--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Barack Obama's strategy is to get away…" description: "\"Barack Obama's strategy is to get away from anything having to do with race as quickly as he can. His fear is that that might open a Pandora's Box.\" — ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7a/shelby-steele-3370_barack_barack-obama-s-strategy-is-to-get-away-f_3187877.png" --- # Barack Obama's strategy is to get away from anything… ![“Barack Obama's strategy is to get away from anything having to do with race as quickly as he can. His fear is that that might open a Pandora's Box.” quote by Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7a/shelby-steele-3370_barack_barack-obama-s-strategy-is-to-get-away-f_3187877.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7a/shelby-steele-3370_barack_barack-obama-s-strategy-is-to-get-away-f_3187877.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7a/shelby-steele-3370_barack_barack-obama-s-strategy-is-to-get-away-f_3187877.png) > “Barack Obama's strategy is to get away from anything having to do with race as quickly as he can. His fear is that that might open a Pandora's Box.” [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Claims that Obama avoids race issues to prevent controversy, suggesting fear of triggering broader conflicts. **In simple terms:** Obama allegedly avoids race topics. Key Takeaway Consider the impact of avoiding difficult conversations. Themes politics race media strategy fear Mood cautious analytical Type political commentary When to use this quote - campaign speeches - media interviews - policy debates - community forums Key Concepts public perception conflict avoidance Questions to Reflect On - Is avoidance always fear? - What are the risks of confronting race? A Different Perspective May simplify complex motivations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Pandora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pandora/) [Pandora 's box](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pandora-s-box/) [Pandora's Box](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pandoras-box/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Strategy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strategy/) ## Related quotes > [Although it is tempting to imagine an ancient era innocent of biochemical weaponry, in fact this Pandora's box of horrors was opened thousands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-mayor/although-it-is-tempting-to-imagine-an-ancient-era-innocent-of/) Adrienne Mayor > [Human beings have the capacity to learn to want almost any conceivable material object. Given, then, the emergence of a modern industrial culture capable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-henry/human-beings-have-the-capacity-to-learn-to-want-almost-any/) [Jules Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-henry/) > [The reason so many intelligent and creative people suffer from depression is that when you take the risk of being fully conscious, you open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-redhill/the-reason-so-many-intelligent-and-creative-people-suffer-from/) [Michael Redhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-redhill/) > [In general, the nightmare quality of Marx's thought gives it, in this bedevilled age, an air of greater reality than the gentle complacency of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/in-general-the-nightmare-quality-of-marx-s-thought-gives-it-in-this/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [“Hope...which is whispered from Pandora's box only after all the other plagues and sorrows had escaped, is the best and last of all things.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/hope-which-is-whispered-from-pandora-s-box-only-after-all-the-other/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) > [The Pandora's box of unholiness is attempting to sing anything that Freddie Mercury ever sang.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hale-appleman/the-pandora-s-box-of-unholiness-is-attempting-to-sing-anything-that/) [Hale Appleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hale-appleman/) > [The various opinions of philosophers have scattered through the world as many plagues of the mind as Pandora's box did those of the body;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/the-various-opinions-of-philosophers-have-scattered-through-the-world/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [“Pandora's box had been opened and monsters had come out. But there had been something hidden at the bottom of Pandora's box. Something wonderful.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-marie-rice/pandora-s-box-had-been-opened-and-monsters-had-come-out-but-there-had/) [Lisa Marie Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-marie-rice/) > [Science fiction went through a period that was mostly object-oriented or inventions for distant galaxies.But when we cracked the genetic DNA code, opened the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/science-fiction-went-through-a-period-that-was-mostly-object-oriented/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I think talking about one's love life is always... It's a Pandora's box, best kept in journals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-caulfield/i-think-talking-about-one-s-love-life-is-always-it-s-a-pandora-s-box/) [Emma Caulfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-caulfield/) > [Ever since David Cameron took it on himself to prise open Pandora's box and call the E.U. referendum, the only thing that's been predictable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-miller/ever-since-david-cameron-took-it-on-himself-to-prise-open-pandora-s/) [Gina Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-miller/) > [Marriage brings up all the things I pushed to the back burner - the fears, the mistrust, the doubts, the insecurities. It's like opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-aniston/marriage-brings-up-all-the-things-i-pushed-to-the-back-burner-the/) [Jennifer Aniston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-aniston/) > [I feel strongly, because a man who will himself die one day in the not to distant future and, also, as a psychiatrist who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/i-feel-strongly-because-a-man-who-will-himself-die-one-day-in-the-not/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [It was said Daredevil grew up in Hell's Kitchen, an amazing name for a neighbourhood. But that opened a Pandora's box of all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-miller/it-was-said-daredevil-grew-up-in-hell-s-kitchen-an-amazing-name-for-a/) [Frank Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-miller/) > [By the way, pornography? It's a new synaptic pathway. You wake up in the morning, open a thumbnail page, and it leads to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mayer/by-the-way-pornography-it-s-a-new-synaptic-pathway-you-wake-up-in-the/) [John Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mayer/) ## More by Shelby Steele > [When blacks become humanly visible, when their true beliefs are known, their mask shatters and their symbiotic bond with whites is broken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/when-blacks-become-humanly-visible-when-their-true-beliefs-are-known/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [I alienated myself from the academic world almost entirely because it's a left-wing world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/i-alienated-myself-from-the-academic-world-almost-entirely-because-it/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Freedom is just freedom. It is a condition, not an agent of change. It does not develop or uplift those who win it. Freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/freedom-is-just-freedom-it-is-a-condition-not-an-agent-of-change-it/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [In Vietnam, America fought one whose communism was driven by an underlying nationalism, the desire to live free of the West. Whatever one may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/in-vietnam-america-fought-one-whose-communism-was-driven-by-an/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Our great presidents have been stewards, men who broadly identified with the whole