Is Obama black enough? (The Guardian, London)

[Apollo11]

In The Guardian, Black British journalist Gary Younge asks if Barack Obama is really an African-American.

Is Obama black enough?

The Guardian, March 1, 2007

The Democratic hopeful Barack Obama could become the US's first black president. Yet, with his mixed-race background, Ivy League education and midwestern accent, one of his greatest challenges has been convincing African-Americans that he is 'one of us'. Gary Younge reports

(...)

"African-American" and "black" have been used interchangeably in the US to such an extent that they are regarded as synonymous. They are not. African-American, a term which entered regular usage in the late 80s, refers to a particular ethnic experience of black Americans of African descent. Black refers simply to Americans of African descent, which includes black immigrants from the Caribbean, Africa and Latin and South America. All African-Americans are black; but not all black Americans are African-American.

(...)

There is - or should be - no debate about whether Obama is a black American. He is also, without doubt, a Kenyan-American. But the question of whether he is African-American or not remains hostage to interpretation.

Maybe I am naive, but surely the point is that all Americans are equal. There's no such thing as being "half American". So all Americans of African descent are "African-American". All Americans of Italian descent are "Italian-American". To me it describes your family roots and your sense of self-identity. How are we supposed to measure "a particular ethnic experience" that happened several generations in the past?

It's a biological fact that each of us has 8 great-grandparents and 16 great-great-grandparents. So for most people you are not going to be 100% of one specific identity. People should be allowed to choose for themselves which label they feel comfortable with wearing (or not).

If he lived in England, many people (and the mainstream media) would say that Barack Obama is "mixed race". I don't know what he would think about being labelled in this way.

You can read the whole article here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2023808,00.html

You can also e-mail the writer here: [e-mail]

[daveskilt]

1. back home "african american" is always a wierd sounding thing

In Britain we have so many people from so many places identifying someone by continent of origin is just silly. I went to school with kenyans, nigerians, Zimbabweans etc...I would never of thought of anyone as african british or even african.

african american refers to an experience and tradition that comes from slavery and from not knowing which part of africa ones ancestors came from.

[Demeter]

2. America Is A Very Weird Place

I grew up in Detroit, where people of color whose families had been here at least 100 years longer than mine were plentiful. I've met African immigrants, too. With each of these "groups" I shared some common background, but those two groups have very little other than color in common. The milieu of their upbringing, education, goals, so very different--and all of us still aspire to the American dream.

You can find anything you are looking for in America (escept enough votes to impeach!)