Some people will never be pleased huh?

Having a Black president does not fix inequality issues that blacks faces. Obama is just one man and he definitely does not represent the black community as a whole. It's just like picking a woman CEO and state that the women are not treated equally in the workplace.

The good thing is that he'll certainly shift the perception of blacks the right direction.

Regabi makes a good point: One man's success can help open doors for others, but it's not like people are now like, "Oh yay, racism and classism are history!" There's still plenty of work to be done on that front.

I think it's weird for Slate's writer to assume that because Obama is black and because he likes some rap music, MCs won't criticize his policies. Or that having Obama as president means that everything else is magically fixed. I think rappers and political songwriters of all stripes will still find plenty to discuss.

What's next for Hip-Hop? Put an E at the end.

I agree with Regabi and BellaSugar. As a Black woman I can tell you that nothing has changed as of yet in a lot of areas in this country, on that particular front as well as others. Just because there is an African American president does not mean that all the issues of the African American community have been solved. Naturally... the hip hop community is going to have plenty to say on that. Why should anyone be surprised, rappers have made statements/songs about practically everything in the world.

Can you pick out an office that has failed to have a black sitting in at one time or another? No one under the age of forty has had any first hand experience of institutional racism. I would be more than a little surprised if they ever experienced having the N word thrown at them as an expletive from a white. No one under the age of forty ever had the exercise of their first amendment rights put them in danger of physical harm. Talk to your grandparents, and celebrate the freedoms enjoyed by all of us in the U.S. today. There was a day when a mixed couple white and black, drew stares everywhere in the U.S., and risked serious bodily harm in large parts of this country, both North and South, BTW.

Grandpa, I am very much under the age of 40 and have very much been on the receiving end of stares as part of an interracial couple. Further, I have sat in an office that had no minorities.

Grandpa is just trying to say that we have come a looooong way in those regards. And that unless you have been threatened to discontinue that relationship, then you truly have no idea the kind of things people had to suffer 40 years ago.
I don't understand you last sentence Modus. I have sat in an office with no whites aside from myself. Not sure what that has to do with any of this though.
I don't think all is well in race relations, but the "institutional racism" is really no more. Unfortunately you cannot make a person less idiotic and make them not look down upon a person for color. But we can prevent that in our institutions. Which i think what Grandpa is trying to say, "institutional racism" really isn't seen any longer.

Grandpa said, "Can you pick out an office that has failed to have a black sitting in at one time or another? "

And I am saying I have worked for a company that has never hired a black person.

Okay... Sure I have not lived long enough to see even half the things that my grandmothers and all of their relatives have seen. At 28 however, I can definitely say that I have experienced more than enough racism for my lifetime. It may not be the same sort of thing, but, it definitely was racism. If that was what Grandpa was trying to say, I get it. The things I have learned from my relatives has taught me plenty. However, for anyone who lives in certain parts of the south, some of those things that he experienced aren't yet behind us all.

Here is a test for you that have received or seen stares at an interracial couple if you are a female walk down the street holding hands with a guy who you are a head shorter then you. I will bet yeah you will get more stares then you would as an interracial couple. As a white father of a white family who has children who have dated and married interracially, I have been in the unique position of seeing how people I know and knew interacted with me and my family as being “white”, and then meeting my children’s dating partners and spouses. In the last 20 years I have not detected one instance where my friends or acquaintance cut off or altered a relationship with me or my family because of those relationships, or did not show up to a family event if invited, or did their children behave any differently to my children after the fact. That is not to say, there was not cases, where an eyebrow was raised, or that I did not detect an instance of surprise, but it never went beyond that initial contact.

You know... I'm going to go ahead and ask you if you have ever been to certain parts of the south? Perhaps I should ask you if you are aware of the parts of this country that its not suitable for african americans at night? Yes there are places in this country that aren't safe for anyone, no matter who you are at any time of day or night.
However, have you seen this: http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20090226-kkk-alive-well-2009-ob... (this website in opinion humanizes one of the many things that is wrong with the world, but, if you did not know already... they still exist. And their numbers are booming.)

Is that something that you as a person would fear? Yes, you have seen the way that some people interact with your children and their spouses, but, do you feel the prickles on your back sometimes when people who obviously do not want you around (but have barely met you) stare you down? Your not completely wrong in what your saying; you just don't see what I see.

