Matthews Explains His 'I Forgot He Was Black for an Hour' Comment
By Heather Thursday Jan 28, 2010 10:00am
Well, Nicole was right...kind of. No apologizing the next day. Just some 'splainin' the very same night. I'm pretty sure Tweety knew he stuck his foot in his mouth right after he said it. If not, someone on the set probably told about it. I do believe his explanation though. This man just always lets his mouth get about five miles ahead of his brain and spouts off before he thinks about how what he's saying is going to come off.
Matthews: Can I say one more point? I think something that I mentioned earlier tonight and I’m very proud I did it and I hope I can say it the right way. You know this country’s been, and I grew up in a country that’s been driven apart by race right until the 60’s, you couldn’t have a black member of the United States Cabinet, there were no black Cabinet members in the Kennedy administration. It has been such a big part of our life in big cities, this sort of ethnic debate, ethnic fighting. And then to see a President of the United States who, who is African American, and I was thinking tonight, this isn’t even an issue tonight.
How far we’ve come in just a year where it was a campaign issue in some parts of the country. It was talked about as something that would hurt him and it wasn’t in the room tonight. You could feel it wasn’t there tonight. And that takes leadership on his part to get us beyond these divisions—really national leadership and I felt it wonderfully tonight. It was almost like an epiphany and I hope it’s true. I hope what I saw is true that we’ve gotten beyond it. At least, well at the Presidential level I think. It’s still going to be out there in American life.
But I think he’s done something wonderful. I think he’s taken us beyond black and white in our politics, wonderfully so in just a year, I think.
Maddow: Chris Matthews of MSNBC…
Matthews: And I’m lovin’ it.
Maddow: …who’s fun to talk to and a big thinker on these things and willing to talk about stuff that’s hard to talk about sometimes on T.V….
Matthews: It is.
Maddow: Chris I appreciate it. Thanks a lot.
Matthews: Thank you.
Sadly the country is not where Matthews hopes we are and the Sarah Palins, the GOP and the Tea Baggers are more than happy to make sure we don't get beyond race in our politics.
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Tweety, you got some 'splainin' to do!!!
except when it comes to choosing the right words
In case it hasn't been mentioned already, Howard Zinn just died. C&L, I hope you can get a thread up on this.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60R5D02...
my childhood is officially gone
Franny, meet Zooey ...
BID
This was a pretty funny screw up on Matthews part , I don't think any big deal should be made of it , he made sure and covered his butt later with Rachael . His mouth is just faster than his brain I think .
the perfect words to exchange glances that is you fool Mathews!
" ... it wasn’t in the room tonight. You could feel it wasn’t there tonight...."
Yeah, right Tweets, all those piggies who sat there like pissy little schoolboys, no racism there.
Matthews comes from a staunch RightWing Republican family. That's why this stuff comes flying out of his mouth uncontrollably at times.
The only reason he occasionally bashes Republicans and defends Democrats on his show are to annoy his family on the one hand and set up his credibility as a "Dem-supporter" on the other so his trashing of them as November elections grow closer is more effective in helping the Republicans win. Then he and his family can kiss and make up over Thanksgiving dinner.
Very sick dynamic, but not all that uncommon for people in the media.
Matthew's "I forgot he was black" comment is no different than Reid's "no negro dialect" comment. They are both racially tinged remarks spoken by people who have nothing but respect for Obama.
Chris sufficiently elaborated on his comments in this clip, and I think he explained himself quite well. I really don't think an apology is necessary.
So what happened, you never did get your m****r-f*****g iced-tea?
There's absolutely nothing humorous about a National cable political talk show host making such an irresponsible comment that potentially consoles the consciouses of fragile minded bigots everywhere. But I guess my problem is that I don't share your sense of humor.
that wasn't a joke.
ys was referencing another pundit's very similar asshattery that he then spun much like Tweety is spinning now.
said pundit was none other than O'Reilly.
forgot the link, here it is:
http://mediamatters.org/research/200709210007
I don't think that Matthews is a racist. However comments like his can and have been misinterpreted by many who would like to believe crap like that to be true.
I hear bizarre racially laced comments like that all the time.
well...
I don't think that Matthews is a malicious racist, but it seems clear to me that he's still trying to work it out...
which is sad in and of itself.
People seem to be jumping on the "protect Matthews" boat because he's perceived as a liberal...
Matthews was never a liberal, and even if he was, it wouldn't justify his level of ignorance.
I've had it with you ignorant white fucks.
Glad to see you're taking an enlightened and consistent view. You react strongly to racist/prejudiced language with... racist/prejudiced language. Your hypocrisy would be funny if it weren't so sad and pathetic.
