Why Is President Obama’s Blackness Not Black Enough?
Can you rel8 to this?
Last I checked, President Barack Obama is Black. His skin is Black, his swag is Black, his children are Black, his wife is Black and their dog is Black. He is Black for crying out loud. I am sick and tired of people trying to convince the nation of what it means to be Black in America and challenging whether or not our President is in fact, “Black enough,” to actually qualify as a bonafide Black man. WTH?! Last week when I addressed, “Do You Have a Negro Dialect,” I was asking some of the same questions. When Senator Harry Reid fumbled and misspoke about President Obama being of lighter skin and without a Negro dialect, the comments that spewed forth from Rush Limbaugh and others like him was, that was a compliment. But does President Obama receive some type of pardon because he can articulate? Does he get a, “Get out of jail FREE” card because he bears the lighter skin and happens to be our President? How dumb is that? People act like he is the first educated person to take the firm role of leadership and point the country into a state of healing. Er uh…remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr? Hmmm…I’m wondering if it makes people feel some sorta way by psyching themselves up with the, “lighter skin, no Negro dialect,” foolishness. Maybe they feel that because he is fair in complexion that he isn’t as scary as someone with a darker hue. They can tolerate him. He’s technically NOT one of them.
The reason I even brought this up again is because there was a forum on CNN discussing his blackness yet again. The redundant excuse for him, as if he has ever made any for himself is, “Well…his father was from Kenya and his mother was Italian.” So technically, he really doesn’t count in the census of Black people (my words). Come on people! When are we going to learn? I promise, this is one of THE oldest conversations on the table today and the older I get, the stupider it gets. I’m just saying.
Here are a few other places you can find Ingrid Michelle:
Life AFTER the Down Low, Today’s Fitness Now, Suite 101 and South LA Single Moms Examiner
Oh yeah…Follow her on Twitter too!
Related Articles
OPINION: Is Gay The New Black?
Not Every Prayer Is One You Should Pray
Why Do Blacks And Whites Argue Over Obama
Life-Giving Habits Worth Developing In 2010
News One
- Young Basketball Prodigy Finds Success After Facing Public Doubt
- NYTimes Paying Execs To Hire More Women & Minorities
- Texas Set To Whitewash Black History From Textbooks
- Black Author Breaks Down “The History Of White People” On The Colbert Report
- UPDATE: Obama Signs Jobs Bill, Says There’s More To Be Done
- UPDATE: MSNBC Makes Mash-Up Of Obama Being Interrupted By FOX Reporter
- The Amistad Travels To Cuba As A Reminder Of Slavery
- Man Breaks Into House And Jumps Into Bed With Stranger After Jay-Z Concert
- More Extra Kinky Tiger Woods Text Messages Are Revealed
- Paterson: I Gave NYT The Tip That Led To Ethics Investigation
Comments
7
% %
Barack Obama had nor more to do with the color of his skin than anybody else in the world..rather than talk about something he had nothing to do with or can do about…let’s talk about the things he can do something about.
Its not even his skin tone thats not making the grade..Its his spineless actions that are the problem..If he was any other ‘color’/race and doing the SAME things hes doing now, he would STILL be lackluster in my eyes…
ANOTHER BULLSHT ARTICLE.. I HAVE YET TO HEAR THIS ABOUT THIS MAN FROM BLACK PEOPLE.
IF THERE IS ANY CONTEMPT FOR OBAMA AS A BLACK MAN.. IT IS BECAUSE HE HAS DONE SUCH A FINE JOB IGNORING THE NEEDS OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS “COLOR”.
YOU ARE JUST ANOTHER PROPAGANDA N!GGA. FANNING THE LIE THAT WHITES HAVE DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT OUR COMMUNITY ABOUT LIGHTSKINNED BLACKS.. ALL OF A SUDDEN IN 2010 BIRACIAL BLACK PEOPLE ARE NO LONGER BLACK.
PLEASE! YOU AINT FOOLING ME! IT IS AN ATTEMPT TO DIVIDE OUR RACE AND THIS ARTICLE SUPPORTS THAT BULLSHT LIE USING HALF TRUTHS TO SUPPORT IT.