I've worked in offices where a few of us pressed hard for minority hires but got nowhere, and all my life I've worked in white or predominantly white offices - and most of my adult life was spent in Washington DC.
I've had relationships change because of my black daughter; I've seen and heard people respond negatively to us in public and have had two relatives respond negatively in private.

As you said there are parts of this country that are unsafe for anyone. I am talking about places where it is safer to be white then a person of color. Pictures a few nuts proves that fruitcakes exist. Tell me of one place here in America where the KKK has any influence anymore, or where they are considered an intimidation factor of any kind.

I have lived in two states New York and Washington, and I have not run into anything like you experienced. Then again, I always try to look for the best in people.

God knows how much I miss NY... for the south is nothing like the state of my dreams.

On another note, I doubt that a white adult of any gender would ever fear the kkk. Not that I find them harmful from my current location. If I were lost in a certain part of south Florida, Texas, or wherever at night at they were around... that would be another story wouldn't it? And I have no problem seeing the best in people as long as they have no problem seeing that I am more than my skin color.

I grew up in a town, where blacks lived in a certain section and the whites lived in a certain section and thats the way it was, there was never any mistreatment of anyone because of thier color, There were children, of KKK members going to my school and not once did they incite any racial hatred for anyone, In fact the KKK used to stand at our one stop light in thier robes and ask for donations (to be put into thier hats) like the firefighters do, they even put out a cookbook. Blacks, whites all drove by them, and had to stop and not once did it get ugly. I dont know why, maybe they were just carrying on some silly tradition but didnt have the heart to carry out its "mission" and maybe the blacks in our nieghborhood were so used to them being docile that fear was no longer part of the picture.

I do know now that they, the KKK arent out there anymore ( 20 years later) and that there is no longer different "sections" of the town for blacks/whites.

I understand what grandpa is saying but I have had that happen to me. I was recruit to attend a HS here and it was 98 white. The people in the neighborhood, parents of students in the school, and even the neighboring school did not like blacks - and they let us know it. We had rocks thrown at us, were spit at, almost hit by cars while walking - there are things happening all over the country and it does not always happen in the South. I experienced racism in the North and it has been less than 15 years ago.

I was called the n word grandpa for the first time when i came to canada, i've had stuff thrown at me too. i am dating a white man and i am tired of the stares we get when we go out,i am 23 and have been through it all. Just because your experience has been good doesn't mean everyone else's has and everywhere i have worked i have been the only black person. I'm not looking for racists or the bad in people but sh*t happens and they always find me.

"I have lived in two states New York and Washington, and I have not run into anything like you experienced. Then again, I always try to look for the best in people."

So people who experience prejudice were looking for it?
A child on the playground who is shunned by classmates because of her color was looking for it?

Just because things arent' as bad as they use to be doesn't mean that they are anywhere near where they should be. If people are still be judged and abused based on their skin color, then it doesn't matter how much progress has been made, it's not enough. Racism occurs everyday in every part of this country.

I live in the North and I have a biracial daughter who at four years old was called an oreo and other hateful things by some teenagers. These kids learned it somewhere and had no problem insulting a small child.

Oh my, Roar, I am so sorry to hear that. I know that is the most hurtful thing to hear and realize that as a child or a teenager you're different. It really opens your eyes.

I was educated in the "corridor of shame" recently highlighted in Obama's speech. The population of blacks to whites in the school district I grew up in was 70% black, 30% white. In my hometown, we were the minorities and when a change was made to the school district, such as a School of Discovery, it was said that the school was built to cater to the white students. I think racism is alive and well but I also think that some people are just programmed to automatically see racism even if it is not there.

I agree with a lot of comments on here, especially regabi's and Bella's.

...and I try to look for the best in people too, but that doesn't mean that I haven't experienced racism, or that said racism was just "imagined" on my part.

Roar and Steph--it has to be really pathetic when people actually have no problem with insulting your child. I have no words for that sort of BS.

Its absolutely shameful that parents/family friends, etc can/could and do teach children hateful things to say to others. It really doesn't matter what state or country you live in and/or were born in, racism is everywhere. Subtle racism and obvious racism still pan out to the same thing: racism. Its just extremely sad that humanity has not moved past it.

