Obama Uses N Word to Make Point on Racism; Gunman Wanted Race War.
BLITZER: President Obama delivering a very blunt assessment of race relations in the United States following the deadly shootings in Charleston, South Carolina. The president speaking on comedian Mark Marin's podcast said the United States has not overcome its history with racism. And to make the point, the president used language that a lot of us would consider to be offensive. Listen to this.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Racism.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Racism. We are not cured of it. Clearly. And it's not just a matter of it not being polite to say nigger in public. That's not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It's not just a matter of overt discrimination. We have -- societies don't, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.</s>BLITZER: Let's discuss what's going on. I'm joined by Bakari Sellers, he's a former South Carolina state representative and an attorney, as well CNN Political Commentator Charles Blow. Bakari, what do you think? Should the president have used that word or should he have said, as all of us say, the N word, referring to that very bad word, obviously?</s>BAKARI SELLERS, FORMER STATE REPRESENTATIVE, SOUTH CAROLINA: No, I think the president was right on point. This discussion about race has to be very, very big and broad. This is complex. I think the president, in utilizing that, taught us all that we are not worried about those individuals who use this derogatory term as much as we are trying to have a broader, larger, discussion in the context of race. People have a hard time understanding that we are not that far removed from the 16th Street Baptist church bombing. We're not that far removed from RFK's assassination, from Dr. King's assassination, from the Orangeburg massacre. And now we're having similar shared experiences in 2015. That is the discussion we have to have and it's larger than a singular word.</s>BLITZER: Charles, what do you think?</s>CHARLES BLOW, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think it depends on context here. And when I look -- listen to what the president is saying here, he's basically making the argument that racism does not have to be articulated and even in the most blunt terms, including the use of the N word. But rather, it can be structural. It can be very persistent. And he's using it in a very instructive way. And I think that context always is important, both because I know that, you know, whether or not you -- however you land on use of N -- the N word itself, it is very much the case that people use language in group that they take -- that was meant to demean them and they kind of defame it by using it in repetition in group. And so, this happens both -- you know, women sometimes discuss things in ways that men would -- should probably steer clear of. People in the LGBT community discuss issues using language that people outside of those groups would probably be best to steer clear of. This happens in religion. This happens in ethnic groups and I think that that is just a fact of how the etymology of language develops and how people appropriate damaging language in order to defang it and that's just something that happens. And so, the president's kind of speaking in group in this moment. What shocks me is not him being instructive about the use of a word that we cannot really scrub from the language. I mean, I've -- I just wrote a book and I used it several times in that book because it is destructive. It is historical. It is a part of -- a damaging part of the language that must be used in a way that is instructive. However, I'm shocked when I hear people use it when it is derogatory. And he -- the president is not the first president to do so. In the</s>BLITZER: Bakari, only moments ago the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, was asked if the president regrets using that word in that podcast interview. He said the president does not regret it. All of us who have covered the president know he is very precise with hiss language, with his words. Do you believe he deliberately wanted to use that word, Bakari?</s>BAKARI SELLERS, FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Yes, I don't understand why so many people are awe-struck by this moment. The president, if I'm not mistaken, used the word 14 or 15 times in "Dreams of My Father." So this isn't something new. This isn't something new to the conversation. But I think that we're missing the message if we get bogged down on his usage of that one term. I mean if we look at it globally and if we look at everything he was talking about, to Mr. Blow's point, he's talking about the back breaking generational systemic institutional racism that people face on a daily basis that's been highlighted in this country. We're talking about a larger issue. We're not talking about a singular word.</s>BLOW: And if I can kind of dig down just a tiny bit on this, I believe that he's making a point that a lot of people have tried to make, which is that people try to place on to the backs of this president in six years now in what will end up being eight years the burden of eliminating structural racism that he did not create. They want him to come in and be the janitor and clean it up. And he is basically saying in this moment, that is not the way that this sort of hate operates. No one person, no two terms can do that. It operates over generations. It operates over centuries. And it is not going to turn on a dime. It is not going to turn on one presidency, whether he is black, white, Latino, whatever. And I think that he's making that point and we should not miss that idea.</s>BLITZER: The argument, Bakari, that I've heard since this interview came to light was that it's one thing for the president to use that word repeatedly in his book that he wrote as he - when he was a state senator or state lawmaker in Illinois, it's another thing to use that word publicly as president of the United States to which you say, Bakari?</s>SELLERS: Well, I mean, I think that, again, we're missing the larger point. I understand the president of the United States using the term, but he has an awesome responsibility on his shoulders. This conversation we're having globally about race is happening on his watch. Those nine lives that were lost on Wednesday night in Charleston, South Carolina, due to a racist terrorist happened on his watch. So he has to provide some leadership and some context and I'm happy he's not dodging the issue. It's larger than the "n" word. This discussion is much larger than the "n" word. This discussion is about moving our country forward, black, white, Hispanic and otherwise, and doing what the city of Charleston has said a perfect example for, which is coming together and understanding that we've made a lot of progress, but we still have a ways to go.</s>BLITZER: All right, Charles, go ahead, give me your final thought.</s>BLOW: Yes, I mean, I just - I just want to say - keep saying, don't get hung up on the word. Look at the structural racism that the president is talking about. If you want to be mad at something, be mad at the structural racism that allows this president to be called the "n" word online and in your - probably in your Twitter feed, in your FaceBook feed on a daily basis. If you want to be upset about something, look at that because that is the structural part of that, that we allow as a society to happen. And if you want to be - if you're just going to be mad about what you think may be a faux pas of decorum a sitting president using a word, look at all the other sitting presidents that we know of who have used that word and not in an instructive way.</s>BLITZER: Yes, that's an excellent point. You know, it's so heartbreaking, if you follow social media, follow the Twitter feeds and all of that, there are still, unfortunately, tragically, so many Americans, unfortunately, who still can't come to grips with the fact that we have an African-American president, an African-American first family living in the White House. That's a serious problem out there and it's important, as the president says, to talk about it and not just sweep it under the carpet. Guy, thanks very much. Bakari Sellers, Charles Blow, appreciate it very much joining us.</s>BLOW: Thank you.</s>BLITZER: Up next, we'll get the perspective of a distinguished U.S. congressman. Elijah Cummings is standing by. We're going to talk about the president's use of that "n" word, the Charleston church shooting, what's going on in Baltimore, the recovery there. Let's hope it's a recovery. Much more coming up.