IF YOU ARE GOING TO SAY WHY BLACK PEOPLE ARE UPSET WITH OBAMA… TELL THE REAL TRUTH.
So based on your words, all Blacks have a warped view since most of us cite slavery and the ill effects of its legacy as the primary reason why we cannot and do not succeed. Personally I don’t believe that, I think we’re all responsible for what we are, but that is definitely what the majority of Blacks think.
BTW, did you read his autobiography? Something tells me you didn’t… I speak very well, I’m in college, and I don’t digest the thug lifestyle. I never said that these make a person “Black”. The fact that you jumped to stereotypical conclusion with stereotypical examples shows that we are not on the same page.
Im sorry but you seem to have a warped view of what it means to be black. Most relatives before me grew up in the South too, the DEEP south on top of that. My mother has a college degree, my father has a college degree, my brother has a degree and I have a college degree and we all speak eloquently and intelligently. My grandparents grew up in the segregated South but this did not stop neither of my grandmother and grandfather from being successful. Thats a cop-out excuse to say “we suffered through psychological pain” my family suffered through it too but we didnt just simply accept the status quo and blame
“the times” or take an L and chalk it up to “whitey”. Obama is the black person that every black male should look up too. Being harassed by cops, speaking slang, selling drugs, being pimps, being hypersexual shouldnt define your race and if you let it then sorry you didnt better educate yourself as you were younger. Growing up in the Deep South of course there was alot of hatred and bigotry but either you let it defeat you so you can have an easy scapegoat when you dont want to do well or you defeat it. My entire family, all deep south relatives, beat it. Im tired of certain black people trying to define black as going through ‘the struggle’. “Based on Obama’s words, he’s NOT black”. I guess if Obama said “YEA YA HEARD ME, YA DIG, I GOTZ SWAG” then maybe that type of dialect might better suited for your educational level. Im sorry but its frustrating that people actually think that way.
Based on Obama’s on words and actions, he’s NOT “Black”. To really understand this, we have to understand what it really means to be Black. For whatever reason, race, nationality, and social status are all collectively included in the word Black. This creates confusion. Obama’s father was not of the bloodline of African American slaves. As a result, he doesn’t share the hundreds of years of psychological and social pain that Slave descendant Blacks endured. The way I view the world and the way my 1st and 2nd generation African peers do is very different. My parents grew up in the South during the 50’s and 60’s. Their life experiences are going to reflect in my opinions. This is all beside the point though because Obama was raised by a White family. Read his autobiography. All throughout his life, he HIMSELF struggled to identify with Black people, not really even coming to grips with it until sometime in college.
The most telling thing about Obama was his reaction to Reverend Wright. Everything Wright said was right on point (with the exception of the government creating AIDS, not much evidence to support that, although they did test Syphilis on Blacks). Nothing that was said was any different than what you’d hear at any picnic, church function, barbershop, etc, yet Obama said that Wright had a warped view. He also said that there was no Black America. How can that be?
Obama is black by race, but if Blackness has to do with common experiences, background, etc, he is NOT.
I think thats a stupid argument to say that because he can speak eloquently and intelligently and have a lighter skin tone that makes him “not 100% black”. Last time I took an American History class the the slave master didnt care if you were light skinned or not you receive the same treatment as all “n****rs” did. The way blacks are portrayed on B.E.T in those hood/’gangsta’ movies really does have an affect on people and the way they view blacks as a race, it shouldnt be that way but some people are too ignorant to learn for themselves. I guess the sterotypical ignorant, cant speak a proper sentence black person is the way you hace to be in order to be considered “black”. I guess you have to act like you’re apart of a damn minstrel show to be considered black (if you dont know what minstrel show is, please wikipedia it). Im college educated, speak eloquently, dress properly and that doesnt make me any less black. I dont have to walk around with my pants sagging, every other word out my mouth is a curse word, and a drug dealer to be considered black. Obama is the President of the United States, some people definitely dont like him because of his pigmentation and his name sounds “too Muslim” for their liking but thats just the ignorant part of America rearing its ugly head again.