WHY did Obama invoke the derogative term "Pookie?"

[MoonRiver]

The term seems to refer to a lovable, but lazy and good for nothing black man.

I really do not understand why he would do this, UNLESS he thought some of his potential supporters would like it (i.e. he was PLAYING THE RACE CARD).


Obama supporters, if you have an opposing views, please elaborate.

[KennedyGuy]

1. can you IMAGIME the outrage if Hillary said this..

Hillary called Obama young..and they shit their pants...

[Aviation Pro]

2. It's a nickname....

...would it be better if he used the nickname "Scooter?"

[Azathoth]

3. Pookie is the name of Garfield the cat's teddybear

I guess Garfield is a closet racist. You Hillaryites are hilarious. :rofl:

[Hissyspit]

68. I named one of my cats Pookie years ago, after Garfield's teddybear.

I have never heard it used as a derogatory term.

MOST everything I find says it's a term of endearment:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pookie

...although their are references to methamphetimine smoking and a Malay/Tagalog? word for vagina.

[gateley]

4. That's what my niece used to call my nephew when they were little.

If it's a racial term, I can guarantee she never would have used it in my brother's house.

What makes you think it is? And...what did Obama say?

[MonkeyFunk]

5. In my 46 years

I've not once heard it used as a racial term. I have heard used as a term of endearment, though.

This place sucks harder than it's ever sucked before.

[WillyT]

6. What The HELL Are You Guys Talking About ???

Pooky
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pooky or Pookie may refer to:

A term of endearment, usually said by a parent to a child, appearing in the late 1940's.
A hand puppet (Pookie the Lion) on the Soupy Sales television show.
The Sterile Cuckoo, a 1969 film released in the UK as Pookie.
Pookie (vehicle), a Rhodesian mine-detecting vehicle.
Pooky (character), the teddy bear belonging to the cat Garfield in the comic strip Garfield
Pookie (rabbit) lead character in popular children's stories by Ivy Wallace
Pooky Night, an alternate name for Halloween in some parts of Ireland.
"Pookie" was the nickname given to the main character (Lawrence Gurdo) in the 2007 film "The Purple Eagle Battalion". In this movie the Pookie loves sheep and has a strange fascination with babies. See also: Pocky.
Pookie (hamster) is an infamous Chinese Dwarf Hamster currently living in Pennsylvania. He holds the record for shortest tail in Chinese Dwarfs.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pooky

:rofl::wtf::rofl:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

9. I used to call my kid Pookie-Boo.

I'm relieved to know I wasn't unwittingly insulting African Americans. :eyes:

[Honeycombe8]

35. Pookie is a term of endearment. I call my dog "Pookie" sometimes. Means "sweetie" "dear" etc. nt

[mopinko]

47. it's my parrot's nickname.

do i have to wash her mouth out with soap when she says it or something?

[MoonRiver]

10. Here's another definition for you

But for those not in the know, the question remains: Who is this Pookie?

<snip>

"Pookie means a whole lot of different things; none of them are good,'' said Kevin Gray, a South Carolina writer and activist. "Pookie's always the foil.''

To linguist and writer John McWhorter, Pookie is the kind of ghetto character played by Cedric the Entertainer or Chris Tucker in one of those "Barbershop'' or "Friday'' movies. In the 1960s and '70s, he would have gone by Leroy, Tyrone or Otis.

<snip>

"It's a real strong use of language,'' said Bakari Kitwana, the hip-hop writer, lecturer and activist. In dropping Pookie's name, Obama is signaling to those who question his blackness — because his mother was white and his father an African without slave ancestry — that he is not an outsider to black life.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4210142

http://newblackman.blogspot.com/2007/03/can-pookie-nay-nay-get-some-love.html

[ihelpu2see]

30. JUST Hilbots stirring the pot, since their candidates (Bill&Hillary) started the

Race bating. They have been grasping at straws to try to even it up.

When Senator Obama wins SC He should make a strong statement on how his win proves that negative campaigning, as done by the Clinton play book, turns votes against you. This was shown by Edwards rise in the polls.

imo

[kevsand]

34. You left out a couple of relevant quotes from the same article:

In their interviews and e-mails, Pookie emerges as a stock character of the black popular imagination, a name that has come to personify the kind of layabout kin who, if endearing, is also a source of some embarrassment and consternation to his more successful relations.

Pookie, according to Michael Eric Dyson, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and writer about race, is "nearly a pop-culture folk-figure in black circles.'' He is the average black every-youth.

"If you get it you get it, and if you don't, you don't care,'' Kitwana said. "I have a Pookie in my family.''

It's not a racist epithet, even according to the article you cited. In the context of Obama's remarks, Pookie is that relative who can't be bothered to vote. He's saying get everybody out, even Pookie.

