Toni Morrison On Calling Bill Clinton The First Black President And Endorsing Obama

From a new Time magazine interview with Toni Morrison:

Do you regret referring to Bill Clinton as the first black President? --Justin Dews, Cambridge, Mass.

People misunderstood that phrase. I was deploring the way in which President Clinton was being treated, vis-à-vis the sex scandal that was surrounding him. I said he was being treated like a black on the street, already guilty, already a perp. I have no idea what his real instincts are, in terms of race.

Why did you endorse Barack Obama for the presidency? --Chris Francis Lightbourne, Long Island, N.Y.

I thought about voting for Hillary at the beginning. I don't care that she is a woman. I need more than that. Neither his race, his gender, her race or her gender was enough. I needed something else, and the something else was his wisdom.