> From: Computer Guys Discussion List [mailto:COMPUTERGUYS- > l...@listserv.aol.com] On Behalf Of mike > > I can't help but wonder why Obama can't be taken at his word. > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iivL4c_3pck
Context is everything. This is seven-year-old academic discussion of the civil rights movement and the law. It was one of a series. This one was titled "The Court and Civil Rights". Others included "Slavery and the Constitution" and "The Right to Vote". His role in these discussions is as a law professor (which is what he was at the time, at the University of Chicago law school). What it is, is his assertion that the courts are not equipped to effect redistribution and, if this is what the civil rights movement wanted, then it went about it in the wrong way. What it emphatically is NOT is his prescription for what the government -should- be doing. He simply says that, if the civil rights movement wanted to pursue social and economic justice, the court system was not the best place to do that, because it can't. It is bound by the Constitution. He is saying that the civil rights movement was too litigation-centered and could not achieve all its goals that way. He says so quite explicitly: "[T]he civil rights movements became so court-focused, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing, and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change." Where does he say that the Warren court -should- have acted to redistribute wealth? Nowhere, is where. Incidentally, the YouTube clip is creatively sliced and diced. It's not quite as creative as Bernie Goldberg's now-infamous butchery of the Brokaw interview, but it's not good. You should listen to the whole show: http://apps.wbez.org/blog/?p=639 ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
