Well I am an african-american.... Yes..he could have said something else...but like everyone else said, he comes from a different time and is set in his ways...it's like going into my great-grandmother's house and she still has flowery wallpaper all over the place from like the 60's..and that plastic fruit as centerpiece decorations...lol She always talks about how she likes the contemporary look of today & new paint colors BUT she will not let go of what she's had and known for the past 50+ years.... Okay..bad attempt at an analogy LOL...but my point is he comes from a certain era that's edged in his brain and therefore that memory is part of him and his thinking and will always be...so thus, it will come out in the way he communicates, his speeches, etc.
I feel it could have been worded differently but I also know he comes from a different era and all we can hope for is that we as the newer generation willl embrace the diversity we are fortunate to be a part of...I'm not going to get totally upset about it...I mean, on the opposite end, you have the Rush Limbaugh's still saying the things that can be deemed as racist. African-Americans make a big deal of it....I don't. Again, looking at his age, he's probably coming from the same era Rev. Lawry does. I'm just glad I don't have to live with him.
I'm raised in the new generation and will not let those things upset me or change the values of which were instilled in me by my parents. I don't need any free passes. I have 2 degrees, paid for by myself, my own home, a good job(2) and dozens of friends of all races, religions, political views, etc.
I love everyone for who they are(some could stand some tweeking tho)..
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