Is it okay for me to consider Obama white?

[Loudmouth]

He is half white and raised by an all white family.....

.....and since, no one calls him multiracial.....

50 years ago, Obama could not have sat at the front of the bus in the deep South.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

This is REALLY IMPORTANT! Because it is impossible to consider him human without knowing exactly which race to put him in.

I can't think of ANYTHING more important. Maybe you could try to calculate what percentage black he is. Is he an "octaroon", "quataron","quintroon"? Maybe his mother had some "black" in her.

This will be very important to put on his "papers".

Sheesh. This thread is disgusting.

Oh, I don't know, maybe because it's what made his election so newsworthy...

 

[Maynard Keenan]

Sure, why not, he is half white.

You know, I never quite understood why someone who is born of one white parent and one black parent, is typically, always referred to as black and not someone of mixed race.

Well for one, race is about subjective visual cues more so than any hard lines. And most people of mixed black and white parents fit the visual cues that we associate with "black" more than with "white." More importantly, historically anyone with any African American ancestors were rejected by whites as no longer being pure and white. The "one drop" idea. Until very recently, within the president's life (he was born when segregation was still legal policy), overt racism was still a common occurrence and being half black and looking like a black man meant you weren't white and were treated by society as though you were black. It stems from the idea that black was lesser, and that when white blood was tainted by black blood, the offspring were lesser than white.

 

[Maynard Keenan]

Me neither. It makes about as much sense as calling George Zimmerman a "white" Hispanic.

Evidently, being "white" is a rather exclusive racial characteristic which doesn't allow corruption with genes from other races.

Hispanic is not counted as a race. Race is one thing, and hispanic origin is another thing, in demographics. Hispanics can be white, black, or of mixed race of white, black, and native american.

 

[amanuensis63]

Oh, I don't know, maybe because it's what made his election so newsworthy...

But the OP just seems so pointless. Honestly, who really cares if someone considers Obama "white" or "black" or mullato or whatever other racial sub-class we can develop.

I think it is far more noble to point out that Obama is technically our first president of color than it is to worry 7 years later over what his actual race is.

Frankly I think race has been a very disgusting undertone in all this administration's existence. On various right-wing news outlets, even on CF there's been this standard "Hue and Cry" over Obama setting race relations back decades...as if the GOP cares one whit about race relations. It's sickening to see a party whose primary goals have been a sub-rosa disenfranchisement of minorities over the past several years claim that OBAMA has set race relations back.

It sickens me that a party who celebrated when the Voting Rights act was finally gutted recently tell us all about how OBAMA has set race relations back.

Obama moved race relations forward by presenting a vision that a large enough number of Americans believed in to get him into office twice. Only to have most of that vision sabotaged by people who started attacking him on day one of his administration.

This is just more of the sickness. More of the obsession on how white or how black Obama is.

The Right has rejoiced in racism. They continue to do so. And when called out they cry that it's unfair.

It isn't. The GOP can urinate on our shoes but they cannot tell us it is rain.

 

[Aldebaran]

I think it's far more important what the person behind that skin color is saying and doing. People thought his skin color was the most important thing 7 years ago, and then voted for him, even though he hardly had any political experience, except being a senator from IL who delighted himself in voting "present".

If it's far more noble "to point out that Obama is technically our first president of color", then why would Martin Luther King have a dream that people of color would be judged by the content of the character than the color of their skin? I agree with MLK. It is far more noble to judge a man on the content of his color. So why should we be celebrating a president who is in office because of the color of his skin? Why???

 

[Loudmouth]

I think it's far more important what the person behind that skin color is saying and doing. People thought his skin color was the most important thing 7 years ago, and then voted for him, even though he hardly had any political experience, except being a senator from IL who delighted himself in voting "present".

If it's far more noble "to point out that Obama is technically our first president of color", then why would Martin Luther King have a dream that people of color would be judged by the content of the character than the color of their skin? I agree with MLK. It is far more noble to judge a man on the content of his color. So why should we be celebrating a president who is in office because of the color of his skin? Why???

We are celebrating our ability to better ourselves in this country. 50 years ago there was no way a person that looked like Obama could have won the presidency. The only way that an Obama could have won is if he was white and there was an apostrophe between the O and the b.