of America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/our-great-presidents-have-been-stewards-men-who-broadly-identified/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [No doubt Israel and America have made mistakes in the Middle East. Certainly, Israel was born at the price of considerable dislocation and suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/no-doubt-israel-and-america-have-made-mistakes-in-the-middle-east/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [And if you want to make many of our black leaders angry, just tell them that racism is not the number problem that black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/and-if-you-want-to-make-many-of-our-black-leaders-angry-just-tell/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Thomas Sowell, among many others, has articulated the power of individual responsibility as an antidote to black poverty for over 40 years. Black thinkers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/thomas-sowell-among-many-others-has-articulated-the-power-of/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton cannot write a timeless letter to us from a Birmingham jail or walk, as John Lewis did in 1965,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/jesse-jackson-and-al-sharpton-cannot-write-a-timeless-letter-to-us/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [My father bought three ramshackle houses, rebuilt them, rented them out, kept clawing his way up the ladder. A man with a third grade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/my-father-bought-three-ramshackle-houses-rebuilt-them-rented-them-out/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Whatever I'm doing, I try to write well. I try to give the reader a nice, clean well-written surface, where the writing is transparent.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/whatever-i-m-doing-i-try-to-write-well-i-try-to-give-the-reader-a/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [We have laws on the books. If somebody's discriminating against you, I strongly advocate suing them. That's the most effective thing you can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/we-have-laws-on-the-books-if-somebody-s-discriminating-against-you-i/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [The first thing I ever heard about Barack Obama was that he had a white mother and a black father. Interestingly, the person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/the-first-thing-i-ever-heard-about-barack-obama-was-that-he-had-a/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Racism is endemic to the human condition, just as stupidity is. We will always have to be on guard against it. But now it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/racism-is-endemic-to-the-human-condition-just-as-stupidity-is-we-will/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Without an ugly America to loathe, there is no automatic esteem to receive. Thus liberalism's unrelenting current of anti-Americanism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/without-an-ugly-america-to-loathe-there-is-no-automatic-esteem-to/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) [Explore all 132 Shelby Steele quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) ## More Barack quotes > [ I can't imagine that I would be asked that by the president-elect \[Donald Trump\], or then-president \[Barack Obama\]. But it's - I'm very clear.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mattis/i-can-t-imagine-that-i-would-be-asked-that-by-the-president-elect/) [James Mattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mattis/) > [We know the candidate Barack Obama, what he was like - the anti-war government nig... America was a source for division around the world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-santorum/we-know-the-candidate-barack-obama-what-he-was-like-the-anti-war/) [Rick Santorum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-santorum/) > [We're in more wars today under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton than under George W. Bush or Ronald Reagan. Yet they tell you that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/we-re-in-more-wars-today-under-barack-obama-and-hillary-clinton-than/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [I can tell you who's planning terroris attacks. The leaders of ISIL. And I can tell you where they're at. They're in Raqqa, Syria.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/i-can-tell-you-who-s-planning-terroris-attacks-the-leaders-of-isil/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) > [ The president \[Barack Obama\] asked for a commitment of, I think, 100,000 jobs for veterans and military spouses over the next couple of years.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-obama/the-president-barack-obama-asked-for-a-commitment-of-i-think-100-000/) [Michelle Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-obama/) > [The big story today, Barack Obama was accused of insulting Sarah Palin when he criticized Republican policies by saying, you can put lipstick on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-o-brien/the-big-story-today-barack-obama-was-accused-of-insulting-sarah-palin/) [Conan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-o-brien/) > [ I think the president's \[Barack Obama\] position has been very clear on Syria. He wants more aggressive, he's put the Special Ops on the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-williams/i-think-the-president-s-barack-obama-position-has-been-very-clear-on/) [Juan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-williams/) > [ It cannot be an American fight. And I think what the president \[Barack Obama\] has consistently said - which I agree with - is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/it-cannot-be-an-american-fight-and-i-think-what-the-president-barack/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [It doesn't matter to me where Barack Obama goes. If he wants to go to Hawaii because it's his home state, fine! Hunky-dory. Plastic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/it-doesn-t-matter-to-me-where-barack-obama-goes-if-he-wants-to-go-to/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [ It wasn't \[Barack\] Obama per se; it was the feeling on the ground; it was seeing an old black woman in a wheelchair being… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/it-wasn-t-barack-obama-per-se-it-was-the-feeling-on-the-ground-it-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I don't think that we really know a whole lot about Barack Obama at all that you would really call distinctive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-h-mcwhorter/i-don-t-think-that-we-really-know-a-whole-lot-about-barack-obama-at/) [John H. McWhorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-h-mcwhorter/) > [Just like Barack Obama, my views on gay marriage have evolved, and now I am a reluctant groom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/just-like-barack-obama-my-views-on-gay-marriage-have-evolved-and-now/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [I think President Barack Obama has been an extraordinarily successful president, and that this period will record that with a bunch of exclamation points.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cass-sunstein/i-think-president-barack-obama-has-been-an-extraordinarily-successful/) [Cass Sunstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cass-sunstein/) > [The archives recall not one single incriminating incident, not one drunken escapade, not one reported affair, not one spat with a team-mate or reporter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-atherton/the-archives-recall-not-one-single-incriminating-incident-not-one/) Michael Atherton > [In public, Barack Obama's giving the simple version of his beliefs for the mass public. In private, he can discuss it at a really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-chait/in-public-barack-obama-s-giving-the-simple-version-of-his-beliefs-for/) [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) Browse all 1,672 Barack quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Barack Obama's strategy is to get away from anything having to do with race as quickly as he can. 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