Is Obama black?

[Brian R. VanCise]

He is biracial just as many are of the fastest growing population in the United States.

 

[Twin Fist]

i dont know if he is black, but i DO know he is a friggin retard

 

[elder999]

So basically who cares about his white mother and white grandparents that raised him as long as his sperm donor was a black man hes black?

I'm not particularly offended, but I think Obama-the man who called his first book Dreams From My Father might if he heard his father being referred to as "sperm donor."

"I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites"

It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names."-

I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, Dubois and Mandela."-

Barack Obama, Dreams From My Father

Like the rest of us, he is what he says he is.

 

[Empty Hands]

He answered that as far as he was concerned, even "a drop of black" would make him black. So using his logic, we're all black!!

There is a long history behind this comment, that anyone inveighing against the horror of Obama self-identifying as "black" should be aware of. This is a rule that was foisted on the black community, not one they created themselves. In an effort to maintain white supremacy and to maintain distinctions between white and black with increasing numbers of biracial children being born and being able to "pass", the white community of history decided that any black ancestry at all made you "black." Funny sounding classification systems were invented - octaroon, quadroon, "high yellow", and all the rest. The white community invented and applied the "one drop rule."

This man was considered "black":

This woman was considered "black":

So please, before you rant against the bias and injustice of Obama identifying as black, understand that it is only now after hundreds of years of history that he would even have a choice in what he chose to identify as. Of course, looking like he does, he would be treated as black then, and he certainly was and is treated as such now, no matter what he chooses to call himself.

 

[Empty Hands]

I've heard allegations that he's not an American. I've also heard allegations that he's not actually a Christian. But this is truly the first time I've ever heard that he's not really black.

It's been around for a while, during the election and since. Those on the right like Limbaugh made the exact same point balleen did, in an even more disingenuous manner. Then there were comments coming from the other direction like Stanley Crouch claiming that Obama wasn't black enough, or at least "American black" enough, because he was not the descendant of slaves and had a white mother.

 

[Mark Jordan]

The world is getting smaller and smaller and everyone is mixing and that's not uncommon.
Obama's mother is white and his father is a black Kenyan. But judging on his looks and color of skin. I still see him as black. But who cares?

 

[ballen0351]

"Black" children are adopted and raised by white couples all the time-doesn't make them "white," does it?

Sure if there mother is white

 

[elder999]

Sure if there mother is white

This has to be one of the most singularly ignorant or completely obtuse statements I've seen here in quite some time.

 

[ballen0351]

For me he's biracial.

This is for you, how do you see Halle Berry?

Yeah I have to agree i see her as HOTTTTTT

 

[ballen0351]

This has to be one of the most singularly ignorant or completely obtuse statements I've seen here in quite some time.

So say the next president has both parents that are black raised in a black household shouldn't he be the 1st black president?
There is nothing wrong with being bi-racial I'm not sure why people think its a bad thing it is what he is. My niece has a black father but never sees him or his family she looks black but her mother and the family she associates with is white. She considers herself both. She likes being different she thinks its cool it makes her special. She has written reports in school about it and has express how its good she gets the best of both worlds.

 

[elder999]

This is for you, how do you see Halle Berry?

The way she sees herself, I think:

Blackness is a state of mind and I identify with the black community. Mainly, because I realized, early on, when I walk into a room, people see a black woman, they don't see a white women. So out of that reason alone, I identify more with the black community"

“I've pretty much learned I can let that [being black] hinder me if I want to ... or I can fight for different kinds of roles.”

“I was black growing up in an all-white neighborhood so I felt like I just didn't fit in. Like I wasn't as good as everybody else or as smart, or whatever.”
Halle Berry, on race.

oh, yeah-and smokin' hot! :lol:

 

[Big Don]

For the record, I don't think Obama is a Muslim OR a Christian. He thinks he IS GOD.

