Obama is as much white as he is black.

By Blackspeare, February 27 at 9:00 am #
(99 comments total)
Hey----"Inherit The Wind”:
You posted, “We are still caught up in the ancient idiotic idea that “one drop of blood” makes you Black.”
You’re not far off.  The old Jim Crow laws stated that if one great grandparent was black then youse was black namely an “Octaroon.”

Actually as I recall the old jim crow laws, it was 1/32nd black blood made one black.  Damn that’s powerful stuff!

By mackTN, February 26 at 3:14 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
This club’s been around a long time
Black people have been misportrayed,
By cyrena, February 26 at 9:40 pm #
(2730 comments total)
Re: This club’s been around a long time
• “We have always been here; we just don’t get covered as much as dope dealers.”

mackTN & cyrena

Thanks for your comments.  Let us not forget the number of Freedman living here before the American Revolution.  Historically I remember talking to older black people who remembered that black folks were the majority of artisan – masons, carpenters & etc. after the turn to 1900 who feared in the 1960/70’s that they might lose it all again.

The black people I see on the tele are economists and business leaders,professionals. professors and assorted experts.  I avoid local news and the standard mainstream media since it is foolish.  The bright and moral folks of all races, creeds, colors and points of national origin far outweigh the rabble of each group.

Live outside these borders for awhile.  It’s a wide and truly wonderful world out there.  This racial crap is part of the legacy of our Abramic and English heritage.  Approximately 4% of the slave trade came to this country (USA) the rest went to the Caribbean and Central and South America.  The Europeans with their missionary zeal destroyed, or crippled, indigenous peoples around the world.

I believe you on this CY…

“… Oh, BTW none of those citizens of Edgepark would EVER vote for Obama....they were all Republicans!”

But, the deal is NOW, that here in the 21st Century, those Edgepark black folks are mostly gone, or their generations have been updated.

These people in Edgepark don’t sound much different that the Black professionals from Chicago’s “Pill Hill”, (an wealthy enclave of African-Americans on Chicago’s South Side) or the wealth(ier) Black enclaves of any large city or small town. I would say though,that they’ve existed throughout history as attached to the larger metropolitan suburban extensions than the smaller places that you describe there in Edgepark.

Still, this isn’t unusual, FOR THAT TIME, and many still exist. And yeah, they WERE republican, if only because that was the only way, THEN, for most black folks to have a shot at the ‘American Dream.’ It was never enough to just have the intelligence, or the aspirations, or the willingness to work hard. Back then, (and it has remained the case) the ‘lighter’ one was, the better chances they had of making the connections, to get to the education,to get the jobs, and therefore, the eventual ‘enclaves’. But, being a Republican was also a ‘must’. They would never have achieved that ‘status’ as Democrats.

So, many of those who COULD, did the ‘passe le blanc’ thing, (that means passing for white) and they ‘kept the color’ in/out of the family. So, those enclaves were small and few between, since they didn’t attach to either the black or the white communities, and mostly kept to themselves. Consequently, they don’t really ‘count’ in the frame of reference suggested here.

These handful of black geniuses survived in spite of the primary foundation upon with this country was founded.

I’m inclined to see that from the origins, America was not the proverbial ‘melting pot’ especially in the original colonies. No doubt, each ‘group’ did have it’s own place.

But, despite the die hards who would rather have it remain that way...progress has indeed happened anyway. It’s been slow, but it’s still happened.

Too bad it wasn’t sooner. The other nations of the world realized long before, that there was an advantage, (not a disadvantage) to multiculturalism. There is so much waste involved in maintaining the egg crate mentality. Maintains ignorance as well.

I think the camps for black geniuses where they go and plot world domination are right next to the Jewish camps in the catskills.I believe they are called the black alps.Eugene I know you have attended and are not telling the whole truth.I think the big plan at the Nate Turner black camp is to enslave all whites picking blackberries for microsoft.The entertainment at these camps I believe is black performers performing in white face.All this talk about Jews and blacks plotting world domination when it was and always will be the good old WASP actually doing the controlling while we point fingers at everybody else.By the way Michelle Obsama’s statement that she was not proud to be American until a blck man was given the right to really run for President is so right on I cannot believe the critcism she has gotten for it.I as a white person am really proud of my country now that we are really trying to include everybody in to the American dream.Do not back off Michelle.

I’ve enjoyed having the opportunity to see Eugene Robinson and hear his views on MSNBC, along with other guests such as Arrianna Huffington, Rachel Sklar, Roy Sekoff(?) from Huffington Post, and Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz from Air America. 

And I note these appearances because I’m acutely aware of the fact that most media and other institutions, including Congress and the entire federal government, are still predominantly run by white men.  It’s not unusual to turn on cspan and see a panel of people convened to discuss (fill in the blank—discuss anything) and the panel is only white men.  It seems like the only time they include a woman or a non-white is when the topic is specifically about women or non-whites.  Everything else is off-limits.  Apparently women are welcome to discuss childbirth and childrearing, menopause, and caring for elderly parents, but their views on anything else in the world are ignored.  The same is true for non-whites:  panels about drugs, prison, inner-city poverty may include blacks or hispanics, but when it comes to discussing the middle east, China, or the Soviet Union, apparently the only views that matter are those of white men.

