At the Congressional Black Caucus, Obama’s Sister Souljah moment

Which famous Bill did President Obama seem to channel in his speech to the Congressional Black Caucus last weekend? Was it Bill Clinton and his racial political playbook, or Bill Cosby and his “tough love” act?

I bet it was both. And among black voters, given the maddening quandaries of national elections, it’s likely that Obama will get away with it, too.

Loading...

Comments

• Weigh In
• Corrections?

Personal Post

Gallery

 A collection of cartoons of the president.

Video

Chris Christie carries Republicans away.

With his fiery address to the crowd at the CBC’s annual dinner, the president appropriated a legendary Clinton tactic.

In 1992, when Clinton ran for president, he was desperate to woo white conservatives. In a speech to Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition, he attacked Sister Souljah, the rapper and activist who had made a controversial statement to The Washington Post about the Los Angeles riots.

“If black people kill black people every day,” she had said, “why not have a week and kill white people?”

In his speech, Clinton likened Sister Souljah’s remarks to those by white supremacist David Duke. By showing toughness against African Americans, he hoped to impress Reagan Democrats and other white conservatives.

For Obama, the calculation may have been similar. His CBC speech may have been a gentler version, but he, too, seemed to play the race card.

After a rousing call to his black base, Obama said: “I expect all of you to march with me and press on. Take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes. Shake it off. Stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying. We are going to press on.”

Complaining? Grumbling? Crying?

It’s true, people applauded. But some were baffled by the president’s words.

“I’m not sure exactly who the president was talking to,” Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said in a CBS “Early Show” interview. “The president spoke to the Hispanic Caucus, and . . . he certainly didn’t tell them to stop complaining. And he would never say that to the gay and lesbian community, who really pushed him on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ . . . He would never say to the Jewish community, ‘Stop complaining about Israel.’ So I don’t know who he was talking to, because we’re certainly not complaining.”

Granted, the reference to complaining was a single statement near the end of the address. Still, shrewd politicians often convey key messages by sprinkling offhand comments into their speeches.

Consider former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young’s famous remarks in 1984, when he used a speech at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Atlanta to vent his frustration with stubborn campaign managers for Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale. In a casual reference, he characterized Mondale’s handlers as “smart-ass white boys.”

The topic of the speech was forgotten. That one phrase made headlines nationwide.

Politicians and speechwriters grasp the symbolism of words. It’s hard to believe that Obama’s aides wouldn’t know how words such as “complaining” and “grumbling” and “crying” inevitably evoke the perception some hold of African Americans as people who contribute little to society, but who always seem to be whining about what they want the government to do for them.