What Exactly Is "Black Enough"?
Nancy Giles Ponders The Question Everyone Seems To Be Asking
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Play CBS Video Video What Is "Black Enough?" As some critics question whether presidential candidate Barack Obama is "black enough," Nancy Giles wonders why people are asking that question.
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Some critics are saying that Barack Obama is "not black enough" to gain the support of African-Americans. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
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Photo Essay Obama Family Album Get a peek at some personal photos from the album of Sen. Barack Obama.
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Photo Essay Barack Obama The junior senator from Illinois is making his name known.
Is presidential candidate Barack Obama "black enough?" And does he appeal to white voters because he's only half "black?" And does his B.A. from Columbia and his Harvard law degree somehow make him "too white?"
And since his father was African and Barack Obama grew up with his white mother in Hawaii and Indonesia before moving back to the States, does that mean that he can't relate to the authentic African-American experience, and that black Americans would do better to vote for someone who truly relates to our unique history, like Hillary Clinton or Rudy Giuliani?
What does "not black enough" mean, anyway? Are you more black if you grew up in an all-black neighborhood, and less black if you grew up around a mix of cultures? Is hair part of the equation? If it's natural, does that make you more black? Then where does that leave Al Sharpton, or most of the black girl singers on the planet?
Is blackness measured in percentages, so that any white person in one's gene pool dilutes one's purity? So if you're half-black, you're mulatto; one-quarter black: a quadroon, one-eighth black: an octoroon? Do we really want to go back to that time in our history? And what about our natural talents at music, rhythm and athletics? I'm tall, but I've never been good at basketball. Where do I fit in?
Who knows? I've been told for years I don't sound black. Kids in school said I talked white. I've always been black and I've always talked like this. What they really meant was that I didn't sound like the stereotype that they were used to. But if sounding black means speaking one specific way, would Martin Luther King have been accused of sounding white? Would his speech have been more authentic if he "axed" us to march on Washington in 1963 to hear his famous "I Be Havin' A Dream" speech?
In his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama spoke about the struggles of family life in the inner-city. "Children can't achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white," he said.
"Acting white"? It's time to stop the "divide and conquer" speak and acknowledge that we can come from different places and still share something unique. "Black enough?" Black enough for what?
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See all 60 CommentsThe bigger division that I see is socioeconomic. I have several black students who are low performers, but just as many white students. The common factor is that they are poor. Many are from families where mom works odd hours and isn't home to help them with homework. Also, many of these parents didn't finish high school. Now, we are teaching 8th grade math to 6th graders and many of these parents don't know how to help when they are home.
No matter how hard we work to close the racial and socioeconomic gaps, our government has decided in its infinite wisdom to single out students that fit in these categories. Our funding and performance are determined on how these particular students do on state tests. While I want all of my students to do well, I have a problem with the way they are profiled. Students they are identified by race, economic status, and/or special needs. They are further identified as those who have a chance at passing the test and those who do not. This is an atrocity to our education system, but what other choice do we have when public schools are being taken over by the government because these identified groups didn't pass?
I was so happy to hear your comments!! Is Derek Jeter black enough to play baseball? Is Halle Berry black enough to win an Oscar? Is Mariah Carrey black enough to sell millions of records? All of them are of mixed heritage. What's the big deal??? Why can't we all be Americans first, then embrace our heritage be it Italian, Asian, African, Brazilian second? Or the mix as it is more likely to be these days. Why does color have to matter?
Nice try Jebby, but this doesn't fly with anyone who knows anything about recent history. Does anybody really want to argue that George W. Bush gives a *** about the issues of minorities? Really? In the wake of Katrina? Right. And please spare me the "Republicans gave you freedom" line. Neither party - no party, can make that claim. People of all political persuasions, religious affiliations, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and regional upbringings fought and died for this country. Democratic presidents led this country through the major 20th Century wars (Wilson, Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, etc.). Save your historical oversimplifications for arguing Reagan deserves a coin or a spot on Mt. Rushmore. Or perhaps put your thoughts on a bumper sticker that fits with the rest of the todays right-wing sound byte politics.
The rest the pack has to pander to the black in hopes of getting some of their votes - futile dream that is - and risk charges of speaking with a forked tongue.
What a joke.