My personal experiences tell me that only a white American bigot would even attempt to find something good in such a comment.
Instead of addressing the obvious racial overtones of Matthew's ignorant initial statement, you attack me for being offended by them.
GFY.
and you will encounter people of all races and nationalities that would make the same stupid remark as matthews. from my personal experiences, everyone is a bigot, or at the very least will say some off color remark/observation over time, and i find what they say pretty damn funny.
"from my personal experiences, everyone is a bigot"
Doesn't justify perpetuating racism by the white establishment, and through the media, especially political punditry.
"or at the very least will say some off color remark/observation over time, and i find what they say pretty damn funny"
And that's in a knowing, non-willfully ignorant context. It may surprise you to know that words carry different connotations in different crowds! Crazy, i know.
Thanks for letting me know what a horrible person I am. I guess all that civil rights activism I participated in during the 60s and 70s didn't properly educate me.
...but you're clearly a reading and comprehension impaired jackass.
Btw, if you do indeed fit the category that I felt the poster I actually was engaging with belongs, I am talking to you!
No, I was attacking your hypocrisy. His comment offended me... unfortunately, so did yours.
A white TV pundit, who has a history of speaking before he thinks and routinely putting his foot in his mouth, says something that is offensive. You immediately add that to a list of slights you, personally, have received from white people and then paint us all as "ignorant white fucks".
Here is a test for you. Take your original post and replace the word "white" with the word "black". If you can stomach the comment, then I guess I'm wrong about you. However, based on your strident reactions so far, I'm fairly certain your own comment would pour gas on your fire if it was written about black people.
It's a shame you can't see your own prejudice because we could use your help in truly becoming a "post-racial society", as the stupid pundits claim we already are. Instead, you choose to make yourself part of the problem.
Man, chill out. I'm not sure if you felt this way about Reid's comments as well, but I still think that we're witnessing an identical situation here. Yes, it was inappropriate. No, it does not make Matthews/Reid a racist bigot.
The country was a much different place a few decades ago, and the political environment then made everyone hyperaware of race and racial conflict. For Chris to say (albeit in an odd way) that Obama transcended this sectarianism, and reinforced this hope for a post-racial political environment, is nothing that we should freak out about. Chris just needs to work on how he expresses his sentiments.
From O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Beck, Conservatives, etc. Making me the subject when I get pissed off doesn't register with me.
You don't have the right to determine what should or not make me angry.
Um, I wasn't making you the subject...
I can see how Chris' comment out of context can sound incredibly racist (as if he is saying that a black person cannot give such a great speech or something), but I get the impression that this wasn't his intention at all. He gave his explanation later in the evening, and I think that (at least for me) it put his comment in a more acceptable context.
On one hand, we would like to think that racial divisions are a thing of the past, and that we should all try to become colorblind from now on, but on the other hand, it would be absurd to ignore the sordid history of racial conflict in this country. Whenever we listen to Obama speak, should we see it through the frame of a black man who has finally managed to break through the glass ceiling in this country, or should we see him as a member of a post-racial Washington where no one's race should ever get noticed? Some people will always remind themselves of the fact that he is a black man giving the State Of the Union address, while others will completely forget this fact when they hear him talk. Regardless of how you frame it, I don't think it makes you, by default, a racist.
I say save the outrage for someone who clearly is a racist.
I'm not sorry to say that at least I know EXACTLY where I stand with a clear racist. "Well-intentioned" white people, not so much. I'll give you an example:
I work in a nice place full of elightened people. I am one of the few black people there that is not a cleaning person or a kitchen worker. My manager is also black, but darker-skinned and most importantly, English. Do you know how often we get mixed up for the other? All the time. We look nothing alike and for 7 months I was pregnant. How come we manage not to mix up all of the white people there, but they can't distinguish one black American from a native Brit?
Another thing was a colleague (who is a great guy)decided to have a soul food dinner and asked me advice on what to cook. I told him to google Sylvia's because I don't have a clue. I don't eat soul food that much and I sure as hell don't cook it. My mother is a gourmet chef and she didn't cook that much of it either. There is another (white) American at my job-- why ask me?
It's the drip, drip drip that gets me and L&L pissed off. If you want to pat yourself on the back for not being a flag carrying racist so be it. I can tell you from experiebce, most people will never let you forget you are black, Ever.
This apologyfest for Matthews' idiotic and racial irresponsible comments is nothing more than guilt tripping.
Fair enough. I'm certainly no fan of Chris Matthews, and I've said from the beginning that I felt that his remark was inappropriate. I just don't think that you can immediately label him as a racist for saying this. One thing that I regret typing though is when I said that "I really don't think an apology is necessary." Yes, despite what I'm convinced was a feeble attempt on Chris' part to make a heartfelt commentary on race in Washington, it definitely came out wrong, and he should definitely apologize for this.
