Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has been criticized in recent days because of remarks he reportedly made about President Barack Obama during the 2008 election campaign, in which he said that Obama’s candidacy would be successful because he is “light-skinned” and speaks “with no Negro dialect.”The remarks surfaced in Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s book Game Change. Since the book was released earlier this year, media commentators and newspaper columnists are debating how the public should confront such remarks.

Eugene Robinson, columnist for The Washington Post, said that Reid’s comments were expressed bluntly but could not be truer. “Color bias has always existed in this country,” he said. “We don’t talk about it because we think of color as subordinate to racial identification .”

“Forgive me if I am neither shocked nor outraged.”

Melanie Norris, an ETSU junior, shares Robinson’s sentiments on the issue.

“I think the fact that Reid’s comments were received so badly by some actually just furthers the point that the people who were ready for change and are so proud of the new president are overly sensitive and ready to jump to his defense because of their own subconscious, unrealized prejudices,” she said. “Honestly, I think that’s more offensive than Reid’s comment.”

In addition to her opinion, Norris offered a suggestion as to how Reid should be dealt with.

“Smack him on the hand and call it a day,” she said.

Reid was on target in terms of skin tone, said Andrew Farrell. “The lighter you are, the more accepted you are throughout the American society,” Farrell said.

While some ETSU students say that the public should be focusing on the truth of Reid’s statements, others choose to probe his word choice.

“‘Negro’ is a very touchy word, and yet, I don’t really know if it’s completely wrong to use,” said Avani Javer, an ETSU senior. “The first time I heard about this, it made me wonder if people were upset with the usage of the word ‘negro’ or if there was the hidden meaning behind it.”

Other students, however, say that the word “negro” is just a word.

“Any word that somebody uses will be interpreted differently by many different people,” said Yordin Robinson. “I know who I am and that’s all the matters in the end.”

In the wake of the controversy and debate, Reid publicly apologized to President Obama, saying that he “deeply [regrets] using such a poor choice of words.”

Obama accepted Reid’s apology.

There are deeper issues than what the media has portrayed, said Corey Foster, 22.

“The media will always ask tough questions and offer no solution, so it will be up to the politicians and American people to make this turn out the right way,” Foster said. “Calling Reid a racist would be wrong and make this situation much worse than it should be.”

However, some ETSU students said Reid’s comments were indeed unacceptable.

“He felt comfortable enough to say something that was really derogatory to a lot of people,” said ETSU student Ash-Lee Henderson. “That’s the issue.”

“I believe Reid’s words were both inappropriate and racist,” said Tabby Hilton, 19. “Why is race mentioned? Color should have nothing to do with the election, whether he’s light skin, dark skin, pale or a really tan Caucasian. It’s all the same. We’re all human.”

Brian Gong, 19, discerned racism in the comments, as well.

“He shouldn’t have brought color into the equation at all,” he said.

Perhaps, Foster believes, this controversy should cause voters to reflect on their own perceptions.

“The statements should, rather, be taken to heart and each person should question why they really wanted Obama to be our next president,” he said. “Was it his diplomatic strategy, his morals or because he’s black?”

Whether Reid’s comments were racist or not, Gong suggested a way to end the problem.

“Honestly,” he said, “we should have a blind election and no one gets to see who’s running. They must go by fake names until the election is over. If their identity is revealed, they are automatically disqualified.”

Hilton disagreed.

“This is how the world operates,” she said, “and until we all see past color, this will be an issue.

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