if the Dems want to win the GE. Otherwise, it's McCain all the way.
Posted 07:38 PM, 03/20/2008
Anonymous
"Typical white person". And this guy wants to be President? It just wouldn't be a normal day if a liberal didn't put his foot in his mouth. But I'm sure that all the liberal elite will descend from their ivory towers to defend Obama's remarks just as fast as they would to burn McCain or any American (since liberals don't qualify as Americans) at the stake if they said "typical black person". The only difference between a liberal and a terrorist is that at least you know where a terrorist stands.
Posted 08:06 PM, 03/20/2008
Anonymous
you people are a joke. I'm voting for McCain and even I think this is stupid!! We are voting for the leader of the free world, are we going to take everything a man say's and make a big deal out of it? People get a life!!!
Posted 08:20 PM, 03/20/2008
Anonymous
Get over it. Given his comments the other day, he was clearly talking frankly (which is what we need, right? anyother politician willing to do that? I don't think so) about the views of people of his grandmother's generation. It's real. Get over it.
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