Obama Admits Breaking Childhood Friend's Nose over Racial Remarks
- Former US president Barrack Obama remembered an incident in childhood where he got into a fight with another child who insulted him
- According to him, the psychology behind racial slurs is to give those who say them self-importance while trying to dehumanise others
- He added that such remarks give some people the notion that they can assert power over others to take advantage of them
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Former president Barack Obama recently opened up about a past racial incident to Bruce Springsteen at a podcast with the musician.
Source: UGC
He was speaking on the "Renegades: Born in the USA" podcast which touched on the racial discrimination that has existed for decades.
"When I was in school, I had a friend. We played basketball together. And one time we got into a fight and he called me a c---," revealed Obama.
"And I remember I popped him in the face and broke his nose. And we were in the locker room," he continued.
According to the former president, the psychology behind racial slurs is to give those who say them self-importance while trying to dehumanise those who are told.
He added that such remarks give some people the notion that they can assert power over others to take advantage of them.
"What it comes down to is an assertion of status over the other. The claim is made that, 'No matter what I am - I may be poor. I may be ignorant. I may be mean. I may be ugly. I may not like myself. I may be unhappy. But you know what I'm not? I'm not you,'" he continued.
Obama expressed that apart from punching the friend, he also gave him a stern verbal warning to make sure he never repeats the same.
"Don't you ever call me something like that," he said.
Obama, the first Black president of the US, was a victim of racial attacks when he declared interest in running for the highest office as critics claimed that he was not a proper American citizen.
In other Briefly.co.za news, President of the United States Joe Biden recently headed to Twitter to celebrate reaching a vaccine milestone in the country. In a tweet, the president shared that 50 million vaccines have been administered to US citizens since he came into office earlier this year.
"This afternoon, we’re reaching a big milestone: 50 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered since I took office. Tune in as we mark our progress and chart the path forward," his tweet read.
The tweet received just over 18 000 likes and over 2 000 retweets. Many US citizens as well as people from other countries also headed to the comment section where they shared their thoughts with Biden.
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Source: Briefly News
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
Marilynn Manuel I am an experienced journalist with a keen interest in helping people tell their stories and writing content that inspires readers. When I’m not in front of my laptop producing viral articles for my publication, I find myself submerged in a fitness routine or trying new wellness smoothies. When I need some down time, I find that devouring a good book is equally as satisfying as reaching my health goals. Above all, I am a mom to a cute baby boy.
