The conservative media entertainment complex, quickly followed by the supposedly mainstream media, expressed shock — shock I tell ya! — that President Obama used the “N” word in an interview with Marc Maron. WTF with Marc Maron Podcast – Episode 613 – President Barach Obama:
“Racism, we are not cured of, clearly. And it’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say ‘nigger’ in public. That’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don’t overnight completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.”
First of all, the conservative media entertainment complex feigning shock or outrage over the “N” word when it systematically portrays the first African-American president of the United States in a manner that suggests he is a”nigger” in every conceivable fashion on a daily basis is incredulous. I have no doubt that many of these right-wing talking heads routinely refer to President Obama using this term in their private conversations away from the mic (and some of them even do it on the air).
Secondly, President Obama simply provided a textbook example of the difference between overt discrimination (disparate treatment), and more subtle covert discrimination (disparate impact) in discrimination law.
It is the difference between a landlord who tells a renter that “We don’t rent to niggers,” and a landlord who is just as racist, but finds subtle ways to make excuses not to rent to African-Americans (or other people of color).
This was the case before the U.S. Supreme Court in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Community Project, Inc. In an important decision today, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has not always been a friend to discrimination claims, nevertheless wrote the majority opinion upholding the use of disparate impact evidence under Fair Housing Act cases.
