An angry Haitian-American addresses the question, "Is Obama black enough"?

[DeepModem Mom]

WP op-ed: Black Like Me?
Those Asking if Barack Obama Is 'Black Enough' Are Asking the Wrong Question
By Marjorie Valbrun
Friday, February 16, 2007; Page A23


(By Dennis Cook -- Associated Press)

What does it mean to be black, and who is the arbiter of authentic blackness? As Sen. Barack Obama's "blackness" has increasingly been discussed on black-oriented radio shows, at political conferences and on Sunday morning news shows, I've grown more dismayed by the day.

The discourse, occurring mostly among black people, has been dominated by questions about Obama's being biracial, his immigrant father and his suitability as a presidential candidate, given that his life story doesn't parallel that of most blacks born in the United States. Some have implied that only a black candidate whose ancestors were slaves here or who have themselves experienced the trauma of this country's racial history can truly understand what it means to be black in America and represent the political interests of black Americans.

This is a narrow-minded and divisive notion. At a time when blacks living in this country, whether by birth or by choice, should be harnessing their collective political clout to empower all black people, we're wasting time debating which of us are truly black.

As a black immigrant and a Haitian-American who has lived in the country for 37 years, I know how it feels to have my blackness challenged by native-born blacks.

It makes me angry. I'm angry for Obama, too. People are asking whether he's black enough to represent them. I ask, black enough by whose standards? Why must Obama's life follow the same track of "authentic" black folk to pass this litmus test?...

(Marjorie Valbrun, a journalist in Washington, is writing a book about the Haitian immigrant experience.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/15/AR2007021501270.html?nav=hcmodule

[Fire Walk With Me]

1. I'd vote for batchild if he'd get BushCo out of the White House.

Race is an issue that requires attention and justice and equalization, but removing the squatters is the most important thing.

[Bucky]

23. Me too, but I think we need to ask is he bat enough?

Bat Like Me?

[quiet.american]

2. Absolutely agree. These same people, though, will celebrate Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell.

No one's asking if they're "black enough." The whole premise is childish and insulting.

[Frances]

3. I don't think you are being fair to native born blacks

I really like Obama and will support him whole heartedly if he wins the primary.

I think that that the same percentage of blacks who supported Bill Clinton will support Obama if he wins the primary.

But I've heard native born blacks talk with immigrant blacks. Their experiences with Amererica are very different. That's a fact.

[pagam]

5. Obama is native born.

Biracial children do not get to decide which race they want to be. I have 2 bi-racial kids. they have always been considered black, or bi-racial, never white.

[pnwmom]

7. It's funny how many people don't seem to know that

Hawaii is a state. I've read about Obama time and again that he wasn't born "in the states."

[quiet.american]

9. You're absolutely right. If he was not born in the States, he couldn't run for president. n/t

[quiet.american]

6. I'm not talking from a perspective outside being black.

I'm African-American, with an African-born father, an American-born mother, also with a West Indian-born stepfather, and sisters who are West Indian-American. So I think I thoroughly know the parameters of this "conversation"; instead of addressing the real issue of what Obama can substantively bring to the White House, it's a distraction that is very silly and insulting on certain levels, even if it is originating from inside the black community.

[pagam]

4. Divide & Conquer

the right wing started questioning Obama's "blackness" in order to plant a seed in the mind of the sheeple. White people do not get to define "blackness" Obama better address this issue head on and soon.

[quiet.american]

8. Bingo. n/t

[beaconess]

12. You're exactly right

The media will seize on a handful of blacks who say something critical or disparaging about another black and blow up it up into something that is supposedly representative of the views of "the black community." Yet, they wouldn't think of reporting these same folks' views on any other issue.

For example, does anyone know what Bill Cosby thinks about the Iraq War? Or George W. Bush? Or tax cuts for the wealthy? Or Universal Health Care? Of course not. The media never gave him the time of day to air his views about any of these issues. But the minute he said something critical about black folk, the press and pundits fell all over themselves to broadcast, replicate and analyze his comments far and wide. They then dragged black people out from the woodwork and stuck them on television to "debate" with one another whether Bill Cosby was right. About the only time you ever see black people on any of these programs is when they're invited on to talk about comments another black person made. And the only time you see more than one black person on any of these shows at the same time is when they're on "debating" each other whether a third black person was right or wrong. Colored wrestling matches for the amusement of white folk.