Anyway, I’m glad to see msnbc opening up the doors and letting in women, minorities, and progressive voices.  And I enjoy the opportunity to see and hear Eugene Robinson in his many guest appearances on msnbc.

My theory is that there is a small group of perverts in this country who spend most of their time thinking about hateful things to say about others.  Those are the people who are pushing the view that Americans will not vote for Hillary because she’s a woman (which actually has not seemed to be the issue in this campaign) or that they will not vote for Obama because he’s black (which so far has not seemed to be an issue either).  I expect Fox and the Republicans to focus primarily on race if Obama is the candidate, and on gender if Hillary is, because they appeal to the perverts and make their money creating hatred. 

I guess we’ll see.  Given the white men who have been running our government in recent years, I’d say our slogan should be “Anyone but another corrupt old white man.”

Hey----"Inherit The Wind”:

You posted, “We are still caught up in the ancient idiotic idea that “one drop of blood” makes you Black.”

You’re not far off.  The old Jim Crow laws stated that if one great grandparent was black then youse was black namely an “Octaroon.” It is interesting that Hitler took the same concept from the Jim Crow laws to determine the “Jewishness” of an individual.  But you are correct----it is idiotic!

I don’t usually agree with Cyrena, but this time the lady had me chuckling: “ And, it has taken the morons by surprise. “

I don’t understand how melanin percentages have been deemed to be a measure of intelligence or morality. To talk about a cabal of Black geniuses is no different than talking about a cabal of Jewish geniuses.

In fact, one of the more insightful comments I ever heard was that there is far more variance within races than across races.  And it doesn’t take much observation to see it’s true.  Look at a football game.  As Black and White and Asian linemen slam into each other, it’s obvious that these quick, powerful behemoths are far more similar to each other, regardless of color, than to the average Joe or Jane.  Quarterbacks are quarterbacks, and good ones are good and bad ones are bad--as are wide receivers.

This, of course, is nothing more than a paradigm to change how we view people.

Barack Obama is, in our culture, a “Black” man.  This is despite the fact that his Kenyan father left when he was two, and Obama was raised COMPLETELY by his White mother, with his White relatives.  We are still caught up in the ancient idiotic idea that “one drop of blood” makes you Black.

Now it looks like Hillary Clinton is finished and Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee.  His being Black is most extraordinary in that his competence and capability is counting for far more than his ancestry. And that is a good thing.

One of the reasons I regularly seek out your columns, Eugene, is for just exactly this kind of unique and hilarious perspective that illuminates a really dim corner of our national zeitgeist.

Having spent my entire life wondering if race will ever be discussed intelligently, (or even dicussed at all) in America, it’s frustrating to watch someone like Geraldo move his fear from one pigeon hole to a slightly larger one. But, that’s exactly what’s happened and we’re all the better for it. The most we can hope for is progress, and even when it’s subconscious, it is moving forward.

But, I wanted to add to your list of “black brainiacs” a young gentleman named Lewis Hamilton.

Last year, he almost managed to became the first rookie Formula 1 driver to clinch the drivers championship in his first year, narrowly missing out by one point (out of 110) because of a miscalculation on the first corner of the last race. He is now being heralded as the “greatest natural driver” of all time, (even eclipsing the former giants of the sport, like Jimmy Clark, Jackie Stewart, and even the recently retired Michael Schumacher.)

What’s most remarkable about his achievement is something that was completely beyond his control.

NEVER ONCE DID ANYONE BRING UP HIS RACE in spite of the fact that he is the first black man (english) to ever drive a Formula 1 car. It was simply not an issue. All season. (I watched every race (19) including practice and qualifying (three days, or roughly 4hrs total each race weekend.)

The series is almost entirely held in countries outside the U.S., and I can’t help but think that played a big part in his success. I can’t wait till the series returns (middle of March) just about the time Obama has locked up the nomination (touch wood) to see if comparisons to Lewis’ success are drawn to Obama.

I have a feeling that, once again, the sports commentary of former auto mechanics will be elevated MILES above Geraldo’s banal rants.

• “We have always been here; we just don’t get covered as much as dope dealers.”

MackTN, you hit it right on the head. We have always been here. But, America stopped paying any attention, (at least the ones that had noticed before) because the MSM stopped paying attention.  Nobody covered my black relatives’ undergraduate degree celebration when they finished at Yale, (in ’74) just like they didn’t cover Michelle Obama’s from Princeton.. They didn’t cover their graduations from the USC Medical School in 1979 either.

Nope, nope, nope. There’s been no coverage of anything that black folks have done since the CRM, unless it’s prison statistics or dope slingers.

