Honolulu resident Madelyn Dunham was the maternal grandmother of presidential candidate Barack Obama. On November 3, 2008, Obama and his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng announced that Dunham had died after a long battle with cancer.Washington Post: Obama's Grandmother Dies (November 3, 2008)
In late October, Dunham had fallen ill and suffered a broken hip.*The Huffington Post: Obama's Grandmother Has Broken Hip (October 21, 2008) Obama suspended his campaign at that time to be with her.Reuters: Obama to visit sick grandmother in Hawaii (October 20, 2008)
Statement from the Family
"It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer. She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility.""—Joint statement, Barack Obama and Maya Soetoro-Ng.Reuters: Obama's grandmother dies of cancer in Hawaii (November 3, 2008)
Background
Dunham raised Obama from the age of 10, while his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, worked as an anthropologist and activist around the world. Dunham has not spoken with the press since 2004, soon after Obama's keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Her husband, Obama's grandfather Stanley Armour Dunham, died in 1992.
Controversy
Obama sparked some controversy in March of 2008 while citing some of his grandmother's behavior as an example of white prejudice. The following is the quote that generated criticism:
- "[It's] not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person who, uh, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know, there's a reaction that's been been bred into our experiences that... sometimes [comes] out in the wrong way and that's just the nature of race in our society."New York Daily News: Obama: 'good people' still hold racial stereotypes (March 21, 2008)
