Photo: Getty Images
In what many are calling a controversial move, President Barack Obama used the n-word in a recent interview with comedian Marc Maron to discuss the current state of racism in America. In the interview, which was a part of Maron’s WTF with Marc Maron podcast, Obama said:
“Racism, we are not cured of it. And it's not just a matter of it not being polite to say n****r in public.”
While his comments are indeed (as CNN points out) very jarring, especially in the wake of last week’s Charleston, South Carolina tragedy where nine African-Americans were shot to death by a white supremacist while they were at church, Obama did point out there has been some progress when it comes to how race relations were in the past.
“I always tell young people, in particular, do not say that nothing has changed when it comes to race in America, unless you've lived through being a black man in the 1950s or '60s or '70s,” he added. “It is incontrovertible that race relations have improved significantly during my lifetime and yours.”
Although Obama’s bold language has left some people baffled and uncomfortable, there is no denying that what he had to say to Maron is true. No matter how much progress has been made, America is far from being the non-discriminatory haven it so desperately wants to be, and that’s not just in regards to racism.
Whether it be homophobia, transphobia, anti-Semitism, or sexism, discrimination still exists in many forms, and it is eerie how well Obama’s statements apply to different kinds of prejudice if you take out a few choice words and swamp them for others. Race and sexuality are not the same, but LGBT people can still relate to the experience of being discriminated against, especially if you are an LGBT person of color, who has experienced both.
Kirkam/Shutterstock
