Is Chris Matthews the most evolved white man in America?

January 19, 2010 · Posted in Race 

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews often gets criticized for being quick at the lip, and sometimes he says things he later has to take back (often because people think they’re sexist.) But when it comes to race, Matthews is probably the only white person on television, and certainly the only white male, who regularly and fearlessly confronts the issue of race — and I mean all the time, not just on MLK Day. Matthews, who can veer from liberal to in awe of Republicans (most of his relatives are Republicans, apparently, but he served in the Peace Corps, then worked for Jimmy Carter, and his son worked on the Obama campaign) at a moment’s notice, has an encyclopedic knowledge of American history, and maybe that’s why his views on racial matters are so fully formed. Whether you agree with him or not, you can’t say Chris is a “coward” when dealing with this issue. That said, MSNBC’s special “Obama’s America” was certainly not an open and shut solution to all things racial in America. But it was interesting, touching on everything from affirmative action to the birthers, and I give the guy a lot of credit for doing it. Here’s a clip:

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Get more clips here. One more thing, in the category “dramatic changes of circumstance”: a year ago, Tavis Smiley would have been on that panel, right …?

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One Response to “Is Chris Matthews the most evolved white man in America?”

  1. Should Black Americans Re-think Calling Themselves African-Americans « Global Fusion Productions Inc on January 28th, 2010 3:14 am

    [...] a year after electing the first African-American president. I guess this will be more fodder for Chris Matthews and others to speak on their favorite go to topic of the times, the question of attaining “a [...]

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