With Regard to Reids "Light-skinned...No Negro Dialect" Comment

[Bullet1987]

A few things need to be acknowledged about the rise of Barack Obama that deal with the issue of race. I've always believed that a major reason Obama has ever even been given the time of day by some people is that...

1. He's NOT dark-skinned. America has historically had a bias against dark-skinned people. Of course, this is less an issue now than it was a long time ago. But Reid's comments show that just because something isn't acknowledged in public doesn't mean certain folks don't still feel or think a certain way.

2. His Origins. Let's face it, Obama was raised by his white Grandparents. It's not something I've ever cared about...but I'm sure it's soothed the minds of some of his elite supporters and certain voters that he wasn't raised in a predominantly Black enviroment (possibly making him more sensitive to their wants and ideas). He didn't grow up in an inner city, etc.

Ask yourselves this. Would Obama have been given the time of day if he were born in say...Harlem and raised by his African relatives (if they lived here...it's hypothetical). You can also see the abhorrance held by some for Black influences in Obama with the overreaction to the fist bump. Of course, it's become somewhat of a joke to make a big deal about something like that (Michelle went on The View and laughed as she did it...and Obama has done it since the fake controversy as well), but there was still a negative reaction. And then of course we have the attack on Black churches that occured during the campaign. There was such a fear that Obama might "think like a Black man." Were Wright's comments insensitive? Yes. But it's wrong to project one man's views on another...unless you have evidence that Obama believes that. Which there is none. The fact that Obama went there for 20 years is NOT evidence. No offense, but many white people fail to acknowledge the impact oppression has had on the way SOME Black people view this country. There are still many Blacks alive that lived through Jim Crow...the hoses, and the dogs. Institutionalized racism was GOVERNMENT POLICY up until the 60s! Have many moved past all that? Yea. But old wounds never fully go away and with the way FOX News was acting towards Obama during the campaign...it's not hard to bring the anger out of a Black person over what they will almost ALWAYS view as racism. Whether or not you agree is not the point. They view it that way because THEY'RE the ones with the cultural history of being the victims of it...not the other way around. I've gone off topic a little. But yea...lol.