Viewpoint: Obama IS black

[dipsydoodle]

Is Obama black? It depends on who - and when - you ask.

For some of us, the heralding of Barack Obama as the first black president of the United States seems a rather uncontroversial claim.

Obama isn't black. 'Black,' in our political and social reality, means those descended from West African slaves
Debra Dickerson

Ergo, he is not black - at all.

The bulk of the people protesting against references to Obama as a black man, however, grant that he is "part" black (by way of his father), but assert that because he also has a white mother it is not "accurate" to call him black. He he is "in fact" mixed-race, they say.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/us_elections_2008/7735503.stm

I've posted this because I though it might be of interest to some. Your terminolgy and usage of words and expressions differs from ours in the UK and so the article could not have been written here in the way its expressed.

[tekisui]

1. He self-identifies as black,

so I accept that terminology.

[dipsydoodle]

3. That is an excellent way

to define the situation accurately.:thumbsup:

[baldguy]

2. Just try to hail a cab with a face like his.

[Brazenly Liberal]

4. Well, there are a couple things going on here

For one, as tekisui says, he self-identifies as black and the respectful thing to do is to honor that.

But also we in the US don't require someone to be the descendant of West African slaves to call them black. Not only do we include a much broader population, we haven't yet completely uprooted and killed the old One Drop Rule, whereby any trace of African ancestry is sufficient to label a man black and discriminate against him.

Race is a complex issue here with little to be proud of. I never thought we'd elect a black man President in my lifetime. My heart swells and the tears well up every time I think about it. For those of us old enough to remember the civil rights struggles of the 50's and 60's, this is an immeasurably powerful moment in history.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. In America, African Americans aren't the only ones labeled

"black". It has been discovered via DNA testing that some people who have been called black all their lives were, in fact, descended from Native Americans and southern Europeans.

I used to work for a company that had a worker who was part Sicilian and part Cherokee. He was on a service call to the house that we later found out was the home of some KKK folks. They took one look at him and told him to pack up and leave. Too bad, because he was one of the best pest control operators in the area. Personally, we at the company hoped that they never got rid of their cockroaches.

Racists are ignorant fools.

[Kashka-Kat]

6. By historical LEGAL definitions - he's black

Historically in the US "one drop of African blood" was enough to label someone - BY LAW - as black, aka african american (or some of the old offensive archaic words). Which meant that all the old legal segregation laws applied to them.

Unless they could pass for white which some did. One look at Barak and you know he would never pass for white and by all the historic legal definitions he would be considered black.. regardless of who his father was or where he came from.

These segregation laws were on the books till relatively recently, within living memory of many.

In 50 years ... heck maybe even sooner... as people intermingle and intermarry throughout the world it won't matter, but now it still does. We'll probaby have different criteria for discriminating against people then but for now like it or not we still have these racial constructs.

This has got to be one of the silliest, most pointless arguments by the right wingers I've heard yet.

[Igel]

13. The point isn't subtle.

The op-ed piece is from Britain. The writer is talking about British usage of the word.

You're talking American usage of the word.

Really: different dialects have different word usages.

[kwassa]

7. Obama doesn't have the traditional African-American experience

though he is quite literally "African-American" he has not grown up with the descendents of black slaves who make up what we call African-American in this country. His life experience is different, though he seemed to pick up much more of that experience later in life as a community organizer in Chicago and living in black Chicago. He had to go looking for it.

The entire article is good and I recommend it; the thesis of the author is that Obama is both black and multi-racial.

[Karenina]

9. He MARRIED a Black Woman.

THAT is the theme bouncing around with us "over-achieving," lettered, also got bi-racial kids of whatever relation, been there, done that black women. "Fineys" like Barack mostly shun us like the plague and do the Tiger Thang. Hmmm...

[kwassa]

10. Indeed he did.

I'm not sure that I got your point, though. Obviously, Michelle has the classically AfAm experience.

[Karenina]

11. BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Kwassa, Du liebling, there are things we discuss amongst ourselves, that includes you. You KNOW that! :spank:

[Fearless]

8. When it comes down to it... Who cares what color he is?

This is not the point. It's a story of cans versus cannots and finally a cannot (of any group) has proven that it is possible to succeed to the most powerful office in the nation.

[dtotire]

12. I didn't know that. Thanks for the information n/t