WASHINGTON--First Lady Michelle Obama said Wednesday that embattled Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nv.) "had no need to apologize to me" because of racial remarks he made about President Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign.
"Harry Reid had no need to apologize to me, because I know Harry Reid. And I measure people more so on what they do rather than the things that they say," Mrs. Obama said during a round table session with reporters.
"I think each and every one of us around the table has probably said something in their lifetime that they regret or did not accurately reflect what they actually meant at the time and was taken out of context," she said.
Reid triggered an uproard when he described Obama, in the new book "Game Change" as a "light-skinned" African-American "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."
"This is a good man who has always been on the right side of history," Obama said Monday in a television interview with Roland Martin.
Categories:Michelle Obama 11 Comments
By Bob from Leominster, MA on January 13, 2010 12:38 PM
"Harry Reid had no need to apologize to me, because I know Harry Reid. And I measure people more so on what they do rather than the things that they say," Mrs. Obama said. I GUESS IMUS DOESN'T GET AFFORDED THE SAME TREATMENT.
By jfx on January 13, 2010 12:44 PM
No apology needed - Mrs. Obama probably already had noticed that her husband is relatively light skinned and does not speak in dialect.
By Annie on January 13, 2010 1:08 PM
Why is it that the only race on the planet to gripe and complain about their own race is the Negro race? I am Caucasian and I am not offended or ashamed to be called such. Indians don't mind being called Indians, Chinese are Mongoloid race and don't care, but oh boy, you call a black a Negro, WHICH THEY ARE, and all of a sudden it's racist and offensive! BALONEY! Maybe Whites should take offense to being called Caucasian, after all, we are WHITE! Hell, let's get the Indian's to demand to be called RED and also demand that the word Indian become RACIAL SLUR! Caucasian? Hey, that's a racial slur! I'm White, not Caucasian! Good God if I actually thought like that, I WOULD be ashamed! The fact is, BLACKS are ashamed of their own NEGRO race, or they would be like all other races and PROUD of being just that!
By Jen on January 13, 2010 1:40 PM
Lynn, the First Lady is right on the mark about Sen. Reid. He's a classy, standup kind of guy. Remember what Michelle told a group of high school students last year?!
"I remember there were kids around my neighborhood who would say, 'Ooh, you talk funny, you talk like a white girl.' I heard that growing up my whole life. I was like, I don't even know what that means, but you know what? I'm still getting my A."
And, I think that as long as the First Lady is getting her A's, both her and Sen. Reid couldn't care less what kind of dialect she or her husband choose to use at a particular moment in time [depending on the audience, of course]. Truthfully, I don't even think Michelle knows what Mr. Reid meant by that statement, and neither does he. He was just babbling away.
By busbus on January 13, 2010 3:10 PM
I'm with you, Mrs. Obama. President Obama has addressed the issue. It was a remark made about him; so, if he's accepted Senator Reid's apology, I accept it. Really, I feel that an apology was not warranted; however, I can understand why Senator Reid apologized.
All of this chatter about this remark is just a ploy being used by the opposition to affect Senator Reid's bid for reelection, to undermine the President and the Democratic Party and to sway the Independents.
It's unfortunate that the MSM gives credence to this feign anger and the other malarkey of the opposition and its surrogates. It is being "played" and they should know it.
By G-LA on January 13, 2010 5:06 PM
I am a black American and proud. I really took offense to the tone in which the comments, were set by BOB,JFX,ANNIE.The comments should have been related to how the First Lady re-acted and handled the situation regarding what was said in the book about her husband the President.He is in fact our President and it is very evident by his appointment into the office in which he now holds as a Black man that his skin color or dialect is not an issue. Regardless of what color you are he alone has proven to everyone who call themselves Americans that against the odds, of being a minority, of a different social class you can do and be what ever you want to be. So before, commenting about things that are unknown to you personally, look at your self in the mirror and ask yourself, Why!
By Peter on January 14, 2010 3:09 AM
America has a lot of important issues to deal with.A world class education for its children,quality healthcare for all and other important issues.Americans understand the need to stay focused on these importnat issues because their children deserve a better life
By TC on January 14, 2010 11:00 AM
Michelle and, more importantly, her husband know that the Administration needs Reid. I doubt they didn't know about these comments already. While I don't care much for Harry, I think the whole thing is typical over-reaction by the media to quasi-racist language. Harry Reid is one of the least understood politicians in this country -- as someone who used to work in the power corridors of Nevada, I like to think of him as being like a desert tortoise: he has strong shell and keen instincts to protect him from the heat. The most important of those is his knack for staying in the shadows -- that is where he is most comfortable. His opponents are trying to drag him into the glaring sun, where he does not want to be.
By Pal on January 15, 2010 3:20 PM
What Imus said and Reid said are like apples and oranges and it is sickening that whomever keeps using Imus as an example does not know the difference!!!!
By Courtney on January 15, 2010 9:07 PM
Ann, your comments are very rude, Black people don't like being called negro because of the roots of the word. If you knew anything about anything. Call them African Americans or Black, how would like for someone to call you a honkey or trailer trash!
By nyrealtor on January 16, 2010 10:07 AM
Michelle is over it! And I applaud her for taking the high road. So many people feed off of the negative energy and are just waiting in the wings to start more racial bull. In response to Annie, I am an African American woman, not a NEGRO. The reason we take such offense to it is because the word NEGRO came about during the civil rights movement and has been associated the long history of slavery, segregation, and discrimination that treated African Americans as second class citizens, or worse. During the 1960s Negro came to be considered an ethnic slur. Needless to say, no other ethnicity is referred to in such a derogatory manner. I have no problem referring to people as black, white or brown. But think for a minute how you would feel about being called a cracker opposed to caucasion or white?
Source:/blogs.suntimes.com/
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