As I’m sure you’ve heard by now – cable news anchors were in full meltdown mode throughout the day yesterday – Pres. Obama used the n-word. In public. During an interview. An interview with the popular podcast, WTF with Marc Maron. The background on this, I suppose, is the horrible massacre in Charleston, South Carolina last week. The larger background on this is that whenever Obama says anything about race, no matter how seemingly cautious or seemingly ambiguous, he is ripped to shreds by pundits and Beltway hacks. I’ve felt for some time now that Obama is doing the best he can with America’s race relations, and the constant pressure to say this, do that, think this way, reflect this, don’t say that, it’s all taken its toll on him. And now, in his last 18 months or so in office, he’s stopped caring about what he should or shouldn’t say and he’s stopped being cautious.

You can hear Marc Maron’s interview with the president here. I’m also including the short audio clip at the end of the post. Here’s the context of Obama’s use of the n-word (and yes, I censored it).

“Racism, we are not cured of it. And it’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say n—er in public. 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.”

As I said, cable news was in full meltdown mode. The president said the n-word! What does it all mean? It means he’s sick and tired. It means he’s exhausting trying to be all things to all people for the country’s deep seated racial problems. It means we should probably look to the context of what he’s really saying – that racism exists in this country beyond the obvious, overt examples of racism, like using the n-word or shooting nine African-American citizens in the middle of Bible study.

So, does Pres. Obama get a pass for using the n-word? I’m sure there will be some people crying, “Well, why does he get to say it and I don’t?!” I hate that. But if I’m being honest, his use of the word – even to make a completely legitimate point – makes me uncomfortable. But I also think the context of what he’s saying, his larger point, is more important than the “Obama said the n-word” headlines.

Photos courtesy of Marc Maron’s Twitter, WENN.