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My first intro to Morrison was thru 'The Bluest Eye'. Afterwards I read many of her books incl 'Beloved'. I loved all of them. One thing I could however never

My first intro to Morrison was thru 'The Bluest Eye'. Afterwards I read many of her books incl 'Beloved'. I loved all of them. One thing I could however never understand was how a person with such deep insights into the African American experience could call Bill Clinton, 'the first Black President'. I thought at first maybe there was something I didn't understand. But as years passed, I've been increasingly feeling that perhaps that wasn't the case.

yardie 7y ago
I still don’t understand why she called Clinton the first black president. I think people confused his charm for respect and understanding. I believer Bill Clinton was the first presidential candidate to get Black voters. Until then most candidates would rely on black celebrity and community leaders to meet black voters. Not only would he meet them in churches and community centers, he was really comfortable doing it. Most white politicians would do an awkward stump speech in a church or center with an eye on the exit. And that wasn’t the case with Clinton. He was a natural shmoozer.
- pryce 7y ago
  She later clarified what she meant, in her 2008 interview with Time magazine by saying: "People misunderstood that phrase. I was deploring the way in which President Clinton was being treated, vis-à-vis the sex scandal that was surrounding him. I said he was being treated like a black on the street, already guilty, already a perp. I have no idea what his real instincts are, in terms of race." In her original comment it is more limited even than that - it refers to hearing other people "murmuring" of Clinton as "the first Black president" in the context of his impeachment, rather than giving some sort of unqualified endorsement of the idea herself; but people do love an inflammatory sound byte.
kwindla 7y ago
She explains it here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/10/05/comment-6543 https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/10/05/comment-6543 tldr: It's complicated. But to over-simplify: the Clintons had black friends, seemed to genuinely believe that black people were just as qualified for prestigious/important jobs as anyone else, and Bill Clinton had both a personal background and expressed himself in ways that resonated with many black Americans. None of that had ever been even a little bit true of an American President before. And it was a big deal. All of that is easy to forget, now, after we elected an actual black person President. But man, the 1990s were a different time. Lots of things are bad (really, really bad) now. But lots of things have changed in the last 25 years, too.
- goto11 7y ago
  I'm confused - the link does not say the things you say about black friends or considering black people just as qualified. None of what she says is related to his attitudes or policies towards blacks. It doesn't even say she considers Clinton the first black president. Just that someone unspecified have been saying that.
ska 7y ago
I think she meant that in a very straightforward way: that he was the first US president to represent the African American citizens of the US in any real way. That doesn't mean he wasn't a flawed president, just they he was their president in a way that hadn't been experienced before.
goto11 7y ago
Did she even say that? What is the direct quote?

yardie 7y ago

I still don’t understand why she called Clinton the first black president. I think people confused his charm for respect and understanding. I believer Bill Clinton was the first presidential candidate to get Black voters. Until then most candidates would rely on black celebrity and community leaders to meet black voters. Not only would he meet them in churches and community centers, he was really comfortable doing it. Most white politicians would do an awkward stump speech in a church or center with an eye on the exit. And that wasn’t the case with Clinton. He was a natural shmoozer.

pryce 7y ago
She later clarified what she meant, in her 2008 interview with Time magazine by saying: "People misunderstood that phrase. I was deploring the way in which President Clinton was being treated, vis-à-vis the sex scandal that was surrounding him. I said he was being treated like a black on the street, already guilty, already a perp. I have no idea what his real instincts are, in terms of race." In her original comment it is more limited even than that - it refers to hearing other people "murmuring" of Clinton as "the first Black president" in the context of his impeachment, rather than giving some sort of unqualified endorsement of the idea herself; but people do love an inflammatory sound byte.

kwindla 7y ago

She explains it here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/10/05/comment-6543 https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/10/05/comment-6543 tldr: It's complicated. But to over-simplify: the Clintons had black friends, seemed to genuinely believe that black people were just as qualified for prestigious/important jobs as anyone else, and Bill Clinton had both a personal background and expressed himself in ways that resonated with many black Americans. None of that had ever been even a little bit true of an American President before. And it was a big deal. All of that is easy to forget, now, after we elected an actual black person President. But man, the 1990s were a different time. Lots of things are bad (really, really bad) now. But lots of things have changed in the last 25 years, too.

goto11 7y ago
I'm confused - the link does not say the things you say about black friends or considering black people just as qualified. None of what she says is related to his attitudes or policies towards blacks. It doesn't even say she considers Clinton the first black president. Just that someone unspecified have been saying that.

ska 7y ago

I think she meant that in a very straightforward way: that he was the first US president to represent the African American citizens of the US in any real way. That doesn't mean he wasn't a flawed president, just they he was their president in a way that hadn't been experienced before.

goto11 7y ago

Did she even say that? What is the direct quote?