 

[Aldebaran]

I think it is far more noble to point out that Obama is technically our first president of color than it is to worry 7 years later over what his actual race is.

Really? Wouldn't it be more noble to point out what Obama has actually done in the past 7 years than to believe it's noble to point out his skin color? Martin Luther King says he had a dream that people would be judged by their character instead of their skin color. The fact that people now think it's more noble to point out that Obama is technically our first president of color is proof that he has not moved us into an era that would fulfill MLK's dream.

 

[amanuensis63]

Wouldn't it be more noble to point out what Obama has actually done in the past 7 years than to believe it's noble to point out his skin color?

You mean overseeing a rebound in the economy and record market capitalization (while the Right calls him a communist who is destroying the American economy)

Or his implementation of the ACA (while the Right wants to see more Americans back where they were; unable to afford healthcare)

Or do you mean being president while the opposing party decided to, for the first time ever, watch America default rather than raise the debt ceiling and get our nations credit rating degraded for political points?

Or do you mean being president while the Right rejoiced at the gutting of the VOting Rights Act?

Or do you mean being president while the GOP pushed programs whose only outcome would be, by definition, disenfranchisement of minority voters?

Martin Luther King says he had a dream that people would be judged by their character instead

I'm guessing you didn't read my earlier post on this thread. So by all means go on...

of their skin color. The fact that people now think it's more noble to point out that Obama is technically our first president of color is proof that he has not moved us into an era that would fulfill MLK's dream.

Obama was a meaningful step by racist white America toward believing what MLK said. The fact that this thread exists is testament that we have a long way to go.

Obama's election was a great symbol of a country trying to grow up. His tenure has been marked by the Right's disingenuous use of race as a playing card. His actions in office are purely color-blind.

 

[Aldebaran]

You mean overseeing a rebound in the economy and record market capitalization (while the Right calls him a communist who is destroying the American economy)

Printing more money than ever will eventually destroy the economy.

Or his implementation of the ACA (while the Right wants to see more Americans back where they were; unable to afford healthcare)

I don't remember anyone on the right saying that. Do you have a reference?

Or do you mean being president while the opposing party decided to, for the first time ever, watch America default rather than raise the debt ceiling and get our nations credit rating degraded for political points?

Oh yeah, raise the debt ceiling. Exactly how much debt is enough for you? How much irresponsibility is enough. 18 trillion? We're beyond that now! Debt limits were created for a reason, just like credit card limits.

Or do you mean being president while the Right rejoiced at the gutting of the VOting Rights Act?

Everyone is still allowed to vote, just not more than once. Is that a problem?

Or do you mean being president while the GOP pushed programs whose only outcome would be, by definition, disenfranchisement of minority voters?

And which ones would those be?

Obama was a meaningful step by racist white America toward believing what MLK said. The fact that this thread exists is testament that we have a long way to go.

So America votes for him twice, and we're STILL racist??? You're right, we DO have a long way to go if you believe that.

Obama's election was a great symbol of a country trying to grow up. His tenure has been marked by the Right's disingenuous use of race as a playing card. His actions in office are purely color-blind.

Obama has inserted himself into situations where race was involved more times than any other president--even in local situations where no US president has any authority. But you say it's the right doing it? I'd say playing the race card has been a hallmark of the left, which they project to the right.

 

[CaDan]

Now that I think of it.

Doesn't this "one drop" rule also apply to Asians? If one parent is white and one is Asian, the child is considered Asian?

It doesn't feel that way, and I'm not sure why. Folks of Asian identity and heritage were certainly subjected to odious bigotry and discrimination in the US, but it never seemed to get as strongly systematized as anti-blackness.

There has been very little work done on the construction of Asian identity on the US. My debaters and I tried to do some research on it last year and the pickings are pretty slim.

Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote a while ago that to him growing up, "Jewish was another way of being White." I think something similar applies to folks of Asian identity and heritage.

 

[bhsmte]

It doesn't feel that way, and I'm not sure why. Folks of Asian identity and heritage were certainly subjected to odious bigotry and discrimination in the US, but it never seemed to get as strongly systematized as anti-blackness.

There has been very little work done on the construction of Asian identity on the US. My debaters and I tried to do some research on it last year and the pickings are pretty slim.

Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote a while ago that to him growing up, "Jewish was another way of being White." I think something similar applies to folks of Asian identity and heritage.

