Slavery did not begin in the 1900's. It has indeed been centuries.
As far as living in a "black man's world" were you felt the same discrimination...where would that be? Living in a black neighborhood or even in a place like South Africa is not the same as being in a nation where you are discriminated against for something you cannot change. No matter where you go or what you do it is always following you.
Again I have mis-communicated. Decades in my experience of dealing with backlash. Blacks have indeed had centuries of issues to deal with here. So have my ancestors the Scots, but that's another matter entirely.
I never said I felt the same discrimination as black people in America, because I did not. Backlash is not universal like our treatment of blacks in America once was.
No, one can not always see the way out of a situation. And when one is the victim of backlash it is for the color of your skin and you can't change that. Not the same as being a black person in a biased America though.
Still, white people did not invent slavery or build the slave trade all by themselves. This seems to be lost in revisionist history. Nothing to excuse the white players for thier roles, but slavery existed in Africa before the slave trade with tne new world and according to some continues to this day.
My point is that while black or African Americans may have different and arguably stonger motives to express outrage in the form of racial prejucide, we can't be equal as a people until we hold everybody to the same standards regarding racism and hateful speech, discrimination and fairness.
If BHO condemned Lott and Imus he should have likewise condemned Wright and called for his resignation. That would be demonstrating equality and even handedness. What the candidate did was only take exception to percieved racism from white speakers and excuse the black speakers. That is wrong.
While I agree with PBP on the root causes and agree that the black experience in America has been different and more difficult in many ways than the white experience. This does not make it okay for a person wanting to be Commander in Chief to show this kind of bias.
Trent Lott says something supporting Strom Thurmond's run for the Presidency in 1948 and the left puts words in his mouth saying that he therefore supported Thurmond's segregationist views at the time. Lott said no such thing, but Obama called for his resignation.
Don Imus makes a repugnant gaff in an attempt at humor and Obama wants his job. Fair enough, what about your pastor Senator?
Wright did say G-d d*mn America, He did make slurs grouping all whites in to one evil group, and Obama supported him. I understand backlash. I know why some feel it is necessary. People have to work through things. My preference is for folks in that kind of mindspace to keep their fingers off the big red button attached to the nukes. That's all. YMMV