Toni Morrison Clarifies 'First Black President'
By the DiversityInc Staff. Date Posted: May 09, 2008
Nobel laureate and Princeton University professor Toni Morrison clarifies her calling former President Bill Clinton "the first black president" and offers insight on why she endorsed Sen. Barack Obama.
Here is an excerpt from a new Time Magazine's interview with Toni Morrison:
Do you regret referring to Bill Clinton as the first black President? --Justin Dews, Cambridge, Mass.
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.
Why did you endorse Barack Obama for the presidency? --Chris Francis Lightbourne, Long Island, N.Y.
I thought about voting for Hillary at the beginning. I don't care that she is a woman. I need more than that. Neither his race, his gender, her race or her gender was enough. I needed something else, and the something else was his wisdom.
More Election '08 >>
© DiversityInc 2008 ® All rights reserved. No article on this site can be reproduced by any means, print, electronic or any other, without prior written permission of the publisher.
|
