Now we know where he stands politically (if I hadn't guessed before)
I like his music but I think his vision isn't quite as clear as he thinks it is.
From
CNN:
U.S. racism 'everywhere,' says Dave Matthews
Watching the Dave Matthews Band moments before they take the stage is like watching a football team bursting out of the locker room before a big game.
They slap hands. Bump fists. Jump up and down, exclaiming "Feel the love, feel the love!" The energy in the air is electric.
And when they walk out on stage, the energy explodes into thousands of shining faces. People dance in the aisles. Others sing every word to every song. A few share funny cigarettes.
For more than three hours, the jubilant atmosphere creates a sense of community between an amphitheater filled with strangers and the ethnically diverse musicians leading the charge on stage.
But then DMB is all about community -- creating its own and giving back. BAMA Works Fund -- the group's charitable foundation -- has handed out $5 million in grants to worthy causes, including schools and victims of Hurricane Katrina.
And despite the unexpected passing of saxophonist LeRoi Moore due to complications from an ATV accident last summer, the band members seem to be recharged. In June, DMB notched its fifth consecutive No. 1 album on the Billboard chart with "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King."
We caught up with Matthews just as news hit the Web that former President Jimmy Carter believed racism was the root of some of the negativity directed toward President Obama in recent weeks. The 42-year-old singer-songwriter offered a unique perspective, as a man who split his childhood between the United States and South Africa during apartheid. The following is an edited version of the interview.
CNN: President Carter said he thinks that a lot of the animosity directed toward President Obama is race related.
Dave Matthews: Of course it is! I found there's a fairly blatant racism in America that's already there, and I don't think I noticed it when I lived here as a kid. But when I went back to South Africa, and then it's sort of thrust in your face, and then came back here -- I just see it everywhere. There's a good population of people in this country that are terrified of the president only because he's black, even if they don't say it. And I think a lot of them, behind closed doors, do say it.
(cough)Bullshit(cough)
The
2008 Census estimate shows 12.8% of the USA population as being black.
Obama won the 2008 election with
53.7% of the popular vote.
A lot of white people voted for him and were really hoping that he would win. Jen voted for him, I narrowly did but opted for McCain. I like some of the people Obama has appointed but am really getting tired of some of his other choices, his Chicago political machine and his going back on his word regarding transparency, cutting pork, open office, bipartisan, etc. etc. etc.).
It has nothing to do with race; Obama's presidency makes Jimmy Carter's look good and that speaks volumes.
Posted by DaveH at September 21, 2009 9:33 AM