Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman is making headlines with his claim to NPR that Barack Obama isn’t America’s first black president—Freeman says he’s America’s “first mixed-race president.”
The question of whether Obama could really be called black when he had a white mother has come up before. But in a country where people have historically been called “black” if they had just a drop of black blood, most people (including Obama himself) have come down on the side of just calling him black. Not so with Freeman, who made his remarks on NPR’s show “Tell Me More,” hosted by Michel Martin.
“First thing that always pops into my head regarding our president is that all of the people who are setting up this barrier for him … they just conveniently forget that Barack had a mama, and she was white — very white American, Kansas, middle of America,” Freeman said. “There was no argument about who he is or what he is. America’s first black president hasn’t arisen yet. He’s not America’s first black president — he’s America’s first mixed-race president.”
But regardless of whether he’s seen as black, white, or mixed, Freeman said the treatment of him by the Republican party has been harsh.
“He is being purposely, purposely thwarted by the Republican Party, who started out at the beginning of his tenure by saying, ‘We are going to do whatever is necessary to make sure that he’s only going to serve one term,’ ” he said. “That means they will not cooperate with him on anything. So to say he’s ineffective is a misappropriation of the facts.”
Freeman made his comments during an appearance to promote his new movie, The Magic of Belle Isle, which he said appealed to him because “It was my chance to play a drunk.”
Freeman plays a novelist who is partially paralyzed and is struggling with both writer’s block and alcoholism when he befriends a family living next door to his cabin at Belle Isle.
Listen to Freeman’s interview here.
I agree with Mr Freeman, about The Republican Party. They weren't going to back him either way.. They aren't thinking of the public, just think to block the Democrate….
I thought till Scott Brown won Mass., the Dems had a free reign. But then with a leader who had only the experience of marking present, anyone would have been surprised if they had done anything.
All said and done, it requires real leadership to get things done in a hostile Congress (This guy had to face only a half-hostile Congress as the Dems still had the Senate) like Reagan and Clinton.
And in his first two years, he had not a "half-hostile Congress" but a buddy congress with a Democrat majority in both chambers and the GOP in no position to "thwart" him.
Fran….that's politics. Look how the Dem's refused to work with Bush during his past two years and the result was the housing collapse. He tried many times to pass legislation as he had been warned of the dangers. The Dem's refused to cooperate and thus, here we are today in a mess.
I agree, Mr. Freeman, on all points mentioned in this article.
Kathleen Turner is right. Obama is the first woman President.
I disagree with Morgan Freeman about the republican party. Apparently he doesn't see the socialism in obama's agenda. Not because he's mixed or black, makes no difference except we know he's trying to destroy our constitution that he has sworn to protect. Doing things that would make Stalin proud!
Please, in detail, provide a list of the "socialist" things President Obama has done.
well now, you must have had a hissy fit when bush walked over your constitutional rights with the patriots act, invading a sovereign country, setting up up prisoner camp in a foreign country and denying the prisoners due process, not acting on the memo that warned him of 9/11… and what do you have against socialism? you and everybody in this country benefits from it one way or another everyday.
Libya was a sovereign country, Einstein.
I agree Lloyd D Green
I guess the twin towers that was taken down was nothing to a dem
to Joshua Aten and Maximumrider Groves, 1. redistribution of wealth to those who didn't earn it, 2. class warfare, 3. arrogant by not listening to majority of rejections, 4. my way or the highway mentality, 5. obama health care by adding extra millions of people to government health care system which then raises the cost to those who actually pays and extended time for those waiting for the proper critical care, and 6. raise taxes to middle class as well as the rich to pay for it all!!!!!
7. race warfare as well
obama…… by turning Americans against Americans is his way of covering up his mistakes, gaffs, and socialist programs, in order to get re-elected
Obama is a divider not a uniter
Lloyd D Green I agree!
those of you on this post who do not know what his socialist agenda is and ask for it to be posted must be those who will gain from sitting on your butts.
Using Executive power for 99% of all his actions. The executive power is for emergency situations like acts of war against this country or being attacked like 911 and Japan bombing Hawaii!!! Mr Obama has no leadership skills…..
Obamacare, dictated to us by Obama & his Dem controlled House & senate, without due process.
Why do yoou think it won't come up for a vote again, because Reed knows that it would go down in flames, now that we are beginning to see what's in it.
everything he's done
Joshua Aten ,His admitted redistribution of wealth is socialist and borderline communist.
Redistribution for one. How dare he or you or anyone tell someone who is rich that they have to part with their money so that it can be "redistributed". that's communism pure and simple. 2nd-killing of unborn innocents (kind of reminds me of "socialism on the right with Hitler) when he killed the unborn, the mentally retarded, and anyone else he deemed unfit for life. Obama even supports the killing of those unborn babies who sometimes survive an abortion (otherwise known as "infanticide"). check it out, it's true-when he was state senator in Illinois. When asked why, he replied, it would harm Roe v Wade if I didn't support this. " Once upon a time we, as a nation VALUED this innocent life, but now those who want to continue that philosophy are called "EXTREMISTS" for doing so. We once valued God, but now have thrown him out of our schools, courts, and public squares, yet wonder how our society has gotten so bad (with kids who have no morals, greed running rampant, and character being something that is laughed at, just as longevity in marriage. Yet those on the Left only mention His name when trying to score political points involving caring for the poor. Yes, Jesus taught us to care for those, but he would Never go along with mandating Anything-he only showed the way, but we are free to say "no". Something this President fails to understand. Then there's the "nanny state" where we have nearly 50% of folks on some kind of welfare-thanks to Obama. Is this enough proof for you, or do you need more??? We've become a nation of "takers" rather than "givers". Rather than look in the mirror and see the real problem, we would rather "blame the rich" or anyone else, but "never blame our own irresponsibility. This President feeds on that with his "class warfare". He has sown more divisiveness than any president in history.
