Obama's Ethnic Background
 

Ok, now that America has a new president who doesn't look like white trash, what do you think is the most appropriate way Obama's ethnic background should be addressed like, if you think it needs pointing out?

I respect the fact you're not a racist, therefore you don't make it an issue, but can we ignore the fact that every second phrase used to describe him in the media seems to make such a fuss out of it?

Black.

I mean, fuck it. He's not white.

EDIT: Hahah this post is so racist in hindsight! Oh well. I can dig it.

no big deal.
next!

Speaking as an American who has lived all his life in the Soutern US, I'd rather it be that he was full-on, 100% black, and I'm not talking just African American, I'm talking Djimon Hounsou black. That way there would be no question of what his ethnic background is and it would totally piss off everyone around here. I mean, I don't think him being "half-black" or "all-black" or even fucking "3/4s purple and striped" would have made any difference in the outcome of the election. Well done Barack!

a love supreme.

reverse the racist policies

Barack Obama is white!
(if a black great grandfather makes someone "black" then obama is one cracka ass lily white gringo!)

Who cares?

the day after the election it made me laugh that every newspaper felt the need to point out that he was the black president

what color's jesus?

(insert water-into-Colt 45 joke here)

I always was under the impression that a lot of people looked down upon multiracial marriages and children spawned from those relationship. Not me, of course, I could give a fuck less, but I remember um half-black/half-white kids getting picked on around here. Though perhaps it's because I don't live in New York or something where everyone looks like that. But I distinctly recall people saying back when I was younger than the BIBLE and GOD don't want people "mixin' dose racez".

Anyway, I kind of thought this was a step forward, electing someone of mixed ethnicity as president. Though, it would've been a bigger step if he was actually a full-blooded black man. And, of course, if the general populace still can't accept that gay people love each other, then we're all just moving backwards very rapidly, so this doesn't make a fuck either way.

Races.. who gives a fuck.

You have a point, atsonicpark. Many people who are called racist (from the little of what I've gathered of course) aren't actually supremacist as they are segregationist. Their intense pride of their ethnicity finds more value in keeping races separate rather than subjugating the rest to their group given that subjugation could only come after segregation. Thus people of mixed race embody the breakdown that would make segregation impossible. It is one thing to be different than another person but it is another to, in their eyes, devalue the difference which they feel significantly defines them. In a way, Obama being mixed race is more of a significant advancement than being black by realizing the melting pot reality of the USA. However, Obama has already been aligned with the black race enough to undermine a great deal of this multiculturalist message.

Yes, exactly.

....Did anyone hear about the president of the KKK who recently told people that if they were voting for Obama to vote for the white half of him?

Pbradley meets Talib?
Yeah, the KKK showed up at the first debate and claimed that they didn't deny that black people were intelligent, just that they were never "meant" for an authoritative position.

I'm tired of hearing about how Obama's black. I'd forget about that detail if it wasn't for the media, I just thnk of him as the potential Jesus Christ of America.

It is really sad that having the first black identified president-elect win in California probably made it possible that the anti-gay civil rights constitutional amendment passed there. There's a lot of homophobia in the black community, which is a particularly ironic shame.

Barack Obama is black. African-Americans are naturalized Nigerians and Senegalese, the rest are black folk.

Reverse racism in this regard is a form of denial of Obama's blackness, I say in poor taste, let the man be a black man, it has its own dignity by itself.

The man is black. The man is also white. To prioritize his blackness over white, one would legitimize the one-drop rule which holds that anyone who is cross between white and non-white is non-white. Thus, whiteness is pure and anything else is a contamination, which is by definition a racist concept. Obama is a black man and that cannot not be denied, but nor can his whiteness. One drop of white blood cannot deny his blackness and one drop of black blood cannot deny his whiteness but what is most dissatisfying of this either/or is that blood is red. Dignity comes from something more than pigment and cannot not be destroyed by racism, reverse or otherwise.

yes, in the context of racism in America, mixed race folk should claim their blackness over their whiteness, but not in the derogatory context of the one-drop system, but in the opposite affect, to affirm the black identity, rather than deny or hide it. See, before the emergence of "say it loud" black nationalism, mixed folk spent their time trying to pass, denying their black heritage, and that is a damned shame to the black people who struggled to preserve their own identity across generations.

Barack Obama is black, to say anything else is to hide his blackness and affirm his white status for selfish gain. I say it again with no apologies, the man is black, and there is dignity in that by itself.

Again, I say:

Well, we're having a discussion, so we care about discussing it. And everyone in the world discusses it, so everyone in the world seems to care. While I don't PERSONALLY think it's a thing worth giving a fuck about, most people do give a fuck -- so it's worth discussing... it is an interesting discussion.. a rarity on SY Gossip. So, no need to keep quoting yourself.

racists.

hes a black guy
he has dark skin
its what a black guy is
a black guy isnt a race, i think we all know that
but he is a black guy

so this guy is BLACK?

