Dave Matthews Sees “Racism Everywhere”
Interesting interview with CNN and the Dave Matthews Band.
I think I grew up a very sheltered life. I spent my first 24 years only leaving the state of California twice, hardly ever leaving the Bay Area. What do you think? Is racism still a large part of our society?
From CNN:
We caught up with Matthews just as news hit the Web that former President Jimmy Carter believed racism was the root of some of the negativity directed toward President Obama in recent weeks. The 42-year-old singer-songwriter offered a unique perspective, as a man who split his childhood between the United States and South Africa during apartheid. The following is an edited version of the interview.
CNN: President Carter said he thinks that a lot of the animosity directed toward President Obama is race related.
Dave Matthews: Of course it is! I found there’s a fairly blatant racism in America that’s already there, and I don’t think I noticed it when I lived here as a kid. But when I went back to South Africa, and then it’s sort of thrust in your face, and then came back here — I just see it everywhere. There’s a good population of people in this country that are terrified of the president only because he’s black, even if they don’t say it. And I think a lot of them, behind closed doors, do say it.
Maybe I’m paranoid about it, but I don’t think someone who disagreed as strongly as they do with Obama — if it was Clinton — would have stood up and screamed at him during his speech. (Shakes his head) I don’t think so.
CNN: Everything has gone to such a frenzied pitch.
Matthews: I think a lot of it has to be on the press. We give the podium to a lot of people who shouldn’t have the podium. The message that’s delivered the loudest and in the most entertaining way is the one that we’re going to put on because that’s what we want. We want ratings more than we want to deliver information. That’s just where the culture’s gotten.
There’s no way that Walter Cronkite, as a young journalist, no way Ed Murrow would be hired to do news today. Not a chance.
CNN: Because they’re too low-key? Because they’re not bombastic?
Matthews: Because they’re thoughtful, and they’re patient, and they’re tying to tell you a truly balanced story. They’re trying to impart information. I don’t think that’s the goal [now] because it’s not a good business plan.
This entry was posted on September 21, 2009 at 6:39 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: Africa, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Dave Matthews, Dave Matthews Band, Ed Murrow, Jimmy Carter, Journalism, Media, Obama, Racism, South Africa, Walter Cronkite
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September 22, 2009 at 4:58 am
Since when did disagreeing with the President of the United States become racism? Wow, a lot of the Obama supporters (including the ones that are supporting this claim) must also be racist because they disagreed with Bush. In fact, everyone that I know has had a disagreement with one of our Presidents throughout history. That means everyone in the US is racist!
I think that everyone will disagree with my last comment. Even I do! But that is how stupid this racism card is in this case. Yes, there are a few people out there that are threatened by a “black man” being President. I am not one of them. In fact, most of my white friends and even my family voted for Obama. But most of them have changed their mind and not because they suddenly became racists. It is about policy and caring about America.