Samuel L Jackson: "I voted for Obama because he's black"

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I'll be honest, I thought being black would be what gets him elected by inspiring black and youth voters, but I also thought that would make his job as a president harder.

I thought the best choice for president would be Biden, of course he was a long shot though.
 
Kayo-kun said:
I have always like Samuel Jackson, but that was an ignorant and a stupid statement. If everyone had this mentality, then Obama would have never been elected.
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But not everyone did and there's no possible reality in which everyone would have the same mentality. So don't worry about it.
 
krypt0nian said:
This is not totally understandable. It's racist. What if it were Herman Cain running? Would he have voted for him too?

It's about the issues, unless you are an ignorant person.

That he would be the first black president is just gravy.
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It is very understandable...and people can and will vote based on whatever they want...there is no right or wrong way to vote.

Most people don't even know what a manifesto is...so please let's not pretend people actually know who they are voting for in the majority of cases...
 
Elections are a farce of an unimaginable magnitude. So many people vote due to party lines, race, religion, etc. When you quiz them on the candidate they are supporting they are clueless.
 
shuri said:
Yeah I know it's a TMZ link but still


Source: http://www.tmz.com/2012/02/11/barack-obama-samuel-l-jackson/

How do you guys feel about this? It's his own personal choice, but I disagree with his point. I really dont think that people vote for candidates that look like them. I would almost go the point of saying that it's a pretty damn dumb reason to vote for someone. I expected better from Jackson.. And whats with the 'some white dude' thing :/
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1. People vote based on all kinds of stupid reasons. The idea of a massive populace of rational thinkers voting with the aim of maximizing their genuine interests is laughable given the facts about how normal people actually think and reason in daily life.

2. Why did you expect better? Because he's a movie star?
 
krypt0nian said:
This is not totally understandable. It's racist. What if it were Herman Cain running? Would he have voted for him too?

It's about the issues, unless you are an ignorant person.

That he would be the first black president is just gravy.
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It's also false. Want proof? you can look back at the Pennsylvania Gubernatorial election of 2006.

Ed Rendell (D) was the (white) former mayor of philadelphia, and extremely popular- easily winning his first term and running for a second. The huge turnout from Philadelphia made it extremely unlikely any traditional republican candidates that appealed to the rest of the state would have any shot at all.

So, in one of the most ludicrous and transparent attempts to pander to minorities I've ever seen, the republican party ran Lynn Swann- a black NFL hall of famer who played for the pittsburgh steelers.

Swann had no previous political experience (?!) and even more bizarrely, ran completely uncontested in the GOP primary. every other likely candidate backed off and let him have it- clearly showing this wasn't a random run for the office by a dark horse candidate, but strategy by the establishment. Swann's campaign also ran some REALLY out there ads that race baited like you wouldn't believe- all but saying that any vote not for swann was a vote against black people.

The result? Swann got annihilated, and rendell walked away with over 60% of the vote.
 
ThisWreckage said:
Elections are a farce of an unimaginable magnitude. So many people vote due to party lines, race, religion, etc. When you quiz them on the candidate they are supporting they are clueless.
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If you don't want people that you think are ignorant to be allowed to vote then you don't support democracy.
 
Stet said:
If you don't want people that you think are ignorant to be allowed to vote then you don't support democracy.
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Well, it's simple. At 18, you put people under a 'Election Capability' test, whereby you quiz someone on their ability to make decisions in an appropriate, sensible manner. Those who pass get to vote, those who don't get castrated
this is not a good idea
 
Stet said:
If you don't want people that you think are ignorant to be allowed to vote then you don't support democracy.
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Just thinking outloud on a tangent:

That's kind of like Republicans. They want to limit the voting ability of the lower classes (through shorter voting hours, stricter ID requirements) because if we had 100% voter turn out, liberals would always win. So in a sense, their world view of "successful people know better and should have more say" is incompatible with democracy.
 
DeaconKnowledge said:
This is the mindset from which most people, especially older people vote.

...are people just learning this?
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This. Alot of people voted that way, and i'm sure the same thing would happen with any member of a race that has never been president. Even more so because members of that race would think the president would "stand up" for them. Of course it's only afterwards that people really start looking in depth.

EDIT: They even touched on this in an episode of The Boondocks.
 
I appreciate the man's honesty, but I think he's a fucking moron. He's still honest though, which is more than I can say for the majority of this world.
 