Of course, it was Peter Griffin from "family Guy".
George Orwell wrote about Obama.
Morgan, just give us one reason WHY we should "cooperate" with his hideous agenda to destroy America with his bizarre left-wing policies! Furthermore, in his first two years, he had a Democrat Senate and HR with the GOP in no way able to "thwart" him in any way—and what did he accomplish? Only bad things.
Unfortunately Obama was naive and really believed the Republicans would work for the good of the country, but the Republican elite are out to line their own pockets. The Republicans want the rich to pay less taxes and increase taxes for the middle class and the poor. Obama has worked to ensure all citizens of the USA have access to health care. The Republican platform punish the poor, the disadvantaged, non straight, minorities. Hopefully Obama will be be in power for another four years and the senate and congress will be Democrat majorities. Anyway who cares what flavour the president is as long as the president works for the people of the USA not for himself.
There are very few full blood in any culture in this country. Even our very first President had a hand in helping with this and his own slaves. That is the only part of Mr Freemans statement I agree with. Mr Freeman himself I doubt is one of the full bloods left in the USA. The major issue of the current sitting President is that it is not a birth certificate issue but the one of only 2 qualifications to be President and he has failed the Natural Born. Our country is ruled by case law and there has only been 1 case in our court system addressing this issue. The ruling of which stands today is….To be a Natural Born citizen you must first be 2 citizens of this country before giving birth to a Natural Born citizen. This is and always will be for the protection of this country. GERALDWARNER.COM
thankyou for the add
John Hanson was the first president under the full articles of Confederation. George Washington was the first president under the Constitution.
The first black president was John Hanson 1781-1782. At that time they only had a one year term.
He was the Presiding Officer with no real powers; NOT the first President.
I know what he is trying to say but Morgan is not correct. No one and I mean no one in this world is 100% of any race. All human beings are intermixed. So I guess the race of a person can not be made by color anymore. It was a stupid thing to break people down that way in the first place.
If you trace ancestry back far enough we are all African
Depends on where the Garden of Eden was as to where the HUMAN RACE began.
Randy Kinder ,So you got a sister or mother that has jungle fever huh? i love the way white guys like you drink the kool-aid.
massive_white_meat_injector I would guess you are an individual who opens their mouth and inserts their foot an awful lot. LOL
Ok he is our frist Muloto Pres not sure if he is the best lier or had the largest amount of whom lied.60 days & out of iraq to closing.
Gito & no ear marks or lobbyist or had 20 yrs of the bigest ears that didn't hear rev wrongs songs. blind faith of a blind man that don't understand the middle East..or ever own or ran a Co. but loves to spend our tillions as if millions…Ge.
Of course the republicans only wanted him to serve one term! If they had their way he would not have served a first term! That's what politics is! When Bush was elected for his first term were there ANY democrats who wanted him to serve a second term? Morgan Freeman needs to take a basic civics course about the differing political parties.
As much as I love your acting Morgan, stick to acting. You act like the Dems worked with GW Bush when they tried to block his road every step of the way. And Obama actually locked the GOP out of the Health care meetings. So don't act like this is anything other than business as usual in Washington. His race has nothing to do with our distaste for his policies. There are a half-dozen blacks I could name off the top of my head that I would vote for President including Condi Rice. Don't let your insecurities blind you. Obama doesn't like this country and doesn't believe in American exceptionalism. I do!
Yes, odumbo had a mother and we all know what kind of white women screwed blacks back in 1961, the lowest form of white filth there was, And I knew blacks would stop calling him black or african american when he proved to be the worst president in the history of the republic.The next thing you know, they'll be saying he's a white man.And I'm still of the opinion that white women that screw blacks are the lowest form of filth.
Morgan freeman is a retarded idiot.
Good catch, Geoff. Yes, that was back in the days when the Democratic Party invented the Ku Klux Klan as an official adjunct of the Party organization — they boasted of this intimate connection back then, yet try to deny it today — the Democrats thought it would discredit Harding to expose rumors of his African American ancestry. Keep in mind that Harding's Democratic predecessor in the White House, Woodrow Wilson, was a progressive and an overt racist, who had re-segregated the federal workforce and endorsed the KKK as necessary to the purity and security of the white race (among numerous other abominations).
The rumor campaign by the Democrats did discredit Harding — among Democrats, a Party steeped in racism, but Republican voters paid no mind to the rumors and Harding won anyway. A lot of Harding's records were never open to the public, which helped give the rumors credence. I'm not sure we will ever know the truth for sure, but the salient point is that Republicans never thought it was an issue worth getting to the bottom of — they frankly didn't care if Harding had African blood. Only the Democrats thought that disqualified a person for the presidency. Keep in mind that by Harding's time, African American Republicans had already been, inter alia, Congressmen, Senators, State Legislators, Sheriffs, Town Clerks, Mayors, Judges, US Marshall, National Convention keynote speakers, National Party Chairman, and had even received votes in nomination for the presidency at a National Party Convention. Harding would simply have been a natural extension of all that.
In the south they used to call them high yellows.
odumbo isn't interested in doing the job of president,he just wants to perpetually run for the job.