And, it has taken the morons by surprise. You can always ‘note’ the ones who just ‘ain’t used to nothin’, (among the white population) because if they’d been to any of these places themselves, (be they be institutions of higher learning or just plain old progressive and multicultural community living) they wouldn’t be so ‘surprised’ by all of this.

More than anything though, the short life of the Civil Rights Movement, (even though it did bring great changes) has lead to an equally ignorant MSM, who has simply chosen NOT to cover anything other than the negative, of this small portion of America’s population. The reality is that while African American’s make-up 13% of the population, and DESPITE the fact that we’ve been around since the very beginning, (sometimes even outnumbering the slave owners or traders that brought us here) people are still unaware, and prefer to maintain the original attitudes, despite the passage of 300 years.

At the end, it’s only proven to be detrimental to the American society as a whole.  It’s like the stolen artwork that another poster mentioned at this blog. One might wonder what in the world those thieves could have planned to do with that famous artwork. Who could they sell it to?

Well, it would wind up in a ‘personal collection’ is what the poster suggested, and therefore be unavailable for far more people…humanity at large, to enjoy and appreciate, and gain some value from. 

That’s the case with any geniuses, (whether Barack is a genius or not). We know that the others spoken of here have been; Thurgood Marshall, WEB DuBois, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the list goes on. They were the few of whose genius we DID benefit from, but overwhelmingly, the genius of African-Americans, (and I’m certainly not claiming that ALL African-Americans are automatically geniuses, just by nature of their blackness) has been largely ignored.

Meantime, I did get a chuckle from Eugene’s excellent piece. Leave it to the moron Geraldo, to come up with some sort of a ‘genius’ camp for black folks, allegedly planning world domination. I wonder if he’d say the same about the Young Black Scholars Association? Probably.

Actually, they’re pretty benign. Just a bunch of young African-American geeks. We start ‘em young though. It’s better than dealing dope.

They know it too.

Mid city Mike is a hopeless troll blivet..No chance of recovery, he will always be a Blivet....

I’m not saying positive thinking isn’t important and I would agree with you that it is part of “the answer,” so to speak.  I do not, however, believe that it is the definitive answer for the political system.  I think a drawback to the wave of Obama optimism (though I do see several progressive parts to it as well, increased voter turnout for one) is that corporate control over the Democrat party is still getting increasingly glossed over.  Nonetheless, I think Lefty is way more wrong about blacks than Obama is about politics.

writer:

“Positive thinking seems somewhat beside the point” in lifting blacks out of “structural inequalities, systemic disenfranchisement and abject racism.”

Yet isn’t that what Obama’s entire campaign is founded on: positive thinking re lifting the country out of “structural (electoral) inequalities, systemic disenfranchisement (of voters) and abject” dismissal or ignoring of the needs of people?

If, as you claim, “positive thinking” is not the answer for blacks (and I’m not suggesting it is, though it is certainly part of it), why do you think it is the answer for the political system?  And if you don’t, does this mean Obama is as wrong about politics as Lefty is about blacks?

Peace.

(Chris Matthews)devoted much of his lowbrow sputtering pontificating to Hillary dissing, now seems to realize he may not have Billary to kick around anymore and has started to pay homage to the Queen--regardless of how much it strains credibility. It is notable that Tweety was the only pundit ignoring Hillary’s blatant borrowing of John Edwards lines while pitching the plagerizing meme.

Now Billary whines the press gives Obama a pass, after she had the mantra of inevitablity locked up for months before the primary even got in gear. Fair press to Billary would be the politics of personal destruction targeting their opponent exclusively. Now Billary pouts because for all of their corporate sell-out they can’t get the MSM to do their personal bidding and possibly their lock on the Democratic party is starting to slip as well.

Praise the heavens for the smallest of favors!

I think that discussions of black pathology function primarily to obscure questions about structural inequalities, systemic disenfranchisement and abject racism.  Positive thinking seems somewhat beside the point.  As always, the framework for any question determines its answer.  The 1965 congressional report by Daniel Patrick Moynihan on the alleged pathology of the black community and the purported detrimental effects of black matriarchy led to the recommendation that more black men join the armed forces to restore their manhood.  The military’s persistent offers to the exploit/uplift the underclass (black and otherwise) continue to this day.  Additionally, affirmation of Moynihan’s black pathology argument persists in pop culture (the movie Antwan Fisher is a perfect example of this).  I think the obsession with black pathology precludes any kind of progressive solutions to struggles with addiction, unemployment and financial instability.

they have better luck than the people attending white genius camp.

Black struggles are, in part, self created pathology.  When faced with adversity, some people find a way to thrive, others self destruct.  A large part, if not a majority, of American blacks have taken the self destruct path.  There is a way to prosperity for them, [that has nothing to do with Jesus], and it starts with the power of positive thinking!  Some already know this.  Most don’t.

Unfortunate that even in a critique of black-genius-phobia Mr. Robinson chooses to frame struggles within black communities in terms of pathology ("dysfunction") and to seek examples of genius in black capitalism.