Averon said:
Yeah, a lot of people probably voted for Obama because he's black. But a lot of people probably voted against him because he's black. It all evens out to me.
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It probably doesn't even out cause then you have those people who don't normally vote come out and voted for Obama.

And unfortunately, Samuel is speaking the truth. A lot of people vote for a certain candidate for silly reasons whether it's race, looks, party affiliation, etc. Nothing he's saying is new. American politics is so bad.
 
Manmademan said:
It's also false. Want proof? you can look back at the Pennsylvania Gubernatorial election of 2006.

Ed Rendell (D) was the (white) former mayor of philadelphia, and extremely popular- easily winning his first term and running for a second. The huge turnout from Philadelphia made it extremely unlikely any traditional republican candidates that appealed to the rest of the state would have any shot at all.

So, in one of the most ludicrous and transparent attempts to pander to minorities I've ever seen, the republican party ran Lynn Swann- a black NFL hall of famer who played for the pittsburgh steelers.

Swann had no previous political experience (?!) and even more bizarrely, ran completely uncontested in the GOP primary. every other likely candidate backed off and let him have it- clearly showing this wasn't a random run for the office by a dark horse candidate, but strategy by the establishment. Swann's campaign also ran some REALLY out there ads that race baited like you wouldn't believe- all but saying that any vote not for swann was a vote against black people.

The result? Swann got annihilated, and rendell walked away with over 60% of the vote.
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How is that any way falsify what I posted? Jackson didn't say anything but race. We are talking about Jackson, not sensible voters.

F#A#Oo said:
It is very understandable...and people can and will vote based on whatever they want...there is no right or wrong way to vote.

Most people don't even know what a manifesto is...so please let's not pretend people actually know who they are voting for in the majority of cases...
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Of course they can vote how they like. And they can be called ignorant and racist for it.

One doesn't need a manifesto to vote along racially motivated lines. Either way it's wrongheaded and ignorant.
 
Oh my god, somebody call Ja Rule so we can make sense of all this!



No but really, IDGAF what some random celebrity says. Even more so when its as stupid as this.
 
It's Samuel Fucking L. Jackson. I'm sure there was ZERO sarcasm in his statement, and he was like totally serious and stuff.

And even then, he has a valid point that politics are a joke in America. While not everyone merely votes for whoever looks like them, a huge number of people do. A huge number of people vote for whoever makes them the most comfortable, or because they're insane about single issues and aren't rational or balanced.

Jackson's jackass response, from a certain perspective, represents the level of respect that American politics deserve.
 
He said this to EBONY, and TMZ can't give a link? I really want to call BS on this. I didn't even think EBONY would allow the N-word in their magazine.
 
Zhengi said:
It probably doesn't even out cause then you have those people who don't normally vote come out and voted for Obama.

And unfortunately, Samuel is speaking the truth. A lot of people vote for a certain candidate for silly reasons whether it's race, looks, party affiliation, etc. Nothing he's saying is new. American politics is so bad.
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Well I voted against him, but not because of his race. The state he hails from has an unfortunate history of political corruption. Two Governors were found guilty of corruption in the last 8 years and several notable instances of chicago mayors being corrupt as hell. So one would have to assume that Obama is just as rotten as them since there seems to be a culture of political corruption that is more prevalent there than elsewhere. Unfortunately this year so far has proved to me just how wrong I was about that. Congress itself is just as corrupt as the illinois politicians are. The only difference is most of the time Congressmen are not stupid enough to get caught.
 
Kaijima said:
It's Samuel Fucking L. Jackson. I'm sure there was ZERO sarcasm in his statement, and he was like totally serious and stuff.

And even then, he has a valid point that politics are a joke in America. While not everyone merely votes for whoever looks like them, a huge number of people do. A huge number of people vote for whoever makes them the most comfortable, or because they're insane about single issues and aren't rational or balanced.

Jackson's jackass response, from a certain perspective, represents the level of respect that American politics deserve.
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still... that was some ignorant shit to say outloud.
 
krypt0nian said:
How is that any way falsify what I posted? Jackson didn't say anything but race. We are talking about Jackson, not sensible voters.



Of course they can vote how they like. And they can be called ignorant and racist for it.

One doesn't need a manifesto to vote along racially motivated lines. Either way it's wrongheaded and ignorant.
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perhaps I should clarify. I was responding to you, pointing out that the assertion was nonsense, and racist, AND false- the evidence backs it up.

