Is Barack Forgetting He’s Half White?
I received a phone call this morning from a viewer concerned that Barack Obama is forgetting who he is. It’s being repeated over and over again in the media, “Barack Obama makes history as the first AFRICAN AMERICAN elected as a presidential nominee.” Our viewer made a point that Barack Obama is half white. He was raised by his mother who is white, however that’s rarely mentioned. The media focuses on his African American side primarily.
Being multi-racial, I can understand where this viewer is coming from. My parents always taught me, “Don’t forget where you came from.” BUT I also understand WHY there is such a huge emphasis on “African American.” This IS the FIRST time in history an African American has been nominated as a presidential nominee.
Let me ask you something, if you saw Barack Obama on the street would you think he’s a white man? Let me answer that for you…no. There are many shades of black. Someone else half black may have very fair skin. Genes are amazing, aren’t they? I could go on and on about how some people say, “if you’re point one percent black, your black.” Or, how others say, ”you are what your father is.” Well, in this case Barack would black. I don’t want to dilly dally with the many different race arguments. Again, I believe my parents nailed it on the head with the simple sentence, “Don’t forget where you came from.”
Do I think it’s important to stress Obama as being the FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN presidential nominee? Absolutely, because it’s history. However, its been mentioned and now it’s time to move beyond skin color and concentrate and focus on the issues at hand. We are preparing to make a monumental decision….elect a new leader of our country…our president. A leadership role that has NOTHING to do with whether your skin is orange, black, white, purple or yellow.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader or email.
Comments
Nique, I personally DON’T think Obama has forgotten his white side…I believe he’s proud of both sides. Right now the focus is on him being black since that’s the side that’s making his presidential nomination a historical one. As we move on through the election process I’m sure this will be mentioned less. Time will tell.
Your last sentence sums it up beautifully. My sentiments exactly! It’s about the issues, not the color. Simple as that.
Great post!
Subscribe to RSS
So true Sharon! That’s the #1 thing that upsets me about this society. You simply can’t disregard the person who raised him was white, it’s a slap in the face to his other side, well in my opinion it is.