Obama: "Don't Worry Mom, I'm a Well-mannered Young Black Man!"

From the Times Online:

Early on in his book, Dreams From My Father, Mr Obama tries to reassure his mother during his senior year in high school when his grades were slipping and he was falling into what seemed to her bad company:

“I had given her a reassuring smile and patted her hand and told her not to worry, I wouldn’t do anything stupid. It was usually an effective tactic, another one of those tricks I had learned: people were satisfied so long as you were courteous and smiled and made no sudden moves. They were more than satisfied – they were relieved – such a pleasant surprise to find a well-mannered young black man who didn’t seem angry all the time".

Neat trick! I'm sure Obama's bigoted mother must have been pleasantly surprised, indeed!