The latest discussion about Obama's racial bona fides is a perfect case in point. The people on Tavis Smiley's forum who were mentioned in this piece are all very intelligent, interesting, provacative commentators, who are experts on all manner of topics - from economics to sociology to legal issues to government policy and on and on. But you'll rarely, if ever, see them consulted by the media on any of these issues. But let one or two of them ask whether Obama is "black enough" or criticize him for not coming to the event, and suddenly their views get national airplay. Funny, the same people who are trumpeting the fact that a couple of participants criticize Obama haven't said a word about anything else discussed by the dozens of commentators in the 7-hour program.

I call bullshit.

[Karenina]

14. Dearest Beaconess

I LOVE YOU!!! :loveya:

[beaconess]

18. I love you, too!

:loveya:
:pals:

[Eurobabe]

16. The cons are really afraid of Obamarama

I wonder if the GOP has put any of these people up to questioning Barack's BLACKNESS?

Paid ops anyone? No one is above it, anyone can be bought for a price. I call bullshit too.

[pampango]

15. quiet.american just stated in post #6 that this originated in

the native born black community. Is the RW happy to stoke the fire all they can? Sure. But let's not pretend that this attitude towards immigrant blacks did not exist before Obama came on the scene.

[calimary]

20. But it's a technique we should study - AND emulate. Turn it back on THEM.

Being black is a big part of who Obama is. So ZAP!! They go straight there, and THAT'S what they target. Remember Kerry's campaign. A Vietnam veteran was a big part of who he is. So, ZAP! That's what they zoom directly to, and start attacking.

Perhaps we ought to turn that around on them. Let's see ... Let's try filling in some blanks:

Being ______ is a big part of who rudy giuliani is.

Being ______ is a big part of who john mccain is.

Being ______ is a big part of who mitt romney is.

And on, down the line, with Senatorial candidates, etc. What word, name, or concept would we choose with which to fill in that blank? And then, how do we cause it to die by a thousand little cuts - and slow bleeding?

Let's analyze this. And then act upon it.

Divide and conquer.

Plant seeds of doubt.

Chip away at the monolith.

Splinter 'em off.

[beaconess]

21. My shot at it . . .

Being A FASCIST is a big part of who rudy giuliani is.

Being A SHAMELESS SELLOUT is a big part of who john mccain is.

Being NUTS is a big part of who mitt romney is


How's that?

[calimary]

29. Well, that makes absolute sense, certainly.

Can't disagree with you, 'cause that's exactly what they are. But we have to look at it (if that's possible) from the mentality of the people who would buy any rotten tomatoes these guys might try to sell. What do they think is just really spiffy? And how would we turn THAT into so many rotten tomatoes?

:evilgrin:

After all, if they can find ways to pee on John Kerry's parade, or Barack Obama's parade, and poke holes in what you'd think were untouchable positives, we should RETURN THE FAVOR. With a cherry on top. If they can do it, so can we.

Taste of their own medicine. See how they like it. I'll be DELIGHTED to play nice. Just as soon as they do. And not one nanosecond sooner.

[ripple]

10. Is it just me, or does he have tears in his eyes in that photo?

Maybe it's just the angle and lighting. Not that it matters, but I do appreciate seeing the human side of our leaders every now and then.

This is an interesting piece, and so true. I find it telling that the same people who pretend to be so concerned about how Obama will do for racial reasons are the very same people feeding ridiculous racial stereotypes and promoting bigotry, even within the African-American community.

[DeepModem Mom]

11. I wondered the same thing -- it's a very affecting photo. nt

[OHdem10]

13. I just happened to watch the annual Meeting

Of Tavis Smiley and Black Community this past weekend.

I am not black but in listening carefully to a lot of people
at this meeting, Pigmentation is not the issue.

Unfortunately the Media have a a big issue of being sure to
point out that Obama is not a Movement Candidate. This, according
to them (media) makes him (Obama) Mainstream.

This means he did not come out of the Civil Rights Movement.
In other words, he is not Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton.
For people who struggled and those who have continued
"the struggle," this makes them very angry.

It is unfortunate that creating division seems to be the
work of some.

When they say Is he black enough? Means Does he understand
the needs and interests of Blacks in America. The Movement
types at the Meeting stated they hope to spend time with
Obama and determine this. for themselves.

This has nothing to do with pigmentation.

