(no subject)

[somedaybitch]

from the WSJ's OpinionJournal daily newsletter, is the following. i copy/paste because the segment is from the "Best of the Web" and there's no specific link for just this bit. words in bold are the author's original.

Shades of Black

The New York Times has an article addressing the question of why "some black voters"--or at any rate some black thinkers and members of the civil-rights establishment--are "uneasy" about Sen. Barack Obama, whose father was a black man from Kenya and whose mother, a native American, is a person of pallor. We were on to this story a good 2 1/2 weeks ago, so there's no reason to rehash the subject. But we do find curious the ethnic and racial nomenclature in the story:

The black author and essayist Debra J. Dickerson recently declared that "Obama isn't black" in an American racial context. Some polls suggest that Mr. Obama trails one of his rivals for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, in the battle for African-American support. . . .

"I've got nothing but love for the brother, but we don't have anything in common," said Ms. Dickerson, who wrote recently about Mr. Obama in Salon, the online magazine. "His father was African. His mother was a white woman. He grew up with white grandparents.

"Now, I'm willing to adopt him," Ms. Dickerson continued. "He married black. He acts black. But there's a lot of distance between black and African-Americans." . . .

Emil Jones Jr., the president of the Illinois state senate and one of Mr. Obama's early mentors, says he is frustrated by black voters who question Mr. Obama's Kenyan heritage. As a state legislator, Mr. Obama had the support of voters in his district, which is 67 percent black.

"He doesn't share the same kind of background as most African-Americans, but he's addressed those issues that related to underprivileged communities throughout Illinois," said Mr. Jones, who is black.

Mr. Obama describes himself as an African-American, and as a young man, he has said, he yearned to be accepted by black Americans.

Obama is in fact African-American, in the same sense that the author of this column, the son of immigrants from Turkey and Sweden, is both Turkish- and Swedish-American (or, if you like, European-American). The term African-American--which Jesse Jackson put forward as a replacement for black some two decades ago--is less precise when referring to the descendants of people whose ancestors were brought to America in bondage centuries ago. One of the horrors of slavery is that it largely, and involuntarily, sundered the connection between slaves and their ancestral homeland; and a change in terminology cannot erase this fact of history.

But the usage in the Times story makes things even more confusing. Apparently African-American now refers to both the descendants of slaves and immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa (though presumably only dark-skinned ones; it is still, as far as we know, politically incorrect to refer to Teresa Heinz Kerry, a white Mozambique native, as "African-American"). Black, at least if Debra Dickerson has her way, refers only to the descendants of slaves.

What, then, do we call members of South Africa's formerly oppressed racial majority? After African-American became the politically correct term for black, we recall hearing stories (perhaps apocryphal) of copy-editors changing references to this group so that they read, for instance, "South Africa's African-American majority." Politically correct language often does more to obscure than to clarify--but maybe that's the idea.

the guy that can legitimately call himself "African American", because he is, in fact, a first generation American of African descent, isn't apparently allowed.

the depth of racism there is stunning.

Comments

[itsazoo.livejournal.com]

I was very good friends with an older black guy at work (he wanted to be called black; he felt African-American was an affectation) He grew up on a farm in cotton country down in SE MO. Anyway, when he referred to other black people, relatives maybe or someone he had dealt with at work, he almost always prefaced his conversation with a description of their color, like he was very dark, or she was light-skinned. I never asked him about it. He was uneducated but had way more money than me. He'd worked 2 jobs for many years, owned several boarding houses for single men and a couple two-families. I suppose color variation was always important for his circle growing up. But saying Obama isn't black enough is insulting. Is Hilary not woman enough to run for pres?

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

I suppose color variation was always important for his circle growing up. But saying Obama isn't black enough is insulting.

and i find that probably the most disturbing aspect. how can there ever be a genuine dialogue, a genuine path to an absence of racism, or at the very least a parity, when even amongst blacks they have to perpetually prove that they're "black enough".

[kernezelda]

There is some sense of that down here, as well, that being black is a cultural thing as much as biological. I wonder if a Caucasian, Korean or Hispanic child raised by black parents in a disadvantaged neighborhood would be acceptable to that author.

[(Anonymous)]

good question, and one to which i'm not sure i could posit an answer. she struck me as so, i dunno, condescending. korean or hispanic might pass the muster but, based strictly on her tone in the quotes, it wouldn't matter how poor the white kid was...it would still be white to her, and therefore, if not the enemy then certainly not good enough.

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

oi. that was me.

[(Anonymous)]

it is a strange thing. we are often much harder on ourselves than others are on us. some years back, there was a book written entitled, "High Cotton", that explored the subject of the rivalry (read: enmity) among the afro-american community based on color. i've lived through it most of my life having grown up, studied, and worked in environments where i was in the clear minority. i came face to face with it in the dominican republic where they take it to an all new level (just look at their treatment of haitians with whom they share their island.) i think in some ways it's similar to social rivalries you find elsewhere: northern italians vs. southern italians; waloon vs. flemish belgians; catalans vs. andalucians in spain, etc. i've also found it can be really hard within families (darker relatives vs. lighter ones, for instance.) the truth is, no one has cornered the market on racism, and society is much worse for it. tdr

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

i was hoping you'd weigh in on this.

i don't understand this kind of behavior. i have no frame of reference for it at all, and i didn't go to an all white school. it was predominantly so, but we had blacks, cuban, hispanics, some jews. they were just kids in school. and that was in the early 70's. and my high school was no different. it was on the edge of a barrio and we were very racially diverse. i never, ever heard racial slurs at school. not ever. not even second or third hand stories. it was an all girls school and people you didn't like were just bitches.

the sense i kept getting as i was reading this woman's words was that if she thought she could get away with it, she'd have much rather called him an Uncle Tom.

i've also found it can be really hard within families (darker relatives vs. lighter ones, for instance.)

that's just....nuts.

