Dear Obama: It's because you're Black
By Danielle Skinner
Issue date: 3/3/10 Section: Opinion
The election of Barack Obama marked a glorious day for the Black community. Unfortunately, because Obama is Black, he is facing more scrutiny and harsher criticism from Americans. He has also been placed under the "media microscope" more than any other president in the history of the United States.
In fact, the media and society as a whole have already showed how hard it is to get past his skin color through their overblown reactions to some of Obama's actions and comments.
One incident involved "the fly." On June 17, 2009, Obama killed a pesky fly during his CNBC interview. Members of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were so outraged at the slaughter of the innocent fly that the next day they sent Obama a human fly catcher.
Then it was the "Las Vegas" comment. After a town hall meeting in Nashua, New Hampshire, Obama told a crowd that people ought not to "blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you're trying to save for college." The mayor of Las Vegas was so furious with Obama's comment that he demanded an apology.
Let's not forget that there's talk that Obama has no "backbone" because of his supposedly lax style of leading the United States. The fact that Obama bailed out major corporations and banks during the recession (to prevent another Great Depression), chose to withdraw our troops out of Iraq (where we should not have been anyway), and hasn't been able to pass the new health care plan (that nobody seems to agree upon), has everybody in a fit.
Even though former President George Bush was poked fun at for his ignorant mannerisms, I do not recall him receiving this level of criticism for the way he ruled this country while he was in office. And I know Americans have a short memory, but he led this country into complete and utter chaos.
If you want to talk about harming a living being--fly or human--let's talk about post 9/11 when Bush said, "We are going to smoke them out of their holes," to an MSNBC reporter. Why wasn't Bush criticized for this inappropriate statement? Wasn't he adding fuel to the fire by saying this?
In fact, the media and society as a whole have already showed how hard it is to get past his skin color through their overblown reactions to some of Obama's actions and comments.
One incident involved "the fly." On June 17, 2009, Obama killed a pesky fly during his CNBC interview. Members of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were so outraged at the slaughter of the innocent fly that the next day they sent Obama a human fly catcher.
Then it was the "Las Vegas" comment. After a town hall meeting in Nashua, New Hampshire, Obama told a crowd that people ought not to "blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you're trying to save for college." The mayor of Las Vegas was so furious with Obama's comment that he demanded an apology.
Let's not forget that there's talk that Obama has no "backbone" because of his supposedly lax style of leading the United States. The fact that Obama bailed out major corporations and banks during the recession (to prevent another Great Depression), chose to withdraw our troops out of Iraq (where we should not have been anyway), and hasn't been able to pass the new health care plan (that nobody seems to agree upon), has everybody in a fit.
Even though former President George Bush was poked fun at for his ignorant mannerisms, I do not recall him receiving this level of criticism for the way he ruled this country while he was in office. And I know Americans have a short memory, but he led this country into complete and utter chaos.
If you want to talk about harming a living being--fly or human--let's talk about post 9/11 when Bush said, "We are going to smoke them out of their holes," to an MSNBC reporter. Why wasn't Bush criticized for this inappropriate statement? Wasn't he adding fuel to the fire by saying this?
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