Stares over mixed couples? I think more than likely you are being oversensitive about common human behavior. I've gone out with a close black male friend of mine many, many times and only once had an older woman looking at us that I think was based on our races. And I am from Dubuque, Iowa... a town infamous for having racial problems. (We were all over the news in the 90s.)
Like Grandpa said, people look at anything! My husband and I are white, and I almost always see people staring or checking us over when we go out. People like to gauge couples and judge how couples interact, girls like to size each other up. Just yesterday (I recently moved to Bethesda, MD btw) I was looking awful and I went out to a close by pizza place to get dinner with my husband. We ordered and I could feel some girls looking at us. When we sat down one of them said to the other (thinking I couldn't hear, I presume) "She looks just lovely" in a completely sarcastic voice. Point is, looks aren't always, and I'd say most of the time are not, based on your race.

"I have lived in two states New York and Washington, and I have not run into anything like you experienced. Then again, I always try to look for the best in people."

Funny, those are the two states I've lived in and experienced being called racial slurs by people in both. Interesting. On the Dead Prez note ... on one hand, I see what they're saying, but on another, I feel that they have always been a bit ... erm, negative and also, I find some of their lyrics quite racist as well (reverse racism).

lilgwene on saturday we went out for dinner to a small thai restaurant we walked in and there was a table of older women four of them in fact and we were seated next t them, the entire time they were staring and i would like to say i am 23 and i get stared at a lot because where i am i am a very obvious minority. I know the difference between curious and negative stares, trust me i have had more than enough kids point and ask what i am or ask to feel my skin, this doesn't bother me at all but when you stare and stop talking and start whispering when i walk in what am i supposed to assume. Anyway back to the story they were speaking about us in french and i speak fluent french, let's just say it was enlightening and i didn't end up having dessert which is why i had gone there in the first place lol. i find people my age don't care it's the older ones who have a real problem

You know what's a real kicker for me is that I've exerienced racism from other minorities but not from Anglo Americans. I've had a Mexican grandfather make me drink water from the hose because he didn't want a mixed breed in his house. I've had plenty of Asian land lords tell me there's no vacancy when clearly there was and I've had blacks treat me as an outsider because I'm mixed but to date no racism from a white.

I'm quad racial my mothers parents were Mexican and Argentine and my fathers parents were French Canadian White and African American. I identify with the Latin/Mexican culture because that is what I was raised in. If I was raised with my fathers family around Detroit I'd probably identify with the African American culture so for me it's about culture and really not about color.

"I've worked in offices where a few of us pressed hard for minority hires but got nowhere,"

Don't you think pressing for minority hires just further promigates the problem? Why not push the company to hire the best and brightest they can find, and not hire based on a skin color?

Nyaradzom2, “was called the n word grandpa for the first time when I came to Canada, I’ve had stuff thrown at me too. I am dating a white man”. Where on God's green earth did this happen. I am hoping you say Canada not that I believe Canadians by nature are racists, but I would be upset if the throwing incident happened in the U.S.

canada but it happens everywhere grandpa unfortunately. the world is not as fabulous for some people as it is for others lol. as much as you think it doesn't exist, it does and people need to deal with it instead of saying we are looking for racism, i don't think anyone wants to be discriminated against, it's not exactly fun. and it's not only white people who are racist, black people, hispanic people, asian people all have their racists too.

"Don't you think pressing for minority hires just further promigates the problem? Why not push the company to hire the best and brightest they can find, and not hire based on a skin color?"

We would bring in applications from the best minority candidates along with the best white candidates and always the white candidate was hired. I had to edit all the writers' work, so I wasn't about to make my job tougher by hiring unqualified people. But given EQUAL qualifications, the white candidate always won out with management, and males always hired over females.

With females pressing me to hire people that I didn't necessarily know or couldn't connect with, I would definitely hire a male in that situation...

