President Obama does not regret using the “N-word” in a podcast that was released Monday morning, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
“The president’s use of the word, and the reason he used the word, could not be more apparent from the context of his discussion on the podcast,” Earnest said.
Obama was clear that the progress America has made toward eradicating racism couldn’t be evaluated “solely” on manners, he added, reiterating what Obama told comedian Marc Maron when they recorded the interview in Maron’s Highland Park, Calif., garage on Friday.
“And it’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say ‘nigger’ in public,” Obama said. “That’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don’t, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.”
Earnest said that Obama was making clear that the country has come a long way but has further to go.
Earnest said it’s “undeniable that there is more work that needs to be done.” Americans should take inspiration from the progress made “and use that as motivation and inspiration to make progress toward a more perfect union,” he said.