[(Anonymous)]

Ah,yes. Then there's the "UT factor". We tend to use it on one another when we're either envious or jealous of what someone else has done/gained. I went to a relatively diverse public high school and the tension between the races, and within the races, was pretty much a sub-text throughout. It was strange what constituted "being black enough". The side of town you lived on, the friends you had, the way you spoke, who you dated all played a factor. And, it was a pretty unforgiving environment meaning once you were placed in your nice little group you weren't getting out of it. I used to think it was just a high school thing, but I learned pretty quickly that's it's largely a social thing.

I think it's funny that the woman making the comments about Obama implies she has nothing in common with him. I suppose she would argue that she has more in common with Hillary Clinton because they're both women? Seems to me that's a stretch, too. Perhaps, she has more in common with a white male candidate because they have the same shoe size? I mean, really.

The other thing I'll never understand is how it's ok for us to refer to one another by the "N"-word. Talk about nuts. I'm pretty sure if my mom had ever heard me do that, just once, I wouldn't be alive to tell the tale.

Personally, I don't have time for any of it. Life's way too short. One more thing, if after everything we (Afro-Americans) have been through, trying to establish our presence as just Americans in America, we can't appreciate the accomplishments of one of our own legitimately contending for the highest office in the land, then we really do have a long way to go. tdr

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

The other thing I'll never understand is how it's ok for us to refer to one another by the "N"-word.

YES!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! how is that any less of an insult? /boggled and how do they not see how damaging the hypocritical double standard is?

One more thing, if after everything we (Afro-Americans) have been through, trying to establish our presence as just Americans in America, we can't appreciate the accomplishments of one of our own legitimately contending for the highest office in the land, then we really do have a long way to go.

amen, brother.

it's not just black Americans, though. it's ALL Americans. when we stop referring to ourselves by self-appointed, and quite frankly bullshit, separators and start referring to ourselves as JUST Americans, this country will be a better place.

i'm proud of where my family comes from, and the cultures that they call home, but what the fuck does my italian and german heritage have to do with my status as an American to anyone *other* than me and my family?

equality is an absence of prejudice, not prejudice in the other direction.

[wishkey.livejournal.com]

It was never easy for me. I was born a poor black child. I remember the days, sittin' on the porch with my family, singin' and dancin' down in Mississippi....
-- Steve Martin, The Jerk

OMGWTFidiotdumbasses. They are making my poor brain hurt.

[wishkey.livejournal.com]

I was once told that my life was always going to be easy because I was so fair-skinned. I was told this by someone who was "dark" Italian, compared to my "light" Italian.I was dating that person's son at the time. My parents gave me hell because they considered him "black" -- he was darker complected than me, and (this is the really sick part) his step-father was from Jamaica.

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

my mom has this bizarre, and totally random, racist streak that occasionally rears its ugly head, but not very often. which was always interesting because it was never brought up EVER when i was growing up. it wasn't till after i had come home from college that it would come out occasionally.

I was once told that my life was always going to be easy because I was so fair-skinned

well that was an especially stupid individual.

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

:::leaves you chocolate for your brain:::

isn't it mindboggling?

[gingerwood.livejournal.com]

I'm right there with you in the whole 'no frame of reference' business. I mean, I probably have as little in common with Hilary Clinton as the author of the article has with Obama, but I can't imagine saying that she isn't 'White' enough, or 'Woman' enough. I can't imagine any fair-skinned female in this country saying that with a straight face, regardless of political, cultural, genetic or social-economic heritage.

When I hear stories about african-american students shunned and labeled 'oreo' when they excel in school, it makes my blood boil. It also makes me a whole lot less receptive to the whole 'white privilage' arguement than I might otherwise be inclined to be.

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

I mean, I probably have as little in common with Hilary Clinton as the author of the article has with Obama, but I can't imagine saying that she isn't 'White' enough, or 'Woman' enough. I can't imagine any fair-skinned female in this country saying that with a straight face, regardless of political, cultural, genetic or social-economic heritage.


i KNOW! and how can they not see the disconnect there?

When I hear stories about african-american students shunned and labeled 'oreo' when they excel in school, it makes my blood boil. It also makes me a whole lot less receptive to the whole 'white privilage' arguement than I might otherwise be inclined to be.

yes, this.

[kerlin.livejournal.com]

I'm just sitting here going "What? What? What?"

*headdesk*

[arthurfrdent.livejournal.com]

thought one... I used to run a loading dock with both Immigrants from various countries, mostly Hispanic, and African Americans in Chicago. I was pretty much amazed every day at how much the groups hated each other, based on ethnicity... they probably hated me as well. That and my experiences in Taos High School [500 hispanic, 150 Tewa, 100 or so "Anglo"] convinced me that racism is a human condition... It doesn't seem different to me than any other form of dicrimination just that it's more obvious. Seems like people refuse to see when they themselves are doing it... [you should see Serbs and Croats go at it...]

Thing Two]
at what point did a persons qualifications, track record, and stands on issues fade into irrelevance... bringing unique POV's of their heritage, of their gender or ethnicity is a bonus...

BUT ALSO THE ABILITY TO IGNORE THAT POV AND WORK FOR THE GOOD OF EVERYONE.
Dickerson seems to think Obama doesn't know her situation well enough to represent her interests. Perhaps he doesn't know them any better than he knows mine, but that isn't the question is it? Can he find a way to represent everyone, in the arena of public policy? To me this is the question. But what do I know, my family is a buncha adopted mutz anyway.