Thread: 'Tis A Good Week To Be Black

BTW just to point out the obvious, or perhaps not so obvious...
Barak Hussian Obama is 1/2 white and 1/2 black
But isn't it funny that you all chose to call him the first "Black" president....

I find that very telling!!!!
I am sure his Mother is sooooo proud to see that her half of the family tree is being ignored....

Originally Posted by maplemaker

I can honestly say I don't know a single anti-Obama voter personally who mentioned his color at all. All the discussions we've had at work had to do with liberty and socialism.

I totally agree... except for the work discussion part. Most of the political discussions I've been involved in are outside of work. I don't see race being a part of it at all. Maybe it's my locale.

Originally Posted by ragnost

Maybe I’m just being thick but was Mr Obama born in Africa which would make him African? ]

Nope. Born in Hawaii. There's a tin foil hat crowd that believes otherwise, but unless the birth certificate Hawaii produced is a forgery, he's a native-born citizen.

I'm still wondering why the media is being so hush-hush on the exit polling results showing that more than 9 out of 10 blacks who voted voted for Obama. If whites voted like that McCain would have won in a landslide. I understand Obama is the first that many blacks will feel are qualified to represent them, but what does that say for being colorblind? Or is the nation still as racially divided as it seems?

Originally Posted by ScottS

Nope. Born in Hawaii. There's a tin foil hat crowd that believes otherwise, but unless the birth certificate Hawaii produced is a forgery, he's a native-born citizen.

did Hawaii produce one, or do you refer to the certificate of live birth?

America is different than most of the nations on earth: you can come here, become a citizen, and call yourself an American, regardless of your ethnic background (this may apply to Canada too...Canadians, is this the case?) and no one will say different. That is why the comments during the campaign alluding to there being a "real America" were so viscerally offensive. I could not go to Belgium, get citizenship, and call myself a Belgian, as that word carries ethnic/genetic connotations (versus saying I am a Belgian citizen)...same with France, England, Brazil, Russia, China, etc.

Without digressing into Webster's, I am sure that there were voters who selected Obama because of his racial background; others, like myself, in part for some of his objectives, in part as a vote against the objectives of his opponents. The fact he is black was not even in the top 5 reasons I voted for him.

That is why I believe that a vote is like a religion - it is yours and to you it is correct, but you do not have the right to force it upon another.

My ethnic background is German (from Hannover), Danish (from Sonderborg), English (from New Romney and Cranbrook in Kent), Irish (still looking), but I consider myself an American (no hyphens please). I also understand the perspective from which Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans view the nation - for centuries, on the outside, looking in; thus it would be erroneous to discount the affect race played in their decisions.

Those who voted for him solely because of his race made a decision no better informed than those who voted against him for the same reason. I cannot say that their vote was "wrong", only ill-informed, and that there are other issues just as important facing the nation. However, the vote is theirs, and like free speech, I do not have to agree with it to defend their right to express it.

As for "'Tis a good day to be Black", in the author's words I see only pride in being part of a significant portion of Americans, in a monumental achievement brought into being by a majority of voting Americans (again, no hyphens please), with special significance for Black Americans and their achievements as part of the fabric of the American nation. I cannot begrudge him his world view - I have not walked in his shoes.

With this election, it is also good to be a Germano-Anglo-Celt, but even better, it is a great day to be an American.

What has upset me is the concentration that European press has made of the issue. All over the radio, TV and newspapers are headlines of 'Americas first black president'. Suddenly it seems that everything else is forgotten. Forgive me for bringing this up Silver but it is something that makes me ashamed to be associated with a country where the press would focus on this. Perhaps it was always going to be an issue, but that doesnt make it any more excusable.

Originally Posted by sidneykidney

What has upset me is the concentration that European press has made of the issue. All over the radio, TV and newspapers are headlines of 'Americas first black president'. Suddenly it seems that everything else is forgotten. Forgive me for bringing this up Silver but it is something that makes me ashamed to be associated with a country where the press would focus on this. Perhaps it was always going to be an issue, but that doesnt make it any more excusable.

What you folks seem to be missing is that for the first time in the history of this great nation, someone other than a white man has been elected to our highest office. The fact that he is half white would not allow him to eat at a whites only lunch counter in the Jim Crow south. The fact that he is half white did not and will not stop the white supremists from plotting his assasination. Regardless of how good a leader Mr. Obama is, first he will be seen as a black man by both the people who hate him and the people who identify with him.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

BTW just to point out the obvious, or perhaps not so obvious...
Barak Hussian Obama is 1/2 white and 1/2 black
But isn't it funny that you all chose to call him the first "Black" president....

I find that very telling!!!!
I am sure his Mother is sooooo proud to see that her half of the family tree is being ignored....

Yep, that's 'labeling' for you, there's no logic or rationality to it.

I'm mixed race. So, according to rational argument, I'm neither white nor yellow, and I'm both white and yellow in equal measure.

Except, in Hong Kong the locals called me a 'ghost' (derogatory term for the white man) and in the UK I've been called a Chink.

I married a Jew. My kids are therefore Jewish. Yet the Orthodox would have a problem with that description, and in Nazi Germany they would have been made to put a pencil in their hair, shake their head, and if the pencil stayed in (tight curly hair being a trait), they'd be classed Jewish and shipped off to the camps.

50-50 or not, lables do not follow such prescribed logic.

I think it's reasonable to describe Obama as black. I don't think any right-thinking person is going to disagree. You can try to rationalise it anyway you like, but I reckon 99 out of 100 people will feel comfortable describing him as black.

As I said, there's no logic in labels, but we all use them. To me, Obama is black. That's great, given the history of persecution and slavery. But in my mind the fact that he's the first balck president is not as important as the fact that he was the right choice for a whole load of other reasons. (My opinion, of course.)

Sorry Brad but he will be seen as black because that is what he has labeled himself as.

Originally Posted by majurey

Yep, that's 'labeling' for you, there's no logic or rationality to it.

I'm mixed race. So, according to rational argument, I'm neither white nor yellow, and I'm both white and yellow in equal measure.

Except, in Hong Kong the locals called me a 'ghost' (derogatory term for the white man) and in the UK I've been called a Chink.

I married a Jew. My kids are therefore Jewish. Yet the Orthodox would have a problem with that description, and in Nazi Germany they would have been made to put a pencil in their hair, shake their head, and if the pencil stayed in (tight curly hair being a trait), they'd be classed Jewish and shipped off to the camps.

50-50 or not, lables do not follow such prescribed logic.

I think it's reasonable to describe Obama as black. I don't think any right-thinking person is going to disagree. You can try to rationalise it anyway you like, but I reckon 99 out of 100 people will feel comfortable describing him as black.

As I said, there's no logic in labels, but we all use them. To me, Obama is black. That's great, given the history of persecution and slavery. But in my mind the fact that he's the first balck president is not as important as the fact that he was the right choice for a whole load of other reasons. (My opinion, of course.)

In this country the defining line had been drawn by those in power. It was called the "one drop law" meaning if a person had one single drop of negro blood in his family tree, he was considered by law to be a negro and by law he was denied access to those things that were designated as "for whites". Barack Obama may be technically mulatto but he is by many more standards a "black man".