What's Been Bred Into YOU?

ABC News' Jake Tapper, senior national correspondent and blogger at Political Punch, recently reported what Barack Obama apparently said in his radio interview when he mentioned a "typical white person," i.e., his grandmother. But there is something deeply disconcerting about Mr. Tapper's blog entry, partly because a correction I submitted was later deleted from Mr. Tapper's blog. Trust me when I say the correction was important.

Here is what Mr. Tapper presents in his March 20, 2008 blog entry, "Obama Talks More About His 'Typical White Person' Grandmother":


In an interview with sports radio 610 WIP in Philly early this morning, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, said "the point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person, who, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know, well there's a reaction that's in our experiences that won't go away and can sometimes come out in the wrong way. And that's just the nature of race in our society. We have to break through it."


I must inform the reader that Mr. Tapper follows this paragraph with a link directing readers to the actual audio clip of Mr. Obama's interview with 610 WIP. And what follows is ACTUALLY what Mr. Obama said (additions/corrections will appear in bold):


...the point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a, uh, typical white person, who, uh, y'oh, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know, y'know, there's a reaction that's been bred into, uh, our experiences , that that don't go away and that sometimes, uh, come out in, in the wrong way. And that that's just the nature of race in our society. We have to break through it...


Please note the essential and totally accurate additions to what Mr. Obama reportedly said. Note, also, the potential problem. AFTER calling his grandmother a "typical white person," he sets out to describe her. Notice that he shifts, rather awkwardly, from the third person singular -- SHE -- to the first person possessive plural -- OUR, as he begins to describe his grandmother's typical fears. Hear him stop himself --"uh"-- when he says "...there's a reaction that's been bred into, uh, OUR experiences..."

First, that Mr. Obama stops himself after he says "bred into" is telling, as is his grammatical shift from "she" to "our." It appears he KNOWS he's made a dangerous gaffe. He is about to say that something is BRED INTO a "typical white person." So, stopping himself, he mitigates the effect by saying that "there's a reaction that's been bred into, uh, OUR experiences..."

What is perhaps most telling is that no sane person believes that ANYTHING is ever BRED into our EXPERIENCES. The metaphor is absurd. It makes no sense, and it makes no sense because that is not initially what Mr. Obama was going to say. He stopped himself, and he did so solely to mitigate the damage his words would have on his campaign.

But what is most important is that the quote at ABC News' blog written by Jake Tapper is wrong, and it remains wrong even AFTER I offered a mild correction. On top of that, my comment vanished.

Alas. Perhaps I have overstated it. What is most telling is that this false quote posted at ABC News has been circulated elsewhere (apparently it comes from a Philadelphia newspaper). And, the fact that few are even mentioning the "bred into" locution is most disturbing of all. Had this been a locution uttered -- EVEN accidentally -- by a WHITE or REPUBLICAN candidate for president, he (or she) would be asked to leave the country.

Surely this proves that George Orwell was a prophet.


Peace.

©Bill Gnade 2008/Contratimes. All Rights Reserved.