Mark My Words - commentary on news, politics, religion, philosophy, science and social issues

So says Barack Obama. But one could easily get the impression that he means words matter as a tool for deceiving others.

Recently, I had a friend say he didn't think Barack Obama would ever support reparations. At the time, I had no response as I'd not looked at Obama's position on the matter. Seems that perhaps more of us should look into this, as my friend's opinion may be off by quite a bit.

'I consistently believe that when it comes to . . . reparations," Obama recently told a gathering of minority journalists, "the most important thing for the U.S. government to do is not just offer words, but offer deeds."

[...]

In other words, reparations by another name.
Obama knows that if he pushes too hard on reparations, he might scare off white voters. So he couches race-specific welfare as "universal" social programs that appeal to broad-based political coalitions — "even if they disproportionately help minorities," he confides in his book, "Audacity of Hope."
Obama has a name for his scheme: "universal strategies."
"An emphasis on universal, as opposed to race-specific, programs isn't just good policy," he wrote. "It's also good politics." [...] (source)

Be sure to read the entire article. It seems Obama has not left behind the racial divide, grievance blinders of his former church and pastor of twenty years. Notice also the use of words to try and propose at the very least, a stepping stone to reparations. Constantly talking of what is still owed and that deeds need to be offered up, certainly establishes foundational principles that would encourage pushing for actual reparations in the future. After all, throwing money at poverty and education hasn't solved problems there. Doing more of the same, and getting similar results, or the results never being good enough, will easily lead to more pressure for payments or so much government handout as to be reparations in fact, despite the deceptive words that will be used.

Obama's tendency to use language to evade and deflect is covered by the American Thinker, with reparations being one of the issues examined:

So, when asked by Anderson Cooper for his position on reparations, Obama's answer may have evaded a candid response such as: "Yes, I believe in a form of reparations designed to repair public education, particularly where it has historically failed many black children."
If nominated, and certainly if elected, Obama will want to offer a persuasive case to the American people for wide-spread educational reparations. For now, though, he seems to be playing language games with us. (source)

So, what guarantee is there that Obama's supposed stance against cash payment reparations would remain, once he didn't have to appeal to the general population and had a Democrat controlled Congress? It's not like Barack Obama has shown much courage in maintaining other positions when he's faced criticism. For now, it frustrates his left leaning supporters. How long will he continue to only irritate them?

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Filed under: Politics

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