Obama: Racism ‘Still Part of Our DNA ... We’re Not Cured of It’

BRZEZINSKI: “President Obama is speaking out on racism and discrimination in the wake of the Charleston shootings. In an interview released this morning for the podcast WTF, The President spoke about the problems the country still faces on the issue of race. I’ve been wanting to listen to this and sort of get a sense of it, because we have a warning for our viewers. He uses strong language, some of which may be considered offensive. Take a listen.”

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OBAMA: “The legacy of slavery, Jim Crowe, discrimination in almost every institution of our lives, that casts a long shadow and that's still part of our DNA that's passed on. We’re not cured of it.”

MARON: “Racism?”

OBAMA: “Racism, we are not cured of it.”

MARON: “Clearly.”

OBAMA: “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."

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