Barack Obama Quotes
Number one, it is absolutely critical that we tone down the rhetoric when it comes to the immigration debate, because there has been an undertone that has been ugly. Oftentimes, it has been directed at the Hispanic community. We have seen hate crimes skyrocket in the wake of the immigration debate as it has been conducted in Washington, and that is unacceptable.
Obama, Barack. "Remarks at the Democratic Candidates' Debate in Los Angeles, California." The American Presidency Project, 31 Jan. 2008.
He was reacting to the protests and riots of Islamic immigrants who had become a significant minority of France coming mostly from North Africa—especially the former French Colonies where French was spoken and the French educational and legal system were in effect. France, traditionally, has been one of the most open countries to immigrants and minorities however the unwritten cultural norm was that the immigrant would always identify first as a Frenchman, and adopt French language, manners, values and customs. Unlike the United States or Canada where immigrants could easily maintain most of their values, cultural traditions and languages, France required more assimilation to succeed. The Muslim immigrants at the turn of the millennium were not as malleable as other French immigrant groups especially with respect to the treatment of women and the freedom of expression that has always been so valuable to the French. The combination produced misunderstanding, discrimination and far less economic opportunity than other groups of immigrants had previously.
For another of his immigration quotes and that of another labor leader, see {639891} and {639896}.
This is an example of a politican exaggerating a problem by conveying the false impression that undoumented immigrants (more pejoritively "illegal aliens") are a danger becaue they murder Americans. THey do but at no greater rates, than American citiizens murder each other.
The party is a neo-Nazi party for who, race was a major issue.
He was referring to North African and other third world immigrants. France’s second largest ethnic group had become Muslims from North Africa. But they were only 10 percent of the population.
The senator later apologized for this remark.
The racial targets of the Japanese and Korean Exclusion League widened and they changed their name to the Asiatic Immigration Exclusion League.
This relatively rarely quoted statement was made by Roosevelt shortly after he graduated from Harvard and was typical of the upper class racism of the day. This is the same man who would be the first to invite a Negro to dine at the White House despite media and public opinion which castigated his act; the same man who later would have several close Japanese friends and be considered very pro-Oriental. This illustrates how people can grow and develop over time—especially politicians. Many politicians with few prejudices have publicly adopted the in order to pander to populist biases of the time. Roosevelt was the opposite. He started out with the popular racism of the day and as he grew and developed, publicly led with exemplary statements and actions. See {588991} for another of his early racist statements—this one targeting Native Americans.
Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician and attorney who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the United States. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.
