Late Pass: Do Better, Barack.

G.D.

G.D.

Gene "G.D." Demby is the founder and editor of PostBourgie. In his day job, he blogs and reports on race and ethnicity for NPR's Code Switch team.
G.D.
  • LH

    “Sweetie,” though well-meaning, was certainly a misstep on Obama’s part, but it’s the reporter’s question I find problematic.

    It suggests a lack of understanding of both the responsibilities of the president and the variables affecting the auto industry. No president’s job is to create or even protect jobs and Chrysler is still trying to find its way after its marriage to Daimler didn’t pan out. The bottom line is that if consumers aren’t purchasing the cars an auto manufacturer makes, it’s going to have to slash employees or mover operations overseas. Tax breaks, which a president can merely propose, will only do so much to change that.

  • kaya

    this doesn’t surprise me. he’s not perfect. he’s a closet sexist, hilary’s a closet racist, welcome to america.

  • Now that I see the clip, that was a FAUX PAS but it doesn’t mean that he denigrates women. If he did, he would not have chosen a woman for a wife who was his superior at the law firm where they both worked early in their careers. The Obamas are learning the hard way that the medis will blow up every misstep that they make.

    {shrugs}
    Lisa

    http://blackwomenblowthetrumpet.blogspot.com

  • LH

    Kaya, what leads you to say that Obama is a closet sexist?

  • kaya

    um LH, did you see the above clip? i was kind of exaggerating but what he’s saying does have sexist undertones. i’m sure he’s a nice person who meant well and calls women “sweetie” to be affectionate but it still demonstrates a lack of respect. i mean had hillary told a black reporter “hold on, BOY” our community would’ve been all over it. i just think he’s a product of his environment; the boys law club and though he may mean to be mr change and equality he still has to try hard to get away from that mindframe.

  • LH

    Yes, I saw the clip, but you said he’s a closet sexist. I inferred, incorrectly so it seems, that you are aware of similar gaffes by Obama. If the clip is all you’re referring to, it seems odd that you’d refer to him as a closet sexist.

  • Perry

    LH…is there a minimum number of sexist comments he’d have to make for you to consider him a sexist?

    Perhaps he should say something MORE sexist to meet your criteria?

  • LH

    Perry, I guess you can explain what makes Obama a “closet” sexist, then.

    And are you really saying that calling a woman “sweetie” in itself makes a man sexist?

  • kaya

    LH, yes, i am saying that calling a woman sweetie IN THAT PARTICULAR CONTEXT is a sexist act. no, it does not make obama a terrible person or make me take my vote over to clinton. does one sexist act make a person sexist? does one racist act make a person racist? i think every american has some degree of sexism/racism/homophobia/xenophobia/whateverism… i do appreciate that obama (or his handlers) recognized that it was wrong and apologized. but it’s still problematic. he admitted it’s problematic. like the post title said: do better, barack. i’m hoping he’s trying to do so.

  • Resee

    Kaya, I think you’re overreacting and a bit over-zealous. Just because someone may call you a “sweetie” in that context doesn’t mean they are sexist. Women do it all the time – does that mean they’re sexist? Condescending? Maybe. Sexist? No.

  • Resee: context matters. just as it’s different if a fellow twentysomething black peer called me ‘boy’ versus a white supervisor, it’s different when a male stranger refers to a woman in a professional context as ‘sweetie.’

    but hell, i’d argue that sweetie is almost always condescending, except for maybe in romantic contexts. (then it’s just corny.)

    ‘overreacting’/’over-zealous.’ oy. those crazy women and their brittle feelings!

    let’s not ride for Obama’s mistake — ‘cuz that’s what it was — just because we (y’all) may be partial to him.

  • kaya

    is his being condescending in this sitiuation not sexist? would he have said the same thing to a man? why is it so hard for people to admit that he has a flaw?

  • Resee

    I think being condescending IS having a flaw, but geez! I mean, the man says “sweetie” and people are having a heart attack about it! I just don’t think it’s that serious. A flaw, sure, but nothing to write home and tell the folks about. And GD, I can assure you that I’m fully aware of the fact that contexts matters. And just because I may SEEM to be defending him doesn’t necessarily mean that I am all for him…

  • Resee:

    Uh, where is anyone up in arms about it?

    He said something boneheaded, sexist and condescending; it was pointed out as such.

    Maybe I’m missing something.

  • kaya

    yeah i mean i’m not the one “having a heart attack about it”…that’s what i was getting at in my first comment. i wasn’t surprised that he said it because he operates within a realm that perpetuates all kinds of “-isms.” i almost EXPECT him to be sexist to some degree. i DO think it’s important to “tell the folks about.” we have this candidate who has made great strides and made me proud as a black person but said something that made me cringe as a woman.
    but if you can’t see that we’re just going to have to agree to disagree.
    yes we can.