If someone has one Asian parent and one white parent, wouldn't they typically identify as Asian and not white?

Maybe my perception on this is off and I can't believe I was not aware of this "one drop" deal.

We should only be concerned with one race; the human race.

 

[CaDan]

If someone has one Asian parent and one white parent, wouldn't they typically identify as Asian and not white?

Maybe my perception on this is off and I can't believe I was not aware of this "one drop" deal.

We should only be concerned with one race; the human race.

Anthropocentrism spotted.

 

[JustOneWay]

Anthropocentrism spotted.

Are you saying my little doggies can get into heaven?

 

[bhsmte]

Anthropocentrism spotted.

Well, don't be too quick to judge, as I have been accused of loving my dogs more than some humans.

My comment, was talking about race differential in humans, is meaningless to me.

 

[Gxg (G²)]

He is half white and raised by an all white family.....

.....and since, no one calls him multiracial.....

I see him as both - skin tone being of color and having values from both black and white culture, as well as ancestry from both. Of course, as it concerns how the rest of the world sees him, he's the first non-white president and that is a big deal - even if he may have values you'd see in white culture.

And for other blacks, of course, his action have made President Obama really against what the Black community is about..

Obama 'can?t take a stand' says Cornel West - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7fi7xbKC5c


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCO4BxUMpD0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rVQ4n_kgms

 

[ThinkForYourself]

Now that I think of it.

Doesn't this "one drop" rule also apply to Asians? If one parent is white and one is Asian, the child is considered Asian?

My kids self identify as "Halfies".

Sometimes they are "asian" or "white" depending on where they are or who they are hanging around with.

 

[amanuensis63]

I don't remember anyone on the right saying that. Do you have a reference?

What do YOU call nearly 50 "show votes" to overturn the ACA over the course of 5 years and in a recent 60 Minutes interview neither leader of the GOP could come up with a description of what the replacement is.

That looks a LOT like "status quo ante" to me. Which means the GOP wants to see the system back to where it was. That, by definition, means millions without access to affordable healthcare again.

Oh yeah, raise the debt ceiling.

Every Republican president whose ever asked for it (and every Democrat president) got it without a fight. Obama was the only one in which a single party opted to crash the US credit rating to make this "crucial point".

Everyone is still allowed to vote, just not more than once. Is that a problem?

Yeah...there's no evidence of systemic or large scale voter fraud and the only known outcome that is FOR CERTAIN in voter id laws is to disenfranchise minorities and poor people.

That's the ONLY thing that is known that voter id's will do.

So America votes for him twice, and we're STILL racist???

Yup. We have a race problem in this country. Voting for Obama indicates things are getting better as a group for us, but we've got a LONG way to go.

You're right, we DO have a long way to go if you believe that.

I believe what the data says.

Obama has inserted himself into situations where race was involved more times than any other president--even in local situations where no US president has any authority. But you say it's the right doing it? I'd say playing the race card has been a hallmark of the left, which they project to the right.

Yeah, you can say that all day long. It isn't the DEMS who are:

1. working hard for the overturning of the Voting Rights Act
2. Working to install systems that will only disenfranchise minorities
3. Slashing social safety nets that will disproportionately impact minorities (while increasing spending to defense contractors...because, you know, spending more than you have is a bad thing, unless it's on things you like!)

Give me a break. The mendacity of the Right on the topic of Race is sickening.

 

[DaisyDay]

Oh yeah, raise the debt ceiling. Exactly how much debt is enough for you? How much irresponsibility is enough. 18 trillion? We're beyond that now! Debt limits were created for a reason, just like credit card limits.

Credit card limits prevent you from spending over the limit. That is NOT how the debt ceiling works.

Are you aware that Congress sets the budget and appropriations? The President is obligated by law to spend the money on those things.

The problem with the debt ceiling is that the money was already spent or obligated. Refusing to raise the debt ceiling to pay for debt that had already occurred was nothing other than irresponsible showboating.

Worse still, that little hissy fit cost the US millions in increased interest rates because of the lowered credit rating. That shows how unaware your are of how our government works, that you can blame that on the President.

 

[GarfieldJL]

As far as I'm concerned, you can call him Black, White, or pokka-dot for all I care.

In all honesty, I really couldn't care less what his skin color is, in my view he's a far-left ideologue.