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Barack Obama used the n-word while discussing racism

The US President was speaking on a comedian’s podcast.

CBS This Morning / YouTube

US PRESIDENT BARACK Obama says that the country has not overcome a legacy of racism and used the n-word to emphasise his point.

Race issues are once again front and centre following the murders of nine black people at a church in Charleston.

President Barack Obama has been speaking about about it since the murders last Wednesday and at the weekend used the n-word in an interview with comedian Marc Maron

Speaking to on the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, he used the term as he spoke of the the continued legacy of slavery in America. The podcast often uses crude language in the show.

He said:

It’s not just a matter of being polite to not say ‘nigger’ in public. That’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don’t, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.

The president said while attitudes about race have improved significantly since he was born to a white mother and black father, the legacy of slavery “casts a long shadow and that’s still part of our DNA that’s passed on.”

Obama also expressed frustration that “the grip of the NRA on Congress is extremely strong” and prevented gun control from advancing in Congress after 20 children and six educators were massacred in a Connecticut elementary school in 2012.

“I will tell you, right after Sandy Hook, Newtown, when 20 6-year-olds are gunned down, and Congress literally does nothing — yes, that’s the closest I came to feeling disgusted,” he said. “I was pretty disgusted.”

He said it’s important to respect that hunting and sportsmanship are important to a lot of gun-owning Americans.

“The question is just is there a way of accommodating that legitimate set of traditions with some common-sense stuff that prevents a 21-year-old who is angry about something or confused about something, or is racist, or is deranged from going into a gun store and suddenly is packing, and can do enormous harm,” Obama said in a reference to suspect Dylann Storm Roof, whose purported 2,500-word hate-filled manifesto talked about white supremacy.

Roof faces nine counts of murder after the mass shooting.

- With reporting by Associated Press

Read: White supremacist manifesto and pictures of Charleston suspect found online >

Read: US presidential hopeful calls Charleston massacre an accident >

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51 Comments
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    Mute Barry Flanagan
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:01 PM

    The ridiculous reporting of this by the media is making the exact point he was trying to make. Just because people have stopped saying n***** in public doesn’t mean racism doesn’t exist anymore. Media is obsessed with that word which I can’t even post here. The point he was making is legitimate and will be missed by dumbed down media outlets who can’t see the wood for the trees.

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    Mute Richard Cynical
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 5:15 PM

    Nice?

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    Mute Dónal Campbell♛
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 5:37 PM

    Exactly. The right-wing media has and continue to use benign occurences to demonise Obama, whatever the context is being used. I do not agree with Obama on every front but he was simply underlying the inherent racism still alive and well all across the US. Of course, that’s not important. Look at Fox News, who reported on this earlier and took pride in ‘bleeping out’ the word to appear a the good guys while calling out Obama’s hypocrisy, yet continuing with their tireless tirade of pretending that everything is alright with racial relations in America, particularly in the south, where ratings are highest for this ‘news outlet’. Don’t listen to this sordid excuse for journalism and interpret everything you hear for yourself

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    Mute VoiceOfVanguard
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 6:09 PM

    “If white people were doing to black people what black people are doing to black people there would be rioting from coast to coast.”

    Black American journalist and columnist Bob Herbert, NY Times, 2006.

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    Mute John Byrne
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 6:50 PM

    @Dónal. So criticism of Obama = Racism? He is as “African American” as Michael Haely Rae , he is half Kenyan and half White American, he isn’t descended from slaves and he is as far removed from “African-American” culture as his “cousin” Henry in Moneygall, he is as much black as he is white

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    Mute Mrs Shalakalananaka
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 7:21 PM

    John, his dad’s actually from Africa and his mother’s from America. You could argue he’s more ‘African-American’ than a black person who’s never left the US in their lives, and whose family have been living in America for centuries. ;)

    Totally agree with you Barry, by the way.

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    Mute Dónal Campbell♛
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 11:06 PM

    John, no. I did not mention or even suggest that criticism of Obama equates to automatic racism. It is about context, and this context was used by the centre and far-right media to divert focus away from a worthwhile cause, perhaps to distract the audience away from any real address of the situation, fearing that their thinly veiled racism may be revealed. Look at Obama’s skin colour objectively, without discussing his geneology. It would (in my opinion, of course) be accurate to suggest that he would be subjected to racism should he walk among middle America. He has the requisite locus standi to discuss this and even utter what I consider a vulger word. Please don’t bullshlt a bullshltter.

