Commentary: Morgan Freeman’s Misguided “Mixed-Race President” QuotePosted in Articles, Barack Obama, Media Archive, Politics/Public Policy, United States on 2012-07-12 02:11Z by Steven |
Commentary: Morgan Freeman’s Misguided “Mixed-Race President” Quote
Black Entertainment Television
2012-07-09
Cord Jefferson
The legendary Black actor made a silly mistake when he said Obama isn’t a truly Black president, because fewer and fewer truly Black Americans exist.
Morgan Freeman is one of the most sought after actors in Hollywood, and for good reason: He’s handsome in the way we expect wizened and wise old men to be, he’s got an eminently soothing voice, and, above it all, he’s a hyper-talented thespian. Kudos to Freeman for rising to the top of his craft. Where Freeman tends to falter, however, is when it comes to talking about race and politics…
…In a new interview with NPR, Freeman said that he takes issue with people calling Barack Obama our “first Black president.”
“First thing that always pops into my head regarding our president is that all of the people who are setting up this barrier for him … they just conveniently forget that Barack had a mama, and she was white — very white American, Kansas, middle of America. There was no argument about who he is or what he is. America’s first black president hasn’t arisen yet. He’s not America’s first black president — he’s America’s first mixed-race president.”
Freeman’s hesitance to call Obama the first Black president is fine if that’s his choice on the matter. But as long as we’re splitting hairs, it should be noted that it’s going to be mighty hard to ever elect a Black president who isn’t, as Freeman calls it, “mixed race.”..
Read the entire opinion piece here.