people that want to keep calling Obama a "mixed-race" President (Republicans, African American)

[GLS]

Originally Posted by glenn72

I posted this somewhere else; it should have been here. Rhetoric? It is called science and truth. I do not care what he looks like or how you would describe him to the police. The Fact is that it is FALSE to call him simply black. He is biracial. Sorry to burst your bubble. Facts are facts, you can not dispute them or explain them away with stories of victimization. That does not give you the right to spout a lie and call him the first black president.

original post:

I am sorry but this has to be addressed. I keep reading and hearing that Obama is the first black president. This is a glaring inaccuracy that I can no longer ignore. I am not criticizing Obama. As far as I know he has not uttered this phrase.

Obama is not the first black president; he is the first biracial president. Still a very impressive achievement that should be celebrated and reported as such. To call Obama the first black president is intellectually dishonest and offensive. Are we simply judging a book by its cover, because he appears more black than white.

To say this is the intellectual and logical equivalent of stating that Obama is simply the 44th white president. There is no difference. You can not take 50% of Obama's genetic makeup and assign it a value of 100%. If we did this in science....hell, there would be no science.

Quite frankly, it is disrespectful to Obama's white relatives. Have we simply dismissed them completely with this consistent inaccuracy. The only people I know who used this logic were old school racist who functioned under the "one drop" policy. If you had even just a smigen of black then you were black. Are we getting are scientific and historical cues from these people.

The media has been horrible about this. I am not saying it is manipulation or puposeful maliciousness on anyone's part. I just think people have got caught up in the moment. It is doubtful that he is even the first multiracial president. Definitely, the first biracial president. Sorry, not the first black president.

I am sure I will be flamed to no end, though I do not know why. I am simply stating a fact that everyone knows but seems to forget.

Accurate and well said. I too am tired of the hypocritical parade celebrating his Blackness, while excluding the white component. If people weren't dancing around gloating about "the first BLACK president", you wouldn't see this type of backlash. After three weeks of black parenting his father dumped him. Without 40 years of nurturing from his white mother and relatives, he wouldn't have achieved this goal. The point is NOT that he is biracial. The point is that focusing on his blackness is both misleading and divisive.

[quelinda]

Originally Posted by glenn72

II do not care what he looks like or how you would describe him to the police. The Fact is that it is FALSE to call him simply black. He is biracial. Sorry to burst your bubble. Facts are facts, you can not dispute them or explain them away with stories of victimization. That does not give you the right to spout a lie and call him the first black president.

On your logic we will probably never have a first black president simply because most black people in this country do have some white and native American ancestry. Lots of latinos are mixed with European, African and Native American blood. And yes, lots of white people in America in fact have African blood in addition to European blood as a result of thousands of light skinned blacks "passing" as white up until I believe the 1930s.

The funny part is how white Americans have never tried to claim someone black is part of them before. How interested many conservatives on this forum all of a sudden seem to be in pointing out that a black person is half white. Despite this mixing being a big reality of our country for hundreds of years (especially the dark part where people mixed out of constant and accepted rape and not by choice).

There are two points to this issue, one is how Obama feels inside and how he identifies within his own mind having been treated as black by society but being within a white family and being a part of all of white culture and views. On the other hand, in society he was treated as a black person and that has a separate effect. You can tell people you're half white til you're blue in the face, but if all they see is complexion than it really makes no difference, does it? It seems like our various ethnic groups are interacting more and that is changing things in this country.

[Surfing USA]

Originally Posted by glenn72

Are we getting are scientific and historical cues from these people.

What do you mean, "THESE PEOPLE"?

[AZLiam]

Originally Posted by quelinda

The funny part is how white Americans have never tried to claim someone black is part of them before.

How do you know this for sure?

[TXboomerang]

Originally Posted by Sunil's Dad

In your experience, would you say that white-appearing people who may have Native and African ancestry are more willing to "admit" to the Native but not the African?

I think that would be hard to generalize. If I had any African blood in me that I was aware of, I would speak about it as often as I do my native American blood, which isn't all that frequently. I agree that people are usually classified by their overall look. I look white, so nobody even gives a second thought that I have native American blood in me. I was also raised in a southern white family with southern roots in the poor rural areas of south MS and LA.

[glenn72]

There are two points to this issue, one is how Obama feels inside and how he identifies within his own mind having been treated as black by society but being within a white family and being a part of all of white culture and views. On the other hand, in society he was treated as a black person and that has a separate effect. You can tell people you're half white til you're blue in the face, but if all they see is complexion than it really makes no difference, does it? It seems like our various ethnic groups are interacting more and that is changing things in this country.

I wish that was the case. They are only going to get worse if the left continues to preach and promote identity politics. It is divisive and racist. It is the opposite of the color blind society promoted by MLK. They are creating another victim class in white people. I am white and I feel like a victim in this country. Where are my advocacy groups? I see discrimination all the time. I have been a victim of it, and I am not talking about being called a name. The kind that really affects one's personal life. Not to mention the huge double standards we must endure. Most white people I know feel the same. We do not talk about it to other races. Well, I do but most do not. I think it helps to openly discuss these things. Things could get ugly if this continues unabated. I hope that is not the case.

[Lucario]

Quote:
Originally Posted by quelinda
The funny part is how white Americans have never tried to claim someone black is part of them before.

How do you know this for sure?

Take a look at history.

[jmking]

I really don't dwell on people's color just their actions and in this thread I'm putting color aside. Obama has his mother's looks. His mother has her father's looks. If you scroll down in the link provided you'll have the option to click his family tree.
The Story of Barack Obama's Mother - TIME

[glenn72]

What do you mean, "THESE PEOPLE"?

Damn, you got me! cheers

[denverian]

We had biracial twins earlier this year (black and white) and their birth certificates list their race as "African American". I found that to be odd and just as incorrect as if they'd been labeled as "European Amercians". I would expect the birth certificate to be correct and label them as bi-racial, caucasian/African or whatever. As has been discussed, this labeling seems to go back to the racist idea that if you have so much African blood, you're considered black.

Anywho, at least we'll be able to tell them that the President is just like them! Racially speaking anyway.