Two weeks ago on NBC’s Meet the Press, the irrepressibly arrogant “newsman,” Tim Russert, asked Senator Barack Obama to comment on Harry Belafonte’s strong commentary on President Bush. Belafonte recently called Bush the “greatest terrorist in the world.” (Agree??) Writer Peter Daou asks “why would Russert ask Obama (and not anyone else) to comment on Belafonte’s statements?” (Link to HuffingtonPost.com.) Because Obama is black, perhaps?
One person on Arianna’s blog hit the nail on the head:
“Obviously, Russert asked this question of Obama because like Belafonte he is black — and the media insist that blacks perceived as more mainstream be ready to denounce their more radical brethren. This good black/bad black scenario is as old as race relations in this country. Russert didn’t invent it, but it is rather disgusting of him to perpetuate it.”
TheStateOf. . . Black Politics. The first black president–and I believe it will happen in my lifetime–will be a Republican. If Obama ever runs, he will be forced to either embrace his blackness or distance himself from his blackness, and neither strategy would work. Black Republicans don’t have to worry about that.
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