Sen. Barack Hussein Obama
I do have a number of issues with him, as a presidential candidate. He is "young". And inexperienced. I have never seen either as innate advantages in leadership positions. He is an unknown to me still. I am not clear how he falls on various issues. As I am unreligious, his piety doesn't offer me comfort, nor has it made him unacceptable.
I just don't know enough yet. That is his flaw. But he can change my mind.
Unfortunately, for some that is the least of his troubles.
Tucker Carlson, has, as previously mentioned, called his church, and therefore his piety, too Black. And also seems to, in turn, think him unchristian.
But for others this man is just not black enough. For others, like Debra Dickerson, he isn't even Black. She appeared on The Colbert Report recently and asserted to the world that his family history disqualified him from being BLACK.
You see Obama's mom is a Caucasian from Kansas and his dad's black from Kenya. But seeing as his dad is from a part of Africa that was not preyed upon by slavers trading in America, he can't be Black. This making any sense?
Apparently it has been decided, that people who don't have ancestors who were slaves in the 18th century...are not actually Black. Apparently the term Black has NOTHING to do with skin color, or a basic connection to Africa.
Who made this decision? Who has the authority to make this classification even?
If Obama had been coming of age in the 1950's, he would be forced to the back of the bus, with the real Black people. He would face the segregation laws, not be allowed in certain schools, restaurants, and bathrooms.
But the rule is in the book, I guess. What can we do about that?
This attitude is really disturbing and not new at all. With all the issues black activist look to face, with all the conflicts that are decried, this juvenile and down right insulting definition points to a very serious problem. Why go dismiss, deny, and turn on members of the community? Though to some these people don't count anyway.
What a waste. What narrow mindedness. The history of Blacks in this country is a long AND diverse one. Their have been descendants of slaves, but also immigrants of all sorts. And these "others", have faced the same persecution, threats, and abuse. But they also received more abuse from those that should have allied themselves to them. It is a shame.
I do truly feel sorry for this country if their is a sizable segment of the Black community who would vote against Obama for his heritage. I hope that if he is not the general choice of this group, it will be for any of a multitude of other reasons. Not bigotry.
In the Daily Kos article quoted previously, they continued on looking at how this is not an issue limited to Obama, but is a smear thrown at many candidates.
This isn't the first time Obama has had to deal with questions about his political-racial purity. During his first run for Congress in 2000, his opponent, incumbent Representative Bobby Rush, employed a well-worn tactic among entrenched Black incumbents: He suggested that his opponent wasn't "Black enough" to represent the voters of the district. Rush won and Obama continued to serve in the state senate.
Other Black candidates have used this unseemly tactic against fellow African Americans. Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry used it against Patricia Roberts Harris in his successful 1982 reelection campaign. Congressman Earl Hilliard tried it also, albeit unsuccessfully, in his 2002 race against Artur Davis. This "Blacker-than-thou" politics plays on social class, is fraught with danger, and is the unfortunate by-product of the quest to keep power and influence by any means. While unfortunate, it is no surprise that questions are now being asked about Obama.
This call for, in essence, purity of the whole, is a silent continuing threat to Black society. Not addressing and facing it, is an unhealthy choice.
And how can it still be afforded in this day and age. And afforded with such pride.
On Huffington Post they have more.
Of course, there are some Black leaders who are turned off by Obama's educational pedigree and multi-racial background and, thusly, don't think he can aggressively represent Black interests. For them, Columbia and Harvard universities are not the stuff of "real" Blacks.
It is a concern to many that Obama may not be able to nail down the Black communities support. But if it comes down to this, it is...
I'll close with one more of the petty and ridiculous tarring that Obama is forced to deal with. From MyDD, Matt Stoller, looks at a reporter who seems upset with Obama.
Now, Obama's about to endure a going-over that would make a proctologist blush. Why has he sometimes said his first name is Arabic, and other times Swahili?
How suspicious! The answer, as both Brad Delong and The Poorman note, is that Swahili and Arabic are extremely similar languages because of millenia of trade between East Africa and the Middle East. Delong writes, ""Barack" is both a Swahili word meaning "blessed by God" and an Arabic word meaning "blessed.""
Obama / Bin Laden
Barack Hussein / Saddam Hussein
Barack - Swahili / Arabic
madrasa / public school
And on it goes. Whether it is purposeful, or ignorance, it continues. Obama has an odd name, he has some tie to Islam, and he has lived places we have never been, with names we may not be able to pronounce. The fact the media is happy to jump into and then embrace the fear and paranoia is damning of them.
How dare they buy into the fear mongering for a moment. They need to grow up. They are embarrassing.
There are many people in this country that need to grow up. It is all just embarassging.
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