President Obama calls African-Americans a ‘mongrel people’

the Hill ^ | 7/29/2010 | Sam Youngman

[milwguy]

President Obama waded into the national race debate in an unlikely setting and with an unusual choice of words: telling daytime talk show hosts that African-Americans are “sort of a mongrel people.”

The president appeared on ABC’s morning talk show “The View” Thursday, where he talked about the forced resignation of Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod, his experience with race and his roots.

When asked about his background, which includes a black father and white mother, Obama said of African-Americans: "We are sort of a mongrel people."

"I mean we're all kinds of mixed up," Obama said. "That's actually true of white people as well, but we just know more about it."

The president did not appear to be making an inflammatory remark with his statement. The definition of mongrel as an adjective is defined as "of mixed breed, nature, or origin," according to dictionary.com.

The race debate was reignited after Sherrod’s firing. Obama also addressed the issue in his speech to the National Urban League 100th Anniversary Convention in Washington on Thursday morning.

But in his interview on “The View,” which was taped Wednesday but aired Thursday, the president said the Sherrod story was prompted when the media "generated a phony controversy."

"A lot of people overreacted, including people in my administration," he said.

[Tzimisce]

......the office of the Presidency has really fallen from grace.

[fullchroma]

He could have used hybrid, pastiche, collage, potpourri, amalgam, fusion...

But he curiously chose “mongrel”! Just for fun, let’s see what synonyms the thesaurus returns:

bastard, cross, crossbreed, cur, half-blood, half-breed, hybrid, mixed breed, mixture, mule, mutt, adulterated, baseborn, counterfeit, fake, false, imperfect, impure, inferior, irregular, misbegotten, misborn, mixed, mongrel, natural, phony, sham, spurious, suppositious, ungenuine, aimless, assorted, broad, careless, confused, designless, desultory, extensive, general, haphazard, heterogeneous, hit-or-miss, imperceptive, jumbled, mingled, miscellaneous, mixed, motley, multifarious, promiscuous, purposeless, shallow, spot, superficial, sweeping, unconsidered, uncritical, undiscriminating, unmethodical, unplanned, unselective, unsystematic, varied, variegated, wholesale.

[Nat Turner]

On behalf of the black population, I really do want to apologize for that embarrassment in the WH. Personally, I did not vote, nor support nor endorse this @$$hat.

[colorado tanker]

Now more than ever I'd like to see this ignorant fool's transcripts. It's obvious he doesn't know s#$t from shinola. He doesn't even know how the term "mongrel" has been used by racists in the nation's past. You'd think he would at least know something about the history of race relations in this country.

If a conservative used that word it'd be on the front pages for weeks. Sheesh.

[Rebelbase]

At least he’s a clean and articulate mongrel.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Thank you. On behalf of the so-called white side of the equation, I want to apologize, too.

[Qbert]

“Wonder would happen if a white guys calls African Americans ‘mongrels...”

You get to a nice eulogy at your funeral by Obama and Clinton. (see, Robert Byrd, former Klansman)

[norton]

"...the term "mongrel" has been used by racists in the nation's past."

I believe it was also used by Adolph Hitler to define Americans in general.
(Maybe it's just a fascist thing.)

[catnipman]

I can’t stand this SOB or anything about him or his little dog too, but I’m not going to criticize him about the use of the term “mongrel”. I think it could be fairly applied to any mixed-race people, and without pejorative intent, at least in a nation that hadn’t been delierately racially hypersensitized by this SOB and his Rat buddies for their own political gain. (On the other hand, it’s always entertaining to see someone hoist on their own petard!)

[crosshairs]

Wonder would happen if a white guys calls African Americans 'mongrels'?

So it was his black half that said this.

[antiRepublicrat]

Technically quite true, but a bad choice of words so soon after KKKByrd’s use of it was nationally hilighted.

[satan]

Also niggardly.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

I guess that’s why the Zero raises his leg while he squats to pee.

[antiRepublicrat]

"We're mutts! ... We're mutants! There's something wrong with us, something very, very wrong with us, something seriously wrong with us..."

[freebird5850]

Did Barry flip anyone off? It’s kinda his signature now.

[Springfield Reformer]

Good point. His apparent isolation from many things fundamental to the American experience (the baseball misunderstandings come to mind) is very odd, and really does more to suggest his alienness than even the absence of a long form birth certificate.

[jagusafr]

“That’s actually true of white people as well, but we just know more about it.”

Mr. President, you arrogant p**ck.

Colonel, USAFR

[Jack Hammer]

Actually, the only pure-bred people I’m personally aware of are those who’ve resided on the islands of Japan for the past two thousand years.

And even they came from someplace else originally.

[Little Ray]

Hey, we’re Americans. We’ve been kicked out every “decent” country in the world. Of course we’re “mongrels!” Show me where this is a bad thing.

[jagusafr]

And what’s so funny is that he is ACTUALLY “African American”, whereas I’m more Swedish (only 2 generations removed from the “mother country” that most blacks are African.

Hyphenation is killing the nation.

Colonel, USAFR