He is from INDIA


and this guy is black too?
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=95159&rendTypeId=4
he is an aboriginal Australian.


and this guy?

he is Puerto Rican


the designation "black" is an american made-up term, and means NOTHING.
before that it was negro, and before that colored, and before that who knows? all these appellations mean NOTHING. They are just used as identification or self-identification.

In barack's case it is even more meanigelss because his father was not an american "black" man, but an African, a KENYAN. so Barack is Kenyan/American.

Obama's sister is Asian...Indonesian specifically.

You can't get much more American than a multi-ethnic family.

In the US , he is considered black.
In Nigeria , maybe he is considered white.

btw Rob , black is a color , it DOES mean something.

I'm funk and I'm proud. and by funk, I mean, Californian/American.

it means only what YOU designate it to mean in YR HEAD man.

you forgot the word ONLY, as in "black is ONLY a color"

it is meaningless in every sense except for pigmentation.

^^^ what about souls (like girlgun's)?

that's some trent reznor pussy-ass shit there man

"hea dlike a hole, black as yr soul."

there are no " souls"

yeah, no. I haven't listened to NIN since that bitch had his RevCo tattoo removed.

I'm into DOOM METAL.

what about Joy Division? can I still safely listen to Dead Souls without drinking the flavor-aid?

but I digress, BLACK is more than just a color. it's a way of life.

I wear black on the outside, cuz black is how I feel on the inside.....

yes and no. it will become a meaningless thing as time progresses, however at this point, there is still an immense gap of inequality, socially and politically which creates a distinction, both historically and today and into the future.

If people quickly forget that Barack Obama is a black man first, a multi-ethnic American second, they will deny the very achievement of changing the face of american politics to begin with by empowering a black president. If Obama's sister is 'asian' and his mom is 'white' that is fine for them, but Barack has lived his life as black man, in America and in the world, and that has a particular experience which must be told. To literally white wash it behind a "race doesn't count" nonsense defeats the whole accomplishment of this thing, which equalization. By giving a black face to the chief executive, you are telling the rest of America that black people are Americans too, not just second-class Americans, but an intergral part of the ever expanding American fabric.

So, it is crucially important the Barack Obama be continually acknowledged as a black man, and in this regard, it will make all of America conscious of black people, because the bigotry, racism and also just indifference and inexperience of many Americans of all races and backgrounds causes them to generally ignore the black experience to the overall American experience, and these things are one and the same.

There is far too much history to just gloss over Barack Obama's race, and to ignore his black identity is to continue to deny the past and effect more of the same 'half the story' history and politics in America.

funny. I was going to post that. but after the whole "pussy-ass shit", I wasn't going to reinforce yr argument.

:D

in this cracka ass country NO ONE will forget Obama is BLACK. what Obama says, and what I say, is that apart from historical value, his "blackness" is a MOOT POINT. it does not matter as to his job, or what he has to do, or what his decisions may be.

I would much rather think of him, and have evreyone think of him, as the first president in 120 years with a constitutional law background.
that to me is more meaningful than whether he has high levels of melanin in his skin.

oh. ok. I see. we shouldn't call the president black, but it's OK to call the rest of us cracka ass. and by the rest of us, I mean, you guys. I'm no cracka ass.

call him black. i could care less. what I am saying is that "black" and "white" and "cracka ass" are meaningless terms, whose sole purpose is to create division.

hear hear!

I agree. can't we all get along?
and by we, I mean, everybody but the 'ricans.

Ricans all have big mouths and bad 'tudes.

why did it make you laugh?

the joke is not so obvious to everyone, and i'd rather not jump to conclusions.


a lot of people do, unfortunately, as your own story demonstrates...


but what goes on in people's heads is what controls their actions. so if enough people believe a fiction (like, say, the "superiority of the aryan race"), guess what happens?


exactly. while "race" makes no sense scientifically, it is a powerful concept in social dynamics. hence you had a ton of west virgina yahoos who refused to vote for a negro.


yes, but you are not everyone. you're a light-skinned latino. if this was a boricua president, you'd probably feel a little extra emotion. hence, if you're any kind of brownskinned person with an "exotic" name (apu? rajiv? ramon?), you would feel comforted by this historical event-- i mean, seriously, people have racial biases they exercise on an everyday basis.

for me, the constitutional law presidency is a great thing, but i'm more excited by the fact that he's a truly brilliant man with a solid sense of ethics, and i've had it with royal-ass unforgivably selfish dumbfuckswith sociopathic tendencies in power. intelligence is just a fucking great thing.