Perhaps Harry Reid meant by Obama was more electable because he is "light-skinned" that, societally, racism unfortunately still clouds Americans' judgments of individuals, even manifesting itself through shades of skin color, not merely on the basis of race. If he did, he wasn't nearly that articulate.
However, even giving him the benefit of the doubt on that one, I don't know what to make of the rest of the quote. He said that Obama was an African-American "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." Certainly, the word "Negro" is long outdated. I don't really know why that's still in Reid's active vocabulary. But what is this quote trying to say? Is it questioning Obama's blackness? Is he saying that Obama is electable because he's a black person who can speak "proper" English? What does that say about Reid's perception of the rest of black America?
Reid's comments are racist. There is no getting around that. But I'm surprised that the Democrats have come to his defense. If Reid was a Republican, the Democrats would have gone after him. It's a poor politics-first play by the Democrats. We need principle over politics. Reid should at least lose his leadership role. I tend not to think he should resign. If politicians had to resign every time they said something racist, the halls of Congress would be pretty empty for the most part. Well, more so.
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Gee, did a 70-year-old man use the word "Negro"? Yup. Sure did.
But let's pull back a little, shall we? What exactly did he say?
Reid "was wowed by Obama's oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama -- a 'light-skinned' African American 'with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,' as he said privately."
Wow. What a revelation. Reid liked Obama and thought he was electable. He suggested that race plays a role in the electoral process. Oh, and he used the word "negro."
Could it be true? Could racism still affect people's chances of getting elected?
Oh, and by the way, if, instead of his educated, cultured diction, Barack Obama talked like Flavor Flav, do you think that might have changed how people perceived him?
I'm just curious.
So, you got your first sentence right. Starts to go downhill after that.
You have to go with the meaning behind the words, as well as the words themselves.
Should Harry Reid lose his leadership position? Not over this. Maybe because he's ineffective, but not because of some trump-up charge of racism.
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