I'm not black, and I don't pretend to know what it's like to grow up black in this country, but I can see how comments like these are straws that are breaking the camel's back. Well-intentioned, white people may say really stupid things, but "racist" is a strong word. Hopefully, in both of your examples, you immediately brought your friends' insensitivity and ignorance to their attention and avoided the urge to throw them in the same camp as Limbaugh, Beck, etc.
Alone, no. In the context of Matthews' other flubs, yes. He's a human wreck that exposes how he truly feels on a regular basis, if you bothered to pay attention.
By saying what he said he more or less insinuated that he thinks of Obama as nothing more than a black man all of the time and not the President of the United States. Then for an hour he forgot, but as soon as the hour was over.....
exactly why it IS a racist remark. He as much as stated that he doesn't envision a black man as president, except for that 'shining hour'.
!
republicanism/conservatism is a mental illness!
It's not like you're Sarah Palin, with a track record of stupid.
And, boy, was that 'forgot he was black' line stupid.
Fully expect Rush to claim his halfrican/magic Negro routine is also post-racial.
This man just always lets his mouth get about five miles ahead of his brain and spouts off before he thinks about how what he's saying is going to come off.
It's called ignorance, as I mentioned previously.
If only Tweety would say something that makes me forget for an hour that he's an idiot.
..of making you forget he's an idiot for an hour is to not say a damn thing. And become invisible.
Did tweety forget boner was orange for an hour?
this was the same "shit" you said when bush was destroying the US. You just to who ever is in charge and suck up to them.
watching this crap? Maybe if someone could explain it to me clearly I might understand.
I guess it makes our demise less painful or something?
"for an hour". What about the rest of the year? Does it intrude on your thinking all those other hours?
yet maybe it is not a bad thing to remind ourselves of from time to time if for no other reason than to look at where we have been, where we are, and where we could possibly be going regarding race relations in the US.
may think that the race of our president doesn't matter anymore..but we must remember that when he says as much it means it doesn't matter to CM.
Sadly and quite unfortunately, there are still millions of Americans and probably some serving in Congress who are mightily pissed off that a man of African descent has been elected to the highest office in the land if not the free world.
We are not that far removed from separate but equal, you know.
This stupid mother fucker's remarks are coincidentally quite prevalent with the most racist groups in America.
Matthews deserves every bit of the bashing he's getting for being an unwitting messenger for bigotry.
but he apologizes every time (when his bosses force him to.)
With him, it's always about being provocative, nothing more.
what if he focused a genjutsu on Sishui's eye and did burn the rest of him with ameratsu?
So whatever happened to Susano-ô?
last I heard he was getting drunk on brine sake again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfI_HT39eeM
Maybe he should keep his mouth shut and just open another button on his shirt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtlDVi_1JMg
Excellent
. . this of course was before Reagan when everything started going down hill FAST with Reagan's Media Consolidation Act and the mainstreaming of MTV and the Corporate approved and manufactured "entertainment" that became the standard norm from then on.
a person doesn't 'slip up' and say something that was not in their internal dialogue, it just doesn't happen.
those words and thoughts are there, rumbling around the fetid swamp Tweety calls his brain, and the problem, this time, is that he let his filters down.
so we got to hear, unfortunately, his inner thoughts.
as we have all too often.
"aqua-velva... mt. rushmore... what a noble figure... I totally forgot he was black!"
this time what he told us is that outside of that brief moment in time during the speech, whenever Tweety does think of Obama he thinks of him first and foremost as "that black guy".
repulsive as usual, Matthews.
all we heard here from Tweety was spin.
meets with his writers like any other MSM talking heads. He's not improvising or anything like that.
Why do I not feel comforted?
Can someone please explain to me what the hell Matthews was talking about with THAT nutty comment?
I wish the C&L team could pull THAT one up and post it.
It was really WEIRD.
When I was born the United States military was segregated, water fountains were segregated, schools were segregated, racial intermarriage was against the law, there were no black people on the radio except Amos and Andy, openly racist caricatures of black people were permitted on radio, and, when TV came along openly racist caricatures were permitted there as well. For well intentioned people of my generation it has been very difficult to wipe racial awareness out of one's consciousness as the concept was ground into us by everything in our environment. It is wonderful, and also painful, to have lived long enough to be able to watch a black President of the United States speak to Congress and not once think of him as black until somebody who seems to hate white people points it out. It is a ki9nd of progress, I guess.
We know racism when we see it.
Clearly he meant that Obama had transcended race. Can't believe I'm among the psychic minority that understood that.
