Little Barack and his parentsIf I were running for President of the United States right now, would I be electible? If what I think I heard on CNN is true, the answer would be "NO". You see, both of my parents were African-American and I'm considered a little "rough around the edges" for some whites (though, not all... some of my best friends are white).
Three pundits, two black and one white, were saying that Barack Obama's multi-racial heritage is what was "getting him over" with a lot of white voters. They said that, while whites realize that he is black, he's not THAT black. I was about to go to sleep but, when I heard this, I perked up. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was a black pundit who said this, not the token white pundit.
Three pundits, two black and one white, were saying that Barack Obama's multi-racial heritage is what was "getting him over" with a lot of white voters. They said that, while whites realize that he is black, he's not THAT black. I was about to go to sleep but, when I heard this, I perked up. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was a black pundit who said this, not the token white pundit.
Barack and his paternal grandmotherThe other brother (and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here) said, what Barack and Dr. King had in common was that they were not perceived as "angry blacks" and that white people felt safer around them. Apparently, neither one of these guys were alive when Dr. King was living. Dr. King was perceived as a "trouble-maker" amongst the very whites they were talking about... those without a high school education, who more than likely voted for Hillary Clinton and now might vote for John McCain. (In 1968, they would've voted for Richard Nixon or George Wallace.)
It's history stupid... history. The white pundit said, the problem other white voters had with Obama is that he is "cocky" and wasn't waiting "his turn". His Turn? What is that supposed to mean? Whether one likes Obama or not isn't what I'm talking about here. Why is it that a black man has to wait "his turn"? Does anyone ever ask any of the other candidates to "wait their turn?" and when is this turn supposed to come around anyway?
Barack and his maternal grandparents
I swear, I thought I was watching Fox News for a minute. Does anyone ever accuse any of the other candidates of being too Catholic, too Jewish, too Presbyterian, or too Gay? So, why does a candidate who is of color only become acceptable to the larger population only when he is of mixed racial heritage?
I'll stop my ranting here because these were only the opinions of these three men. It doesn't necessarily have to be the viewpoint of all those people who vote. I just thought what they were saying was way off base. I halfway expected one of them to say, "Boy, that Obama sho is a credit to his race. Yass-suh, he sho is."
3 comments:
Great post Keith, we all have to learn to ignore the ignorance and vote with our hearts, minds and future!
I guess I'm too emotional then.
There will always be someone to make you more than you want to be. "Too caring", "Too loving", "Too normal", "Too legit to quit". :)
You get my point don't you?
Barry is in store for a rough 5 months. Let's pray for him. I know that he's gonna win, but it will not be without a fight.
Ok… Ok… Ok… the sad thing is Keith there are still blacks who think Obama isn’t black enough. You know I am like what? Huh?
Yes I was out on a date and the guy I was with told me he still wasn’t sure if B-Rock was black enough for him. I looked at him and said this. Well anytime I see a man with his heritage and credentials head to the South Side of Chicago and pick a wife like Michelle…I’m gonna say he’s black enough.
And what I meant by that is that Obama could have easily chosen a talented tenth, passing among the majority turn to his life. He grew up in Hawaii, went to Columbia and graduated from Harvard. He could have easily gotten a job at some cushy law firm married him a non-black woman and declared him self Kenyakansamerican and eased his debt of blackness by writing an annual check to the Urban League or NAACP, but instead he went to be among what he considers to be HIS people and organized and listened and learned. He self-identifies as black, not biracial and he married him a SISTER!! Sounds like he’s black to me. Man even if he didn’t do all this he would still be black. But I do chuckle at how many view him as black light both black and white. I have a real good friend who is mixed and she usta call herself the gateway of dating. She said that she often was the last stop for black men who ventured into dating white women and white men who venture into dating black women.
Does that make Obama our gateway candidate as well….Obama: Not that blacker!!
The pathology of our people sometimes it makes me shake my head in bewilderment!
Good post I feel you on this.
-OG
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