A 45 year old Black Man is not a "young" man and there are many reasons why......

On its face, it sounds like a compliment, but in reality, invoking "youth" as it relates to Sen. Obama is being done for other reasons--

A 45 year old man raising a family is not akin to the responsibilities normally attributed to a "young" man.

MLK was 39 years old, when he was shot down. Was he a young man? I haven't heard anyone referring to him in that way. period.

Obama has already been referred to as a "kid"....which can also be translated to "Boy"--You can determine as to why that's not a compliment. In recent racist history, all Black men were called Boys. It was done as a way of disrespecting Black men. Remember the placards from the 60s, that simply stated "I AM A MAN"?

It is a way of stating that Obama has time to run for President, so when deciding who to vote for, one can always rationalize that he'll have another chance.

Youth to equate lack of experience.

Obama has referred to his drug use as being something he experimented in as a "young" man. If it can be shown that he is still a young man, than it keeps him close in proximity to the time of these incidents which occurred in his "youth".


Folks will rationalize everything that I have said, but it won't change my mind.

Hillary can call herself a "girl", but that's her choice. I don't believe that Obama would ever describe her as that....and neither would I.

Obama is relatively young, and may appear somewhat youthful but he is certainly not a young man.


Sen. Obama is many things.....and an extraordinary African-American Man is just one of those things.

Whether he is young or not, should be left up to him to decide, not his opponents.

and so, it was insane for them to believe that the double meaning of this "supposed" compliment would not be interpreted in a myriad of ways.

If Obama had referred to Sen. Clinton as an Extraordinary middle aged White woman, maybe you'd have gotten that drift.

that your intent was misunderstood.

My thoughts exactly. Every generation calls the next one and subsequent ones "young".

'Bout time you showed up. I mean, for centuries, old people have had the disgusting habit of referring to people who are younger as young. My next door neighbor call me "young lady" and I'm nearly 60, but then he's 80 - can you come to my house and tell him off? ;-)

How does that sound?

n/t

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That's pretty mild compared to what she's usually called on DU. Plus, it's accurate.

Not that it was planned between the two, but that each of them thought it would be beneficial to THEMSELVES to point out how "young" he is, as if to say, "You can nominate him LATER...no rush."

Like he said he would...then maybe people wouldn't be saying it. I just don't think he's paid his dues to this country yet. Not enough to be the president anyway. Of course, his arrogance woudn't allow him to wait.

and as I said, he hasn't paid his dues to this country yet. I don't expect you to understand that. You support him, therefore you're blind to the facts. He started in the Illinois Senate in 1997. He was...elected(I use that term loosely)...to the senate in 2004. Don't fluff the stuff. Most of us could claim 'public service', it doesn't mean we are qualified, or deserve to be the president.

The only time that really matters is his time in the US senate though. Less than 4 years.

Have you ever worked to make a real difference in an urban area like Chicago?

I hope you are not trying to say that working to make this world a better place for thousands in Chicago's poorest neighborhoods is not relevant.

In my view it is far more worthy than smiling and shaking hands as the First Lady ~ not being elected but there because your husband was relevant and ran for office and won.

Give me a break!

It really steams me when people that are not of color decide what is valued and what is not valued in the eyes of my people.

Today I heard that HC asked her father to take her to see MLK speak when she was a young girl. Great! My father took me to see MLK too but that does not make me worthy or "relevant" in terms of the Civil Rights Movement in this country.

when **I** go into vote, **I** decide who will and won't get MY vote. See?

that's definitely old. :P I'm still 45 for a couple of months :woohoo:

I thought this was a joke..or a spoof..you guys are serious?
OMG!

:rofl:

"boy" is not a racist word. "A boy crossed the street." Not racist.

If you use it in a racist way, it becomes racist. Either you treat people like equals, or you treat them like you are above them in some way. Women experience this regularly, being infantilized, and it's not because the vocabulary itself is always sexist, sometimes it comes out in the attitudes and the way women are treated, as if they are children instead of fully adult. "Young man" does not convey responsible adult.

It's a dangerous thing to go there, given our history.

