Debra Dickerson Discusses Obama's Reputation

Debra Dickerson was a bit confused this morning when, just prior to her appearance, she heard the I-Man reference his way-cool Kid Rock hat. Imus enlightened Dickerson with an apt description of said hat.

"Charles says I look like a roofing nail," Imus admitted.

Dickerson, who writes for Mother Jones and recently guest edited the book "Best African American Essays: 2009," was frazzled this morning after writing out nearly 40 valentines with her young kids last night. Imus said her children would cherish those memories for the rest of their lives.

"That's what people with grown children or no children say," said Dickerson.

Dickerson believes President Barack Obama's recent string of bad press has been unavoidable, given the high level of expectation at the start of his presidency.

"The knives were out in America because we're in a terrible situation," she said. "All we have to do as good Americans is say, 'we're going to watch you, we're going to critique you, but we're going to be fair.' I'm not sure it's all been fair."

She laughed about an article she read that called Obama "the worst president we've ever had," which she finds ridiculous since he has been in office less than one month.

"There is a tendency of the nattering nabobs-you've got to say something if you have a column," she said. "It's so easy to be critical and it's so hard to say...let's wait and see."

Imus thinks Obama misread the public's tolerance for standing by people Tom Daschle, whose tax problems forced him to withdraw his Cabinet nomination.

"He's got some mud on his face," Dickerson said about Obama. "But he stood up and said,' I made a mistake'. And when have we heard that in a long time?"

Dickerson agreed with Imus's assertion that Black History Month, which is February, has not received as much attention this year as in the past.

"I think there is sort of a Negro overload," she said. "Obviously we can't overstate the importance of [Obama's] election in terms of racial improvement, but I don't think we can understate it either."

She argued that black people have trivialized Black History Month.

"People try to channel Malcolm X and Dr. King without putting them in any kind of context," she said, adding that black people should be more introspective during this month. "What is it that we need to do in our own communities?"

Imus shared Tony Powell's keen observation that it seems irrelevant now to talk about who invented the first traffic light when a black man is President of the United States.

"That's what I mean!" said Dickerson, "People get up there and wrap themselves in Kente cloth, and they talk about slavery, and George Washington Carver and really-what's the point?"

Julie Kanfer