[Bucky]

25. I agree with your last statement with just one caveat

In America, race can mean everything, in the sense that it's such a charged issue that it can overwhelm any other debate. I think the debate about Obama's authenticity has the power to swamp his boat, irrespective of the quality and calibre of his candidacy. He needs to get out front and control this debate, even if it's about nothing. He needs to bury it. I used to think that the country would get it out of our collective system once the real arguments about the 2008 nomination start to gel in November '07.

Now I'm starting to wonder if maybe the constant iteration of how black this black man is could start to edge out a large pool of white supporters. That would be a terrible terrible shame. It would also benefit another candidate of whom I'm not too fond (although out of respect I won't say which one she is ;) ).

[LiberalFighter]

17. It wasn't too long ago the fact that one had even a smidgen of black ancestry

made one 100% discrimated against. Even those that appeared 100% white but weren't.

So now they change the scope of how to define one's race.

[DeepModem Mom]

19. I heard Obama say in an interview that when he's waiting for a taxi...

there's no question about all this.

[mbali]

22. What do they call a man whose father is African and mother is white?

"N-gg-r."

Just a play on an old saying in the black community. ("What do they call a colored man with a Ph.D?")

The bottom line is that, no matter how people try to parse it, Obama is a black man, plain and simple. To his credit, he doesn't pretend to be anything else.

[IndianaGreen]

24. So much for Tiger Woods and Colin Powell

neither of which fit this new racial mold that is so reminiscent of the pre-Civil War Constitution description of what constituted a human being.

[beaconess]

26. Tiger Woods helped perpetuate this problem

Not all on his lonesome, of course - it long predated him.

But he didn't help matters when by continuing to insist that he was really "black" but was "Cablanasian."

Everyone I know just laughed when he claimed that - "Ah, come on man. You're black. Get over it!"

I thought it was really unfortunate that, when he breaking on to the scene and knocking down barriers, he complained about being called black. That kind of attitude, in my view, helped to perpetuate the "he's black, she's black, he's not black, she's not black" differentiation of people of color.

In my view and in my experience, if you have a significant amount of black blood (and 1/2 is more than significant) and you have brown skin, you are black. That's how the world sees you and no amount of parsing and genetic analysis will change that, so you might as well live with it.

To his credit, Obama seems to have no problem with this at all - he knows that for all intents and purposes, regardless of how mixed his blood is, he is a black man.

[IndianaGreen]

27. Obama is a biracial man

and I don't understand why some people demand that one chooses one ethnicity over the other. There are no pure races anyway, except for the Irish, and that's only on Saint Patty's Day. :-)

Americans should travel overseas, to countries were mixed race is the majority, and see how this racial labeling we engage in sounds so silly.

[Colobo]

28. Obama's social experience

Has probably determined his race for him, so don't worry.

[FrenchieCat]

30. Yep......

Tiger Woods certainly does have personal issues...although his golf game is just fine.

[pampango]

32. I understand that, if you are biracial, your "race" is chosen for

you by society. Society deems Tiger to be "black" whether he likes it or not and, for his own sake, he should understand how this works and learn to live with it. As you said, I think he has.

That does not mean that he does not have the right to be proud that he is biracial; proud of both races that he is made of. And he has every right to proclaim his pride in his heritage as loudly as he desires.

My son is biracial - half Filipino, half Caucasian. When we visit the Philippines, everyone can tell that he is not "pure" Filipino, but here everyone assumes that he is Asian. He is 18 and, I think, understands that society can think whatever it wants, but he has to be proud of who he is, and live his life the way he wants to.

[michaz]

31. He is a "person" running for President.

I am so sick of "who is what color or race or religion" for those that run for political office. We have many Hispanics and those of the Jewish and Muslim religions that are in our political world. The first time I ever heard Obama speak I was only listening to the television and didn't look up right away. I was impressed with how well he spoke and he actually made sense. At that point I glanced up to see who was speaking and I can tell you in all honesty that my first thought was not that he was "black". My first thought was that I was impressed and was going to check this man out because I really liked what I was hearing. I am just so sick of all this color crap from both sides.

[DeepModem Mom]

33. I have really been saddened by the amount of attention...

this issue has gotten and continues to get. Here is an extraordinary guy entering our national political life, and his race is an issue for blacks and whites alike. I can't help but wonder what he thinks about having to deal with all of this -- especially something like the South Carolina politico saying he would bring the entire party down if he were on the Dem ticket.

[Dracos]

34. This guy must be working for RUSH

Rush Limbaugh Strikes Again Obama is a “Halfrican American”
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3116396&mesg_id=3116396