 

[Twin Fist]

i dont know if he is a muslim, but i do know he is a friggin retard

 

[David43515]

If I agreed with the policies he supports, I wouldn`t care if he were black, white, asian, hispanic, or purple. The same goes for christian, jewish, hindu, muslim, or buddhist. Personally I wouldn`t be bothered at all by forgeting about Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshal, or anyone else if the only thing we`re remembering them for is the color of their skin. I`m one of two non-Japanese living in a town of about 3000 people. I know I`d much rather be remembered as a good teacher, a good husband and father, a good neighbor, and a good cook than as the first white man in the neighborhood.


Most people would consider me extremely conservative, both politically and religiously. You know, the guys that everyone points at when the words "intolerance" "small-minded" and "bigot" get dusted off and brought into debates. I`ve never understood that because to me color of a man`s skin is no more important than the color of his socks. If I call someone from another race an asshat, it`s not because I don`t like the part of the world where their anscestors came from. It`s because I think that that one solitary individual is an asshat. Obama can call himself what he wants, it`s his right.People can call him the first black president, or the first biracial president, or whatever the flavor of the week is. Myself, I`ll just keep calling hime "The President". Seems like it worked for everyone else who held the office before him.

 

[Steve]

i dont know if he is a muslim, but i do know he is a friggin retard

Welcome back, Twin Fist.

 

[David43515]

I know that some people feel a need to identify with someone, to have heroes that look like themselves. So having a leader or an authority figure that comes from a similar background is important to them. I respect that, but I can`t say I understand it. I`ve never felt that way. Growing up my heroes were always the guys who were the best at what they did. Some were white like me, some were black, or asian. I never cared one way or the other.

Personally I identify alot more with the choices I`ve made in my life than I do with where my anscestors were from.

 

[Twin Fist]

Welcome back, Twin Fist.

it's like i never left.....

 

[elder999]

So say the next president has both parents that are black raised in a black household shouldn't he be the 1st black president?

No, because Obama is.....unless, maybe, those rumors about Abe Lincoln or Warren G. Harding are true :lol:

There is nothing wrong with being bi-racial I'm not sure why people think its a bad thing it is what he is. My niece has a black father but never sees him or his family she looks black but her mother and the family she associates with is white. She considers herself both. She likes being different she thinks its cool it makes her special. She has written reports in school about it and has express how its good she gets the best of both worlds.

Yeah-I'd be the last person to say there was anything wrong with it-on the other hand, for most of my life it hasn't even been an option in this country for self-identification for EIEIO purposes....somtimes still isn't.

it's like i never left.....

For you maybe, but you've been missed, John-welcome back!

 

[ballen0351]

Yeah-I'd be the last person to say there was anything wrong with it-on the other hand, for most of my life it hasn't even been an option in this country for self-identification for EIEIO purposes....somtimes still isn't.

I just think to pretend like half of his family is not there is wrong. I see nothing wrong with him being bi-racial but people act like its a big bad word to say that. He should be proud I think being the first bi-racial president is a great accomplishment maybe more so then the first black president esp. when during the time his parents were together that was the big taboo to have a black man and a white woman and in some places still today its like that.

 

[Blade96]

So say the next president has both parents that are black raised in a black household shouldn't he be the 1st black president?
There is nothing wrong with being bi-racial I'm not sure why people think its a bad thing it is what he is. My niece has a black father but never sees him or his family she looks black but her mother and the family she associates with is white. She considers herself both. She likes being different she thinks its cool it makes her special. She has written reports in school about it and has express how its good she gets the best of both worlds.

I just think to pretend like half of his family is not there is wrong. I see nothing wrong with him being bi-racial but people act like its a big bad word to say that. He should be proud I think being the first bi-racial president is a great accomplishment maybe more so then the first black president esp. when during the time his parents were together that was the big taboo to have a black man and a white woman and in some places still today its like that.

I agree with this. My two best friends are a bi racial couple, and if they have kids they will be half chinese and half white. They two will have best of both worlds