And I have thought to myself the exact same thing seeing Obama speak: "Oh yeah. Holy crap, we have a BLACK president." The fact that it was so unthinkable until so recently is easy to forget.
I guess I too am all the names you all are calling him.
I'm guessing you are white. So, you haven't had peoople express their absolute shock that you didn't live up to whatever stereotype they had in thier head. And expect you to be grateful for it!
I am a black woman, so people automatically think I am a bitch or a hoe or ignorant. They don't expect a comic book loving indie kid.
If I had a dollar for every time some knuckleheaded white person came up to me speaking in some cod-slang accent, I'd be posting this from my property in Mustique. My mother was entirely private-schooled and was a debutante. Slang wasn't allowed.
So, until you've had a couple of stupid-ass white guys approach you and your friend, being the only black ladies in a karakoke place and have them ask you to dance while they sing "Baby Got Back," please forgive me if I don't care if your feelings are hurt. Oh, and my OH is white European, so I am no racist.
As a man who has been reading and collecting comic books for 20 years, I am more shocked by your gender than your race when it comes to the comic books! :D
it is so amazing that that white man forgot the blackness of the president, as if it were some presumed liability. naw. no racism there, just good old caucasion patronizing. certainly, what I just typed is not racist because I declare it to be that way. just as simply as many declare chrissie's remarks not to be racist.
there will always be someone who 'understands' and defends the racists because other than the racism, they are wonderful, brilliant people
institutionalized racism will be the most difficult to overcome.
How many of you would be willing to apologize for something you said when you believed quite sincerely that it was neither inappropriate nor wrong in any way? That the people who were making accusation were just as full of crap as they're accusing you of being?
I don't have any opinion one way or the other about what Matthews said - I find it neither offensive nor particularly insightful. But I'm always intrigued by this extreme rush to demands for apologies for random comments. What makes people with no connection whatsoever to the speaker think they have the right to an apology?
I see it all the time and it still baffles me. It reminds me of nothing so much as the Offended Customer in Kevin Smith's Clerks - I don't know if an apology is good enough! You've HIGHLY OFFENDED ME!!
as well as being offensive.
no hypothesis is required. It is what it is.
The fact that he would simply explain it with an even more patronizing set of words does not lessen the offense he committed.
his unwillingness to apologize does not reflect sincerity on his part. he is just being a bigger prick than usual.
first off, I could give a damn if he apologizes or not, I just hope that he is able to grow a little as an individual.
"What makes people with no connection whatsoever to the speaker think they have the right to an apology?"
um, define "no connection whatsoever" in regards to Matthews, who has a national speaking platform?
the audience are just supposed to be a bunch of compliant, couch potato, mindless cows?
Is no way to go about life.
Stop being neutral about assholes or you perpetuate assholery.
I wonder if that operation hurt. The operation where they sucked out half of his brain. Geez, every time I think Tweety can't top himself, he does.
and ignorant things. He makes up excuses, but the first thing on his tongue is the most truthful.
He's wrong most all of the time, and a terrible person.
Of course, everything I've just said about him makes him an ESSENTIAL pundit, this douchebag will never be out of a job, and people even on the left will never stop making excuses for him.
I might add that Tweety's mouth must be awfully sore from having his foot in it all the time.
I have my problems with Matthews but I think he's a fan of Obama. I don't think there was malicious intent here.
He may be a fan, but he needs a little sensitivity training in race semantics.
I think many of Obama's voters who are well meaning could still use some sensitivity training but they don't have a mic and camera in front of them.
What I got from his initial statement before he tried to clean it up was that he saw him as the President of the United States first and then, secondarily considered his unique status as the first African American President of the United States. I don't understand why everyone's going ape crap over a clumsy statement. While not exactly the same, Reid's assessment of Obama as a candidate was also clumsy but not malicious. We've all heard worse from the likes of Flush.
Yet another C&L "he's a racist!" witch hunt. God, this crap gets old.
This is but one of many.
If Chris Matthews says he likes pumpkins, she will say he is evil and wants to devour children.
Obama's black? Are you kidding me? I never noticed!
Really folks, what's the big deal? It's just Tweety being......well, Tweety.
I think someone obviously said to him that he had better rethink the remark, yet when Matthews appeared on Rachel Maddow's show later he totally missed the chance to recant it. A real bonehead play, Tweety. It's just as bad as Beck calling the President a punk. Just another codeword for "uppity Negro".
I think Jon Stewart handled it best on Thursday night:
"Oh, you know what else you might have forgotten (Chris)? You're miked. I swear to God this guy is one Scotch away from being Ron Burgundy" (Will Ferrell in "Anchorman")
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