President Obama
THZ Photo Library

President Barack Obama joined the podcast “WTF with Marc Maron” today, June 22, 2015, to weigh in on the national debate regarding race relations and gun control that has been reopened after the Charleston shooting, at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

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

Some news broadcast stations have reportedly bleeped the President’s use of the “n-word.”

Obama used the n-word to emphasize the reality of racism in America. He also added that while progress has been made since his childhood days, slavery in the United States still “casts a long shadow and that’s still part of our DNA.”

“It’s not enough just to feel bad. There are actions that could be taken to make events like this less likely. One of those actions we could take would be to enhance some basic common sense gun safety laws,” Obama said.

In addition, Obama laments Congress’s lack of action on gun control and said “Unfortunately, the grip of the NRA on Congress is extremely strong. I don’t foresee any legislative action being taken in this Congress.”