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    Mute Ryan Ash
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 3:57 PM

    Surely the message he delivers (he is disgusted at Congress for their failure to deliver reform of gun sales after 20 six year old children were murdered) is more important than one word he uses in that message…

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    Mute vv7k7Z3c
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:06 PM

    That message about Sandy Hook is certainly important, but it’s not particularly new. Obama’s views on racism and how it’s demonstrated is very current given last week’s murders. I don’t think anyone is criticising his use of the word but it’s noteworthy about how to have an honest discussion.

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    Mute Amy Ni Dhaltuin
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:38 PM

    If you arent criticising his use of the word, then why make it the main aspect of your headline? Why not make a headline about how Obama says racism is still within the American DNA? You have taken a decent point made by the man and turned it into clickbait about a word. One word. And this word was used in a context to emphasise a point which your headline makes no reference to. As a journalist you should use your headline to give a summary of the main point of the story you are reporting on. Is that not a basic rule of English/journalism. Instead you choose to use your headline to give your click quota a jump. Sorry, but its very unprofessional.

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    Mute E. O'Leary
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:42 PM

    Ouch Amy, that one is gonna leave a mark.

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    Mute Amy Ni Dhaltuin
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:46 PM

    Unfortunately, it most likely won’t.

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    Mute vv7k7Z3c
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:46 PM

    @Amy. Most people, including Obama I’m sure, would tell you that it’s more than just ‘a word’.

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    Mute Stephen Cassidy
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 5:04 PM

    @rónán, rubbish – in the headline you’re trying to stir something up based on his use of the n-word to illustrate a broader prevalence of the racist issue outside of the use of that single slur. The Indo did the same thing today with their reporting of it. The man literally can do no right when all certain journalists want to do is pull the context of his words apart to focus on a single word. In actual fact, one could say that deliberate misreporting and wretched journalism has been a constant scourge of his overall presidency. @Amy is absolutely right in her assessment of this piece – poor.

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    Mute Amy Ni Dhaltuin
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 5:05 PM

    As with any word in the English language its weight and reason for use depends on the context within which it’s used. You used it as clickbait. You gave no context within your headline. Don’t lie, you know you wrote it in that way to convey the idea that Obama himself was using the word negatively. That was your focus. His message wasn’t what you decided to concentrate on. You ignored his very important context and the reason he used that word in order to make your potential readers click on your article so your click count looks good on a piece of paper. Sorry, but I had to call you on it. You know its wrong, you know why you phrased your headline the way you did, and yes you most likely succeeded in getting a good number of hits out of it, but your professional standard of writing as a journalist visibly suffers as a result. From one person who makes their living out of the English language to another, you should care about that.

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    Mute Carmo Vanderval
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 5:14 PM

    @Ronan. You basically did what Barack was criticising.

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    Mute Morgan Freeman
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 5:24 PM

    Amy, fair play. This kinda stuff should be called out. Page views are a poor way of measuring success.

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    Mute QhpFny3o
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 6:01 PM

    If you think it’s more than a word then you give power to it.

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    Mute Rory Murphy
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 7:14 PM

    Very well stated… Don’t mess with Amy!

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    Mute Barry Flanagan
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 11:53 PM

    Wish I could have put it as well as you did, Amy.

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    Mute Kevin O'Shea
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 3:54 PM

    Oh this is going to make those Barack Obama dubs on YouTube a hell of a lot more interesting.

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    Mute Mrs Shalakalananaka
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:16 PM

    I’ve had discussions with Americans online before about racism, and the same thing often comes up, you just can’t say that word, ever(not even allowed to use it here lmfao). Using that word, even when discussing it, is apparently racist.