In cities, you often don't know who you're hiring personally. And if you hire women and put them in position to recommend future hires, you're shooting yourself in the foot if you have a problem with them 'pressing' you to follow the recommendations you hired them to give you.

nyaradzom2, we can not force change in people’s hearts, I am afraid. But, hope springs eternal. The best way to change a heart is by showing them by your speech and actions what you are really about. Once you get into an adversaries face, their minds snap shut. I am not suggesting you be anybodies doormat to be stepped on. Just that there are things worth getting upset about, and things you should let slide. Be polite, it is always disarming for someone looking for a fight.

i've only ever confronted the person who called me the n word otherwise i ignore people grandpa. i like to tell myself that i am well educated, have a good job, have an amazing family, travel and have an awesome boyfriend, i'm happy and they clearly are not, guess i win lol.

nyaradzom2

.. and u ndeed win

Agree regabi.

I don't think you can magically erase racism, ignorance, prejudice maybe forever, or maybe for a long long time to come. There's always those who are bigots and shun others not of their race.
My hubby often says to me that it's like terrorism, you may manage to get rid off the big 'ones,' but the 'little-scattered' ones are all over sometimes unnoticed.

And racism works every other way against every race too (although we're talking about the black Americans here). White people although the presumed majority can be discriminated against by people of other races. My husband at his old workplace was the odd man out because he's white (predominantly black and hispanic workers worked there) and only 1 man actually became friendly with him out of like 100. And my hub is a very likable and outgoing person--ok, he's not exactly a good example for racism against white, but I've just read other people's stories and those aren't our stories to tell.
I'm not black (Asian--Japanese/Chinese/Indonesian) but I've been called names in my neighborhood as well my old town, by people who are white, people who are black and even some people who are of Hispanic descents.

I even got rejected from a playgroup (supposedly they're for biracial children parents--my hub is white, I'm Asian so I thought I was legible. It turned out according to the moms who are there, they were thinking of black-white/black-other races, so I wasn't welcome since neither my husband and I are black, and for me that's just fine, I don't want to feel unwelcome or the odd person out).

But as for 'rights,' I think that since everyone who comes online are of diversity, and all of us (including myself) are not disallowed from going to certain clubs or restaurants or I can even sit in the middle of the bus or the front. I can apply for any position I want as well despite my race as long as I'm qualified, I'm pretty sure I may get the job too. I can vote (believe it or not females don't get to vote way after the black-Americans could! I was surprised to learn this).

I think that's a good progress from where it was decades ago (even a hundred year ago). I'm not going to diminish progress although I have been mistreated based on my race.

Nowadays, when it happened to me, I'd just ignore people's ignorance and bigotry and hope that maybe future education will teach them something, if not, maybe hopefully their children can break apart from that ignorance in the future.
Discussion about race should always be open though, it's what keeps things in perspective and how we can learn to improve race relations for now and in the future...

"And if you hire women and put them in position to recommend future hires, you're shooting yourself in the foot if you have a problem with them 'pressing' you to follow the recommendations you hired them to give you."

And that would be the part of the story you failed to tell me. Were you hired by this guy to make hiring recommendations? If so, then I agree with you. The only problem I have then is why were you so determined to hire minorities?

"The only problem I have then is why were you so determined to hire minorities?"

Because when you work in a predominantly black city it suggests there is something amiss to have an all-white office; because when you work in the U.S. which has a minority population there is something amiss if you have an all majority office year after year; because news coverage anywhere should be considered and presented by a variety of voices representing the people being covered and viewing the programs; because minorities can bring a different perspective to life; and because I personally get sick of being around white people all the time - I've lived in enough different places to know it isn't natural.

Did the management interview all the candidates you presented, or did they only interview the white candidates?

Are you seriously looking for a reason that not hiring minorities was justified?

I'm just trying to get the whole story. I didn't realize there was a problem with that.

You seem to be overlooking the fact that I was a professional producer/editor, fully capable of determining the 'whole story' of the situation. That suggests you think there's a legitimate reason for a DC newsroom to not have minority hires year after year.

Just because you are capable of determining the whole story doesn't mean you are capable of relaying the whole story, given that I had to pry bits and pieces of the story out of you. So, I'll ask again. Did everyone you recomended to be hired get interviews? Di you have to opportunity to sit in on those interviews?

I did the interviewing Dave. I made the recommendations Dave. I produced shows with the writers that were hired Dave. At most, managers were introduced to candidates before or after I interviewed them - there were no second interviews.

And all of this is important to the story. Thanks for filling me in. Was that so difficult?

I agree with you that it was idiotic for your boss to ask you to make a recommendation, and then not act on that recommendation.