'Mutts like me' — Obama shows ease discussing race

International Herald Tribune/AP ^ | November 8, 2008

[giotto]

WASHINGTON: It popped out casually, a throwaway line as Barack Obama talked to reporters about finding the right puppy for his young daughters.

But with just three offhand words in his first news conference as president-elect, Obama reminded everyone how thoroughly different his administration — and inevitably, the United States — will be.

"Mutts like me."

In American English, a mutt is a mixed breed dog.

By now, almost every American knows that Obama's mother was white and his father black, which will make him the U.S.'s first African-American president. Still, there was something startling, and telling, about hearing his self-description — particularly in how offhandedly he did it.

[giotto]

So there were two gaffes in Obama's first press conference. I believe this was a slip. No one as proud and full of himself as Obama is, would say such a thing about himself, unless it were unplanned and inadvertent.

This slip may hold the key to Obama's psyche.

[SolidWood]

What a racist thing to say... tsk tsk tsk. Imagine if any non-Democrap had used “mutt” to describe Obama.

[Glenn]

I’m proud to be a mutt!

[giotto]

Exactly—which is why the crowd was apparently startled by the remark.

[joseph20]

"I’m proud to be a mutt!"

I am proud not to be a mutt.

[1000 silverlings]

He’s trying to get us to like him, just more of his smiling at the white man so we’re not scared of him

[LukeL]

Like a lot of people who think highly of themselves, deep down they are very fragile and aware of their shortcomings.

[perfect_rovian_storm]

He’s deeply conflicted about being half white and half black. He seems to hate it. He’s a narcissist, so he’s in love with himself, but he hates his racial makeup. That’s the impression I get from his writings and general attitude.

[Glenn]

I am proud not to be a mutt.

Too bad we all can't choose our parents.

[giotto]

I’m proud to be a mutt!

I'd rather be a mutt than a pure breed. Hybrid vigor, or whatever they call it.

But it's still not the kind of thing you expect your soon-to-be President to say.

[unspun]

I am proud not to be a mutt.

I am not proud that you are proud not to be a mutt.

PS: go back far enough in your ancestry and tell us what you find.

[Sacajaweau]

In all my life, I’ve never heard “man” of various heritage referred to as a mutt. I’m speechless.

[joseph20]

"Too bad we all can't choose our parents."

I'm positive that 0bama, if he could, would choose a different set of parents.

[Glenn]

go back far enough in your ancestry and tell us what you find

I tried to research the family tree only to discover that prisons are not the most accurate bookkeepers.

[Glenn]

I’ve never heard “man” of various heritage referred to as a mutt

Have you ever heard a man referred to as a "stud"?

[kaehurowing]

I too am proud to be a mutt!

In fact, in law school we formed the “Mongrel Law Students Association” for mixed-breeds like us that didn’t fit into any of the purebreed minority grievance associations. They didn’t think much of us.

[1000 silverlings]

Where I come from it was common to say one was “Heinz 57”, meaning he had all sorts of ancestry. They do refer to mutts as Heinz 57 too

[Glenn]

They didn’t think much of us.

Mission accomplished, eh?

[unspun]

I tried to research the family tree only to discover that prisons are not the most accurate bookkeepers.

Then, there was the Wisconsin boy who came from a long line of milkmen.

[giotto]

He’s deeply conflicted about being half white and half black.

You can't really blame him. The parent whose skin color he inherited was not there to raise him. The only role model he had was the decadent communist poet of Waikiki, Frank Marshall Davis.