The only thing we can know for certain is that they are all lying, trying to figure out what we want to hear, and that when it's over, whoever wins, it will be a Rich Peoples President.
Then you have to forget about how the Democrats facilitated slavery and when they could no longer own slaves they replaced slavery with separate but not equal laws that institutionalized black people as 3rd class citizens.
Then you have to point at Republicans and call them racist and Nazis.
After all, Republicans only gave you the freedom to be just like every American. But that's not enough I guess.
The BUSH WAR is illegal
the resumption of hostilities was only a matter of time since Bush was elected with his neocon sidekicks....
blame barbara bush for iraq......
Posted by lars008
1) The phrase 'reverse discrimination' is utterly absurd because if they have been discriminated against, they need only call it 'discrimination'.
2) Affirmative Action laws became necessary to counter preexistent laws - yes, WRITTEN laws - that prohibited blacks and women from participation in their rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".
3) I'm so tired of whites announcing that a competitor who won a coveted position is less qualified than themselves, without any challenge to verify their claims. Since transcripts, job evaluations, or any information that would confirm such a claim is not available for public record, it's more likely that they're just making statements they know they'll never have to prove.
4) No company or organization is going to hire unqualified people to fill numbers. That would be suicide for their business!
5) The institution of slavery has been abolished; but the visceral hatred toward blacks that made it possible continues to breath,thrive and reproduce, thus invalidating your 'sins of my forefathers' argument.
6) Whites who feel they can't prosper unless others are cut from the game, are the real losers.
With all the important things we have falling apart in America, what the hell is color? Why is color such a big choice to ponder? I wonder: do newspeople have to be Republican to work? Do the Democrats really have the right idea and the newspeople are just working at undermining the Democrats so the Repubs don't lose elections? What's the deal? It seems like we take two steps forward and two back. Will we never fix America?
I think you just sound like Nancy, and I think you are just fine. I would think you are just fine if you had a black accent, whatever that is. It doesn't matter. You have a great talent in what you do and I respect that.
With all the important things we have falling apart in America, what the hell is color? Why is color such a big choice to ponder? I wonder: do newspeople have to be Republican to work? Do the Democrats really have the right idea and the newspeople are just working at undermining the Democrats so the Repubs don't lose elections? What's the deal? It seems like we take two steps forward and two back. Will we never fix America?
I think you just sound like Nancy, and I think you are just fine. I would think you are just fine if you had a black accent, whatever that is. It doesn't matter. You have a great talent in what you do and I respect that.
With all the important things we have falling apart in America, what the hell is color? Why is color such a big choice to ponder? I wonder: do newspeople have to be Republican to work? Do the Democrats really have the right idea and the newspeople are just working at undermining the Democrats so the Repubs don't lose elections? What's the deal? It seems like we take two steps forward and two back. Will we never fix America?
I think you just sound like Nancy, and I think you are just fine. I would think you are just fine if you had a black accent, whatever that is. It doesn't matter. You have a great talent in what you do and I respect that.
With all the important things we have falling apart in America, what the hell is color? Why is color such a big choice to ponder? I wonder: do newspeople have to be Republican to work? Do the Democrats really have the right idea and the newspeople are just working at undermining the Democrats so the Repubs don't lose elections? What's the deal? It seems like we take two steps forward and two back. Will we never fix America?
I think you just sound like Nancy, and I think you are just fine. I would think you are just fine if you had a black accent, whatever that is. It doesn't matter. You have a great talent in what you do and I respect that.
With all the important things we have falling apart in America, what the hell is color? Why is color such a big choice to ponder? I wonder: do newspeople have to be Republican to work? Do the Democrats really have the right idea and the newspeople are just working at undermining the Democrats so the Repubs don't lose elections? What's the deal? It seems like we take two steps forward and two back. Will we never fix America?
I think you just sound like Nancy, and I think you are just fine. I would think you are just fine if you had a southern drawl. It doesn't matter. You have a great talent in what you do and I respect that.
With all the important things we have falling apart in America, what the hell is color? Why is color such a big choice to ponder? I wonder: do newspeople have to be Republican to work? Do the Democrats really have the right idea and the newspeople are just working at undermining the Democrats so the Repubs don't lose elections? What's the deal? It seems like we take two steps forward and two back. Will we never fix America?
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