There’s been a bit of confusion over statements Senator Tom Coburn made about the President. Chris Matthews saw his statements as being racist in nature. Conservative talk show hosts have likened that reaction to seeing racism in every corner when there isn’t. I saw this story first on Matthews MSNBC show and I figured maybe I wasn’t seeing it in full context. Thankfully I was able to find in the Washington Post the full transcript of what Coburn said. So from Randy Krehbiel from the Tulsa World, here is the full transcript of the statement:

“No, I don’t... He’s a very bright man. But think about his life. And think about what he was exposed to and what he saw in America. He’s only relating what his experience in life was...
“His intent isn’t to destroy. It’s to create dependency because it worked so well for him. I don’t say that critically. Look at people for what they are. Don’t assume ulterior motives. I don’t think he doesn’t love our country. I think he does.

“As an African American male, coming through the progress of everything he experienced, he got tremendous benefit through a lot of these programs. So he believes in them. I just don’t believe they work overall and in the long run they don’t help our country. But he doesn’t know that because his life experience is something different. So it’s very important not to get mad at the man. And I understand, his philosophy — there’s nothing wrong with his philosophy other than it’s goofy and wrong [laughter] — but that doesn’t make him a bad person.”

While I didn’t have the same life as Obama, I am a black male, and I’m younger than Obama by a few years so I grew up in the same time frame as Obama. Coburn’s statement came off as a ‘he speaks so well’ moment. While he may have thought of it as a complement, it was an insult because he made an assumption of the upbringing of black men at the time.

Why would he assume Obama got a lot of benefit through programs? Are you saying a black man couldn’t accomplish what he did without help? I know from my experience, the thing I hated the most growing up at the same time as Obama was the assumption I was some Affirmative Action baby. It was never the assumption I was smart enough to be in the AP classes, that I was smart enough to get into college without being placed there out of sympathy. I remember when I went to college many times I would have to meet with administration people and the first thing they asked me was what program I was on, some affirmative action program. They assumed I had a minority scholarship to get into the school. It would surprise them when they looked at my files ad saw I had no scholarship, no preferential treatment. I got in on my skills.

That’s what annoys me about statements like Coburn. I will be blunt, if Obama was a Bill Clinton, who grew up poor in Arkansas, would he have made the same statement? I’m not trying to make this about race, but considering Obama’s background, I wouldn’t take him as being an affirmative action baby, but because he is black, Coburn lumps him into that category. That is what is offensive about his statement.