Senator Clinton will be 61 years old this year. Maybe 45 seems young to her. She already had her drivers license when Obama was born. That might put it into perspective for you. We should try not to nitpick everything our Dem candidates say and do. We should be proud of them all. Let's not give the media more ammunition to use since they are doing such a good job of falsifying an imaginary huge divide of racism, sexism, etc. between our party.

I have several times referred to some people I work with as YOUNG because they're about 10 years younger than I am.

You are desperately searching for insults where they don't exist.

when we lost him.

If you read almost any historian's account, or any popular account, of the Kennedy Presidency, you'll see JFK referred to as "young." Repeatedly. Is that dissing JFK? I think not.

For that matter, Tweety Matthews referred to Shrub as "our young warrior King" right after 9-11, when Bush was in his 50's. (Attempting to compare him to Shakespeare's Henry V. Which is pretty much dissing Henry, but I digress.)

"Young" is relative.

You are being way to race sensitive on this shit.

you know the scheming clintons never do or say anything without vetting how it will be subliminally derogatory to Obama.

he has taken the opportunity, more than once, to slam that generation as old and in the way. He has positioned himself younger than he really is, so it is absolutely fair play for Hillary to call him "young."

He's made his own crib, now he can lie in it.

The deacons, young men.

Lighten the fuck up.

YEs this is a black church. IN GA no less.

when you are almost 58 like I am 45 IS young. And yet there are people who refer to me as a young woman (which I find flattering), they are my grandparents age. It's all relative and ridiculous to get bent out of shape over it.

and his campaign is All About...Moving On...because most Americans are "tired of hearing about Vietnam & Civil Rights." It's just NOT RELEVANT to their lifestyles and memories. He's tapping in to the NEW AMERICA.

from the 60's and 70's that he even got the opportunity to be where he is. I guess if you never lived it, it isn't real to you. But I guess all us old people should just STFU. We're getting in the way of the young ones who could care less about what we did for them. :hippie:

Now that I'm getting older and seeing the way young people act, I now understand why old farts get grouchy. :spank:

zalinda

them. There are many out there...who just don't want to hear about "African-American Roots" because OBAMA is NEW..his African-American Roots aren't built on "Slave TRADE!" So ...he's NEW.

How easily folks forget History when a willing Mainstream/Corporate Media...doesn't give you anything for perspective.

:hi: ...I'm just saying what Obama is appealing to...not that I agree.

And he's 62. (She's 85) Guess she's being disrespectful, too, dissing the man that married her daughter some 40 years ago.

I'll have to let her know. She really needs to get with the program.

your argument that this specific incident has racist overtones would be more compelling. I'm aware of the "boy" disrespect and no question it still happens today, but I just don't think this is an example of it, given that the pundits used exactly the same terms to describe Edwards, even though he was 5 years older in 2003, than Obama is now. Did they do that because Edwards and Obama look or seem young? Maybe. Are they trying to dismiss both of them as inexperienced? Maybe. Racist? Not if they're doing it regardless of race.

Not interested in changing your mind; just explaining why your argument may not convince others.

summon the 1960s every time Obama gets attacked. Part of his appeal is that he moves beyond the old racial battles; let's not draw him into the battles that only the Clintons want him to fight.

Like never. It is what you eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is nothing he can do that does not spin you into a tizzy of outraged spitting. Edwards is not going to be president and neither is General Clark. Another day, another pissed off Clarkie at something Edwards did. Free country-but I think you guys are just weird! It's an obsession. Like you were born loving generals (he's pretty good looking too-but he's a real man because of the military-not that "phony" Edwards-see I can do your stickt for you) and hating good looking lawyers.

Now Edwards called your guy young-the horror!!!!!!! (hey at least you didn't knee jerkingly support Clinton like those other Clarkies-kudos!)

Be prepared for tortuous justifications of racist code terms.

What if I don't believe it. I want proof. It sounds more to me that the Columbia/Harvard elite wants some sort of "street cred". If he wants to claim to have done drugs provide proof. I want to hear from someone he did drugs with. where, what kind, what circumstance?

I have the right to know ny president is not a liar!!!