When given a choice to vote between a qualified white candidate and a black joke candidate (like herman cain, lynn swann, or alan keyes), black voters chose the qualified white candidate when given the opportunity. Whether jackson is serious or not can't really be interpreted from the interview, but even if he is, previous elections have shown that people who think like he does are nowhere NEAR the majority.
 
Manmademan said:
perhaps I should clarify. I was responding to you, pointing out that the assertion was nonsense, and racist, AND false- the evidence backs it up.

When given a choice to vote between a qualified white candidate and a black joke candidate (like herman cain, lynn swann, or alan keyes), black voters chose the qualified white candidate when given the opportunity. Whether jackson is serious or not can't really be interpreted from the interview, but even if he is, previous elections have shown that people who think like he does are nowhere NEAR the majority.
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Oh thank Zeus. I thought I had lost you.
 
It's better than voting for Obama because he thought he was a liberal. At least Obama is still black.

/trollface
 
Kaijima said:
It's Samuel Fucking L. Jackson. I'm sure there was ZERO sarcasm in his statement, and he was like totally serious and stuff.
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I know right.

And even assuming he is being serious, his opinion should hold as much weight as Johnny the grocer's, which is to say none. I mean, people should weigh the candidate's past record and attitude toward issues that they feel are most important but as all know, it doesn't always work like that. Not really news.
 
I have never liked Samuel L Jackson just because he always has to bring up race all the time. He is a great actor but he is also annoying sometimes.

I voted for Obama because I thought he could bring some change and was democrat. I figured McCain would keep pushing Bush's agenda which I didn't care for.

But since Congress makes all the rules it feels like the President really can't even push his agenda to go through so I don't even feel like voting now. :/
 
I'd rather not say anything against his ignorant comments, in fear of getting banned. He is a mod here, after all.
actor in his spare time i guess
 
No different than other single-issue voters like those who only vote for pro life or pro choice candidates, those who pick candidates based on their stance on homosexuality, or people who pick candidates that they think is the "most" Christian or closest to their social conservative stance on an issue like prayer in schools.

Voting for Obama because you are black can be more than just doing it because you're sharing a skin color. He probably felt that Obama and him shared a more common outlook or viewpoint on life. Maybe he felt that Obama would better understand the struggles of being a minority in the United States. He could think that Obama represents the type of social progress he wants to see spread out across the workforce and society in general, where blacks and other minorities are still disproportionately unemployed, underemployed, and earn less money than their white counterparts.

You could just boil it down to skin color, but the vast majority of people vote for people they feel have a viewpoint closest to theirs on one or more issues, and Obama being black prompted a lot of blacks (and minorities like myself) to feel that he was a candidate who would perhaps have a better understanding of social struggles inherent to being a minority in the US, back in 2008 and even now. I mean, do you think Mitt Romney is someone I could relate to as a minority, or Obama? If you're black, who do you think would be more likely to push an agenda that helps me most (even if it never actually pans out that way in real life)?

edit: I just want to point out that what Samuel L. Jackson said was stupid. My point was about the fact that a black person voting for someone because they're black isn't just about being racist.
 
Is the world ready for President Jackson?

black-snake-moan.jpg
 
At a base level voters seem to base their candidates on those they identify with. Voting in affirmation of one's race is no different that voting for someone based on having the same religion or any multitude of seemingly superficial reasons that have been articulated.
 
Samu-EL trolling the idiots.

This thread shouldn't even be *this* long, but lets see it make it to 5 pages as people weigh in with their opinions on his opinion.

popcorn.gif
 
It's understandable and his right and all, but the fact that the majority of people base their decision on something like this or equally superficial is why voting has been rendered useless.
 
shuri said:
Jackson then went on to drop the N-word several times when discussing Obama, telling the mag, "When it comes down to it, they wouldn't have elected a [bleep]. A [bleep] is scary. Obama ain't scary at all. [Bleeps] don't have beers at the White House. [Bleeps] don't let some white dude, while you in the middle of a speech, call [him] a liar. A [bleep] would have stopped the meeting right there and said, ‘Who the [bleep] said that?' I hope Obama gets scary in the next four years, 'cuz he ain't gotta worry about getting re-elected."
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I thought Sam was about to realize he elected a white moderate.
 
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