Obama’s Blackness at goodCRIMETHINK

photo by FUNKYAH via Flickr

I’m having a hard time with all this talk of Obama not being black enough. There are many stories and blogs I could link to, but enough is enough. Here’s the deal. The mainline story goes like this:

Black people don’t consider Obama black enough because of his heritage (actual African + white). He’s an unknown quantity and didn’t come up in the civil rights movement, etc.

That’s nonsense. Black people embrace all sorts of shady black characters depending on the context.

We embraced OJ Simpson after he killed his damn wife
We embraced R. Kelly after he peed on a child and video taped it
We embraced Bill Clinton and actually had the nerve to call that white dude the “first black president” but only after he cheated on his wife

No, black voters haven’t quite signed up for Team Obama because more than anyone else, they know America can’t handle a black president. Hell, America can’t handle black people in horror movies. We’re still the first to die!

America doesn’t know how to deal with a black clubgoer. America shoots these black people 50 times!

America even has trouble with fictional black presidents. On 24 they tried to kill President James David Palmer three times and finally succeeded on the fourth attempt when he wasn’t even president anymore! Why would you write that into a script? I can imagine the writer’s group:

“I don’t know. He’s not president anymore. What’s the point of killing him?”

“Well he’s still black right?”

“True, cap that fool.”

Then, get this, Palmer’s brother Wayne becomes president. Yes, we now have Brotha President. And you know what? They try to kill him too. America is sending a very clear message: yes, there can be a Black president, but we’re gonna kill him.

Maybe Black america just prefers a living senator to a dead president.

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Antonio Cervantes 2 years ago 1 point
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Thanks for sharing.

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Tricia 2 years ago 1 point
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I don't know how much Black America is concerned with Obama's safety - I know I am- but people out there seriously are questioning how he can represent black folk in the US because of his background and education. Yet for whatever reason people like Bill and Hillary could represent us better? Yea ok.

To me, it's clear that Black America has a much easier time lauding negative images/figures of black people than someone who is seemingly more of the positive and uplifting sort. It's a damn shame. And there's so much more I could write on why it's that way, the implications, what it'd take to change... but I'll save room for other comments!

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Baratunde 2 years ago 1 point
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I say WRITE MORE. there's plenty of space here. It's the INTERNET!!! :)

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http://www.baratunde.com/blog

Eskunder Boyd 2 years ago 1 point
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Very insightful, really. Just one point of correction. It's David Palmer on 24, not James Palmer. By way of addendum, David's brother, Wayne, has also been elected President. He had his first assisination attempt last episode. Hope all is well. McCain in 2008!!!

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