[bellasgrams]

39. I'm a Hillary supporter and I never heard Pookie used except

in a loving way.

[annabanana]

42. Is this the same part of the country where a cooter

is a female body part or a turtle?

(It sure is hard to keep track)

[Little Star]

60. Wish I could nominate your post.

[EFerrari]

32. He was playing the Chinese Dwarf Hamster card!

lol

[sniffa]

7. Oh dear.

Aside from the brilliance of this thread, I'm going to enjoy the smackdown coming your way. :thumbsup:

[cali]

19. this thread is almost as brilliant as the OP's "Obama was a Muslim and lied about it"

thread. Another masterpiece of doggy doo.

[UALRBSofL]

46. On the other hand

snifa, didn't Barack call Hillary a Punja, an indian word for a form of insult???

[ellacott]

8. This whole thing is unbelievable

Some of you people will try to make an issue out of anything. There was nothing racial or demeaning with what he said. It is total ignorance to try and make an issue of this.


I can't believe some of you. I think we deserve to lose this election.

The Democratic Party just jumped the shark.

[creeksneakers2]

70. If Hillary was black and said this

she'd be accused of tricking the other side into playing the race card in a stupid self destructive way.

[EFerrari]

74. And the accusation would be right because she'd be working

the wrong crowd. Inside jokes only work if you are an insider.

[kevsand]

11. What is your source for the definition of pookie?

I've always heard it used affectionately. The slang websites I've looked at so far agree. Where do you get your derogatory definition?

[BlueStateGirl]

12. I hate this crap. I hate it when it is directed at Hillary and I hate

it when it is directed at Barak.

It is stupid and a waste of time. It's divise and a Repubs wet dream.

[ellacott]

13. I agree with you

It is shameful.

[no name no slogan]

14. Well, as long he doesn't call Hillary "Sugar Tits"

I don't see what the big deal is

[Unsane]

18. Or pear ass

[EFerrari]

23. or Mom. n/t

[Unsane]

26. or "candidate who wears mom jeans"

[forsberg]

15. I don't get it, are people actually named "Pookie"

As in, adult voting aged people named Pookie?

[Window]

41. Um, yes.

I have a 68 year old female cousin we have always called Pookie, and several cousins we call Ray-Ray.



Peace:thumbsup:

[goclark]

53. Let me help you "get it" POOKIE is a nickname

My cousin Pookie's real name is Paula.

I can't believe this OP,I can't believe that I am reading it at DU.

Even Morning Joe is better than this "discussion."

[robbedvoter]

16. When you have MSM as cheerleaders, you're bound to make mistakes

believing your own PR - dangerous

[suston96]

17. Uh, after I come home from walking the dog...

...I am asked if she did "pookie"? Does that help?

[EFerrari]

20. Maybe he meant "pooka"?

:rofl:

[madrchsod]

25. that was on tmc yesterday--- what a great movie!

would`t the world be a better place if we all had a 6ft 31/2inch rabbit?

[EFerrari]

29. You don'thave one?!

:hi:

[madrchsod]

21. that is thee dumbist post about obama i have read yet

a simple google search would have saved you from your embarrassment

[burythehatchet]

24. The day is young

[madrchsod]

28. i know--- good thing i have things to do today

off to the charity shop to do my weekly shopping...

[Windy]

22. WTF... you clinton supporters have no shame. That is totally ridiculous.

My god. Win on your own damn merits on the issues!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've called my husband Pookie for years. I didn't even know there was some sort of a race connotation! Unbelieveable.

disgusting immature tactics that don't beling in a democracy!

[burythehatchet]

27. Shame, or actually the lack thereof, is actually quite a helpful chararteristic

one is not burdened with guilt.

[no name no slogan]

31. If he calls you Pookie, what do you call him?

and it better not be sugar tits

[2rth2pwr]

38. Ignorance is not an excuse. nt

[bdamomma]

57. my husband calls me Pookie sometimes too, I never connected

it with race. Pookie sounds endearing to me.

[Honeycombe8]

33. Pookie is a term of endearment. I've used it occasionally, myself....

when speaking to my pets or children. If you've seen the movie Victor, Victoria, the Leslie Warner character calls the James Garner character "Pookie."

It is not a derogatory term at all. Don't know why you're trying to falsely make it so. It is a term of endearment.

[DarienComp]

36. i'm sorry?

The term seems to refer to a lovable, but lazy and good for nothing black man.

Yep, that's how I've always heard it used.

Also, the term "honey-bunny" means a lovable but miserly Jew who controls the media.

:eyes:

[cali]

37. LOL!

thanks for that, pookie honey bunny.

