Michael Eric Dyson says that yesterday was a low moment in the Obama presidency when he addressed the issues in Ferguson, suggesting that Obama used his bully pulpit to bully black people by talking about black criminality instead of the issues that led to the Michael Brown shooting. He goes on to say that Obama was a poor teacher and that he not only failed black people but the entire nation.
But I think he’s got far more latitude than he’s exercised so far. He’s got the bully pulpit. Be a bully in the pulpit. But don’t bully black people.
Yesterday was a low moment in the Obama presidency because he distracted attention away from the facts of the case. A white police officer armed to the teeth with a gun has killed an unarmed black youth. The president turned this into a referendum, if you will, on internal machinations of black criminality and the politics of black respectability as opposed to the facts at hand.
He was a poor teacher yesterday and he’s such a brilliant and insightful man. But he failed us, and not only us as black people but he failed the nation.
Watch the full clip:
HOST: Do you feel that the president is under so many constraints that it makes it impossible to really show passion on this issue, or do you think he has more latitude than maybe the White House or president thinks?
DYSON: Well, let me begin by saying that like Charles Ogletree, I’ve known Barack Obama since ’92. The professor and I have joined together in defense of this president against vicious attacks on him. So I know that the black Obama bots and the [true arati]? will go haywire because we’re offering some suggestions and in my case some criticism and in Charles Ogletree’s case some pushing of the president.
But I think he’s got far more latitude than he’s exercised so far. He’s got the bully pulpit. Be a bully in the pulpit. But don’t bully black people.
Yesterday was a low moment in the Obama presidency because he distracted attention away from the facts of the case. A white police officer armed to the teeth with a gun has killed an unarmed black youth. The president turned this into a referendum, if you will, on internal machinations of black criminality and the politics of black respectability as opposed to the facts at hand.
He was a poor teacher yesterday and he’s such a brilliant and insightful man. But he failed us, and not only us as black people but he failed the nation. He failed to deal with the particular instances not only of Michael Brown — he doesn’t have to deal with Michael Brown. The president said, I don’t want to put my thumb on it too much to weigh the scales of justice. Don’t even talk about Michael Brown. Talk about what led to Michael Brown. Tell us as a nation what happens when festering rage in a community then begins to ignite and then begins to consume not only that community but the people around the nation who are empathetic.
So I think the president has a lot more latitude. Does he have opposition? Yes, but guess what. When he opens his mouth on Iraq, he’s opposed. When he opens his mouth on the environment, he’s opposed. When he opens his mouth on gay marriage he’s opposed. He’s opposed at every step. Don’t use this as an excuse to not speak about race.