No Class, Not Underclass

Obama’s speech to the annual awards dinner of the Congressional Black Caucus, intended to rally support for his jobs bill (and not incidentally his reelection) was disrespectful. Not what he said, (that’s another whole subject) but how he said it.

The Harvard graduate clothed his remarks in the cadence and the diction of the “common folk.”  He dropped his gs (‘Stop complainin’, stop grumblin’ , stop cryin’) addressed the group as y’all and generally talked to his audience as if they were members of the underclass Obama claims to represent.  Obama is the child of privilege, not the inner city.  His attempt to bridge that divide sounded phony because it was.

In a speech redolent of references to civil rights marches, he compounded insult with injury by urging blacks “to take off their bedroom slippers” and put on their marching shoes.  He appeared to be clueless as to how offensive that is when the African American unemployment rate is at 16%.

Did he mean to imply that blacks have been sitting around in their bedroom slippers waiting for the exalted one to lead them out of the wilderness?  Only someone detached from the concerns of ordinary people could have made such a gaffe.

However, looking at it a different way there is a certain symmetry to this.  Playing the race card is something the Congressional Black Caucus does very well.  It only seems just that the president is now telling them to ante up.