"i think he's a borderline black nationalist..."
Woe!
Yeah, I'm taking it slightly out of context but that's one helluva charge to level against a guy seeking the office of POTUS. Furthermore, in the case of a half-white male candidate, it seems to me far fetched to even suggest that he could have delusions of black nationalism.
As a black man myself who is a proud American, I have to take you to task for your depiction of Obama as a black nationalist. Applying your line of thought, I could arbitrarily conclude that McCain plans to extend Bush's longings of manifest destiny via empire building in the name of democracy in the Middle East or that Hillary's aims are firstly to advance some pseudo-feminist agenda to put her in good stead with silver-bejewelled loafer-wearing latte lesbos.
Is it so unfathomable to you that Obama, a half-white man who's resided in not only more than one time zone but multiple continents, could by some small miracle actually possess the cultural sensitivity, intellectual heft, management ability and grasp of constitutional law (especially separation of powers) required to lead a great nation whose middle class is no longer comprised of lily-white protestants?
A gain for him or me or any other ethnic minority or female does not constitute a loss for anyone else who doesn't fit the aforementioned bill. Obama doesn't see the progress of this nation as a zero-sum game, nor do I.
I'm curious Papa, in your opinion, does Bill Richardson have some designs on returning parts of the southwest to Mexico or is Obama alone in attempting to reappropriate portions of the nation's territory and redistribute the nation's wealth to a particular ethnic group or emerging "untouchable class".
The singular event in this presidential circus that has pissed me off to no end as a black man is that the one half-black man in the race (if you're resigned to that classification) was the one compelled to address the issue of race. How has race affected McCain and Clinton? Your own party sat idly by and watched America's uneasiness with race do in McCain's presidential aspirations last time out. My pride will not allow me to rehash the ignorant and false comments made about the heritage of his adopted daughter in a classless display of race-baiting.
I routinely avoid making a disclosure about my own ethnic background and race matters online because race can be such an inflammatory topic. But, I'll leave you with this point to ponder Papa. In the opinion of this black man who is conversant in 3 languages and who has spent some time outside the US like others here, the US does not have "race problem" per se rather a "color problem".
I'm a 44 year old black man who grew up in the segregated south. It's always been about who is "light" enough to pass for white and who so dark that they're relegated to the other side of the divide by default. And many of our newest Americans who hail from the rest of the Americas, parts of “dark” Europe and Asia would be surprised to learn how they would have been “cataloged” as recently as 30 years ago.
Some of my own colleagues have questioned why a half-white man like Obama would marry a black woman like Michelle by American standards to begin with. Those same clowns have dared ask me why a presidential aspirant would attend a church with a practically all-black congregation. Many of the nation’s colleges, churches and corporate entities with substantial numbers of black students/employers came to be because institutions in the main excluded blacks for years. There are still whites in the south (and parts of rural PA) who whisper when they think they’re not within earshot of non-whites “we don’t lay and pray with ‘em”.
Both questions go to my prior point that Obama has been asked by this nation to make a sacrifice that's not been imposed upon either Hillary or McCain. That is that he surrender his soul AND part of his heritage. Both Hillary and McCain easily surrendered the former but neither has been asked to give up their "birthright". I usually dismiss much of your hyperbole as folly but your suggestion that Obama is a black nationalist is way off the mark.
If you are a white man with a kid that has no choice but to accept being labeled black in this country, then I encourage you to prep him or her for a run for national office so that it will be crystal clear to you what sort of sacrifice some of you would have Obama make to be your POTUS. And Papa please, if you opt to reply don’t introduce Tiger Woods into the discussion.
#FactsMatter...your feelings not so much.
Updated On: 4/14/08 at 05:22 PM