    But isn’t that just getting distracted by something less important? The names aren’t important, it’s the sentiment behind them. That’s how certain words become insults and others get reclaimed. The use of the word by racists isn’t the problem, it’s a symptom. Removing the word from everyday discussion won’t end racism, whereas ending racism will (mostly) remove the word from everyday discussion. Does that even make sense? XD

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    Mute johnr
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 5:28 PM

    Wonder what the Spanish speaking Americans use for the word black?

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    Mute johnr
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 5:31 PM

    Mi coche es de color negro.

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    Mute Mrs Shalakalananaka
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 7:26 PM

    The group I discussed this with actually contained a few Spanish speaking Americans, as well as a few Spanish and Portuguese speaking South Americans. Apparently it’s pronounced differently in all three languages, and you’re generally okay once the context is understood. But it still seems to be a bit dodgy, which is something that annoyed the South Americans, since it’s okay in their culture, and they didn’t see why they should stop using and start being careful of a basic word in their languages to make the Americans happy.

    I dunno though, that might have just been the group I talked to. Still interesting though.

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    Mute Paul Quinlan
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:07 PM

    Good to see Obama talking some sense, America’s gun laws and it’s NRA are ludicrous.

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    Mute Amy Wallis
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:26 PM

    The point he’s making is that it isn’t about the word, but how and why it’s used. And that point is lost in this article simply by censoring it.

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    Mute Jimmy Jim-Jim
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:33 PM

    If he really wanted to stand up to the arms industry then he could have started by not accepting their contributors to his campaign.

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    Mute E. O'Leary
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:43 PM

    Not to mention he and his party had total control of both houses for the first 2 years of his term and they didn’t do Jack.

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    Mute Jimmy Jim-Jim
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 5:06 PM

    It’s not really a problem you can throw money at until it goes away, but still seeing as he is so fond of executive orders I thought he might have done something concrete by now.

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    Mute Malcolm McCarthy
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:29 PM

    he really should have said weak black coffee

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    Mute Naoimh Ó Murchadha
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:53 PM

    Its, truly very sad that the ‘N’ word is used in the filtering system on the Journal.ie. I posted a message about the ‘N’ word and used it but my post vanished into the digital abyss.

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    Mute Naoimh Ó Murchadha
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:54 PM

    Seemingly you can post the ‘Knacker’ word though!

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    Mute Naoimh Ó Murchadha
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:55 PM

    Which is just as bad in my opinion by the way!

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    Mute Carmo Vanderval
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 5:18 PM

    I gave out to someone on facebook for using the word knacker referring to people who robbed a car. I said you shouldn’t use it because it implies prejudice against travelers. I was roundly told that I was the racist.

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    Mute Jimmy Jim-Jim
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 8:04 PM

    I’m sure they’re very grateful.

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    Mute Naoimh Ó Murchadha
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:54 PM

    Seemingly you can post the ‘Knacker’ word though!

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    Mute Andy Kennedy
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 5:41 PM

    You think knacker is the same as n1gger?

    Really?

    That’s pretty sad.

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    Mute Hermes
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 3:57 PM

    I hate it when Tipperary men use the word “Nugger “

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    Mute Ray Farrelly
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:03 PM

    Snowflake.

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    Mute Hermes
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:20 PM

    Icecube

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    Mute E. O'Leary
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:18 PM

    Hussein Obama is a master at politicising tragedies. For Shame.

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    Mute John R
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:54 PM

    O’Leary, anyone who begins a post with the words “Hussein Obama” doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously. By anyone. Go and troll on your usual right wing American websites.

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    Mute Steven Woodroffe
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:22 PM

    Like oh my god impeachment impeachment. Ohh wait a minute I’ve got over it

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    Mute EM
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 8:00 PM

    People are over sensitive about using the word though it is understandable why. You should be able to use the word if you’re talking about it, as Obama has done, without it been reported all over the world.
    Surely at this stage we all know when/where/how you can/cannot use the word.

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    Mute The Journal TD
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 5:29 PM

    All white people are to bury their heads in the sand to ensure no racism is caused when he says the n word.

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    Mute Carmo Vanderval
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 4:14 PM
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    Mute Carlin Ite
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 7:57 PM

    That’s terrible. White people should not use that word. Even if he is the president.

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Jun 22nd 2015, 9:21 PM

    which half of the word is he allowed to say though?

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