Obama talks gun control, racism, and the N-word
President Obama used strong words to illustrate how he thinks America still has a lot of work to do to eliminate racism.
In an hour-long interview on comedian Marc Maron鈥檚 鈥淲TF鈥� podcast 鈥� taped last Friday in Mr. Maron鈥檚 garage studio in Los Angeles and posted online this morning 鈥� President Obama said that while the United States has made progress in reducing discrimination, the legacies of slavery and racial discrimination in the country 鈥渃asts a long shadow鈥� and is still 鈥減art of our DNA.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e not cured of it ... and it鈥檚 not just a matter of it not being polite to say [the N-word] in public,鈥� he told Maron. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It鈥檚 not just a matter of overt discrimination.鈥�
The president鈥檚 comments come days after a white man killed nine black parishioners during bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.
He has called for new laws restricting gun sales in the country in the past, and during the interview criticized the political clout of the National Rifle Association, a powerful pro-gun lobbying group.
鈥淭he grip of the NRA on Congress is extremely strong,鈥� he told Maron.
He cited the failure of gun control legislation in the wake of a 2012 mass shooting聽at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Conn., saying the failure of Congress to pass a gun control bill left him 鈥減retty disgusted.鈥�
鈥淚 tell you, right after Sandy Hook, Newtown, when 20 6-year-olds were gunned down and Congress literally does nothing 鈥� yeah, that鈥檚 the closest I came to feeling disgusted鈥� during this presidency, he said.
But the president also acknowledged that, while the US still has a ways to go in eliminating racism, they have already come a long way in recent decades.
鈥淚 always tell young people in particular: 鈥楧o not say that nothing鈥檚 changed when it comes to race in America unless you lived through being a black man in the 1950s or 鈥�60s or 鈥�70s,鈥� said Obama.
He added, 鈥淪ocieties don鈥檛 just overnight completely erase everything that happened two to 300 years prior.鈥�
This report includes material from Reuters and the Associated Press.