:rofl:

:thumbsup:

[kevsand]

40. Don't forget "snookums,"

the lovable but alcoholic Irishman who smuggles guns into the country.

[Laurab]

55. So THAT'S what my mom was really saying about my daughter

when she was a baby. And then I said it, and lately I've been calling my kitten "Snookums"...I'm SO ashamed! I'm calling my mom RIGHT f'ing NOW!

[alcibiades_mystery]

63. Gahahahahaha

[alcibiades_mystery]

62. ROFL

The OP actually says more about him or herself than about Obama, indeed.

I'm surprised the term "shiftless" didn't come up. :rofl:

[MadBadger]

43. I'll give you a pity rec. Your lame-ass post deserves to be on the greatest page.

[THUNDER HANDS]

44. I used to call my ex-girlfriend pookie

[Joe the Revelator]

45. This is lame ass race-baiting at its worse

There is absolutely no racial connotation to the work "pookie".

[bdamomma]

58. nothing like ripping apart the english language.

Pookie I rather like it when my husband calls me that.

[Jazzgirl]

48. "Pookie" was my stepfathers nickname.

I never heard it used as a derogatory term referring to a lovable, but lazy and good for nothing black man. That is news to me. I've always known it as a nickname and nothing else. Where did you get your information? Me thinks you are highly misinformed.

[JVS]

49. Pookie was the name of Chris Rock's crack addicted character in New Jack City

[FrenchieCat]

50. As a Black person, I can attest to the fact that Pookie is NOT derogatory.......

So I'm NOT sure where you are getting your info to come up with this OP.

But thanks for trying once more to do your best to divide the Democratic party. Keep it up.

[goclark]

56. Thank you Frenchie

We have reached a new LOW at DU with this post.

[McCamy Taylor]

51. What is wrong with Pookie and what does Pookie have to do with Obama?

If I read this right, it is an Obama nickname?

Might be a smart move. The right wing tries to smear Black men with the "fear the Black man" big lie. So, making Obama seem like a friendly kind of guy---you know, like Barney the Dinosaur, someone who is there for you, big and reassuring and competent but not scary--is not a bad thing at all. He has your back but he would never stab you in the back.

I would vote for a guy named Pookie.

[goclark]

52. My pet rock you must be under a ROCK

"The term seems to refer to a lovable, but lazy and good for nothing black man"

I am in SHOCK - ROCK!

# 1 - Cousin Pookie is a female. I have a cousin POOKIE and she is not lazy nor is SHE "good for nothing."

I am in my 60's and I have met many ladies with the nick name Pookie.

It is not POKEie it is POOK(rhymes with BOOK)ie. And even if it was POKEie that would not have to mean that he was " good for nothing."

I'm sure someplace, somewhere there is a BLACK MAN with the nickname POOKIE. There may also be a WHITE MAN named Pookie.

I am African American, with a Cousin named Pookie and I have never met a "good for nothing" anybody named Pookie.

I have met a GOOD FOR NOTHING White Man named GEORGE, BUSH!

If OBAMA had said, "Go call Cousin George" that would be OK I suppose in your view.

Your post is insulting!

I will however email it to all of my relatives and friends and remind them to call all their Cousins and everyone to work the phone banks in SC and get out the vote for Cousin BARACK!

Thanks for motivating me today!

[H2O Man]

54. Oh, please.

This is silly.

[bdamomma]

61. really silly. Nothing like blowing things up out of proportion.

but again this is DU.

[LisaL]

59. I found this quiz on google.

Only it's Pookie and Nay-Nay.
http://www.gotoquiz.com/how_ghetto_are_you
Also, urban dictionary has lots of definitions for Pookie.
Apparently, Pookie can be a lot of things.

[bdamomma]

66. crazy quiz and called me out right on the results saying I was of the

white persuasion, and ghetto free. Too funny

[LisaL]

67. It told me I am ghetto free and might be white.

[last_texas_dem]

77. I'm 3-percent ghetto

I think it was the Kool-aid questions that gave me my measly three points. haha

[Name removed]

64. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[EFerrari]

72. Nice post, Nader.

[sniffa]

75. Thanks, Ray Ray

:hi:

[Midlodemocrat]

65. That was my cat's name.

:shrug:

[angie_love]

69. lighten up

Oh please, dude, you need to lighten up and take a joke. Relax, get off the internets for awhile.

[bdamomma]

73. looks like it's going to be a long afternoon till the results come in.

nothing like amusing ourselves with slang language.

[AtomicKitten]

71. I remember Soupy Sales' Pookie.

[Vinca]

76. What's wrong with Pookie?? Someone needs a humor injection. nt

[Window]

78. I have a 70 year old cousin nicknamed Pookie

who happens to be a female.



Peace:thumbsup: