Jonathan Weisman, Washington Post Reporter: Obama "Much More White Than Black"

During an online chat Monday at WashingtonPost.com, Washington Post Congressional Reporter Jonathan Weisman said that Barack Obama is "much more white than black." The comment came as part of an answer to a question asking why a recent Obama ad, seen below, was "playing up his white family." Obama's mother was white and his father, who he was not close to growing up, was black.

The full question and answer:

Alexandria, Va.: Obama's new ad (which plays a lot in Alexandria) shows pictures of his mother and grandparents, playing up his white family. Until now he's been "African American"; now suddenly he's a white Midwesterner? During the primary Hillary was criticized for changing her image too many times. Won't Obama be criticized for doing the same thing?

Jonathan Weisman: I haven't heard that criticism, but it is striking. Not a single picture of his father. Now, that really is consistent with his upbringing. He really did not become immersed in black American culture until he left college and went to Chicago. The great irony is that he is much more white than black, beyond skin color.

Watch the ad in question below:

Read the entire WashingtonPost.com Q&A here.

Comments

[Heru1]

B is an African American. PERIOD

[huffposeur]

i think you mean QUESTION MARK.
he's white, arab and east african in that order.
he is not "african-a­merican."
he is not descended from slaves who were taken against their will from western africa.
but he is descended from southern white slaveholders.

[mypov123]

Well, thanks for clarifying. wtf?? Why not just let people define themselves however they choose too, and not worry so much about what his ethnic make-up is (and in what order he should identify each part of his ethnic background).

[Cat82]

You can be African American and not be descended from the slaves that were brought here.

[Brillig]

His father is African

His mother is American

He is African-American

The name African is not a race, it is the name of people who live in Africa, whatever their race

The name American is not a race, it is the name of people who live in America.

He can be described as both, since his parents came from each of those places.

African American, is not a race, no matter what some may think. It is an expression of place.

Slaves were from Africa, and are now in America. FROM AFRICA< NOW LIVING IN AMERICA.

AFTER THAT< THEY CAN BE ANY RACE THEY WANT!

The old time categories were Caucasian, Negro, when referring to "white and black" however Indians were categorized as Caucasian - only dark skinned.

[Heru1]

There is no rule that an African American be descended from slaves. Second, if an African American has to bee free of enslaver blood, there is no such thing as an African American. Third, your ranking of his heritage in order of white supremacy reveals who u are, not him.

[StillIRise]

He is a descendant of an African, from the land from where slaves were stolen and brought to America. Both we, as African Americans, and our slave ancestors are also descendants of Africans. Many of us are descendants of southern white slaveholders as well. Our experience as blacks in America also serves to define who we are, an experience that Senator Obama fully shares with the black community.

Senator Obama calls himself an African American. The only QUESTION MARK I see is why people cannot accept him for who he is.

[layman]

HE'S AN AMERICAN.

[Heru1]

No, he's an African American. PERIOD

[alieninvader]

The only way you are qualified to give that smug an answer is if you are biracial and grew up in a white family. Barack can call himself whatever he wants. I'm sure when he was growing up in white Kansas, he felt very black. I'm also sure that he felt very white when he got to the south side of Chicago. I'm sure he doesn't define himself as either black or white...wh­y should anyone else?

[Heru1]

African American IS what he calls himself. Duh

[StillIRise]

Why would he feel "very white" when he got to the south side of Chicago?

Senator Obama grappled with his identity for many years before he came to Chicago. When he came to Chicago, he came as a black man. He knew who he was, and he himself identifies himself as a black man. He has never called himself white or half-white, and why should anyone else? Less than a month ago, as he accepted the nomination, or soon thereafter, he acknowledged that he was the first AFRICAN AMERICAN to win the nomination for president from a major party. Many, if not most, African Americans are biracial, and many grew up in white families. That doesn't make them any less black, nor does it make Senator Obama any less black.

[WilliamBentley2]

if you want a cogent answer, then say Senator Obama is visibly brown. That's it. Brown. So is Deepak Chopra, Vijay Singh, Oprah, and me and about three billion other people. So what. We're brown. Get over it.

[Heru1]

So what. Africans are visibly brown. That doesn't make Chopra an African American. An African American is an American citizen with African ancestry. If that is too hard to comprehend, I suggest GED courses.

[seriesoftubescleaner]

Are you sure he's wasn't replying to Don Imus' question?

[Hotshortie]

I don't care if he's purple.

That might be the dumbest headline & story, I've read for awhile. I'd love to smack the writer and say,
BI-RACIAL idiot!!!! Get it !!! He's bi - racial !!!! He's the lucky one, he's got both sides to him. He gets to walk in both sets of shoes!!! Obama hasn't changed his image at all. Read his book for goodness sakes. I'm from Iowa and from day one we had known that his grand dad was with Patton's army and his grandma worked at a bomber assembly plant. They were from Kansas. Remember, what all the pundits said when he won Kansas. Remember they talked about his grandparents? Geez, am I the only one who remembers ??? How do journalist get their jobs if they can't even go back 5 months for research? It's irritating that stories like this get published!

Obama's a good man, level headed, brilliant mind. I would think that should be enough.

[Jasel]

Sorry but being half-black and half-white in America doesn't mean you get to walk in both sets of shoes. In this country if that's your racial background then you're only going to be walking in one pair of shoes as far as society is concerned. He might be able to walk in both shoes because he's running for President of the United States so certain people out there don't mind claiming him as one of their own. But as far as many people in this country are concerned and are still concerned bi-racial blacks = black period.

[simplyirresistible]

I agree. What frickin' difference does it make what color Obama is? Are his policies in line with your own?Can we find someplace where we can rationally talk out our fears and concerns and then put them behind us?

If you live in fear, you're not at peace.

http://healinganation.wordpress.com/

[LeaveArtieAlone]

Truly as humans, we need to get over ourselves! If he wasn't raised by his father or his father's parents, then logically there would be little to no mention of them when speaking of his upbringing. BO is a freakin human being, let’s move on for Pete’s sake this is getting down right primitive!

[MikeDu]

I'm reminded how years ago when Tiger Woods was first making it big he seemed frustrated with the American media for entirely ignoring his Japanese heritage on his father's side, of which he was very proud. What was that old Jim Crow era slogan? One drop of black blood makes you black. Its been the media from the very start that's been talking-up Obama as "the black candidate" in the same was Clinton was always "the female candidate". Heaven forbid that either of them be allowed to simply be 'the candidate'. Even NRP had a recent panel debate about whether a 'black' and a 'woman' should be allowed together on the same Dem ticket. I think their phrase was "There's only so much glass (as in glass ceiling) that should be broken at any one time". patently racist and sexist and they didn't even realize what they had said.

[beastmode]

Weisman screwed up and never should have phrased it the way he did. Reveals a bit about the way he thinks, which is pretty ugly. Its not a matter of being "more white" - that doesn't even really mean anything. The ad highlights his white family because that's who raised him and, I'm sure, to inform those that don't bother to look into his background themselves and just hear, and run with, whispers of madrassas, Indonesia, and black militancy.

[lisakaz2]

If you ask me, Jonathan has become an agent for the Dark Side. He's very weird tho. Just ask me. I went to college with him. He was a real leftie back then. Now it seems he values his GOP contacts so much, his situational ethics have created the appearance of a political shift.

[thehardertheycome]

We are taking this way too seriously. Fundermentally the statement was true. Obama grew up in a white household. The argument can be made that his upbringing and his early teachings are more white than black. This happens often with children of mixed heritage; especially when they are raised by only one half of that heritage.

The question is: Does it really matter? We have to stop being so sensitive. We place our backs up against the wall as Obama supporters and are often ready to duke it out when it is not really necessary.

Incidentally, the latest campaign video seeks to remind voters of his White upbringing. Which where we are as a country, he needs to remind the voters. And to answer the original question that was posted in the original blog: What would you suggest? That he advertises about a father that he met once when he was 10 years old?

[wellinformed08]

Give me a break. Does it matter? I don't care about the percentage of white vs. Black blood is in his veins when I am pumping gas or watching the news hoping they don't call my friends' names in the announcement of daily military deaths in Iraq. Everytime I think we have grown up as a country, we DIGRESS.

[marc1antony]

Obama was RAISED IN A WHITE HOUSEHOLD - his father left when he was two. uhhh, DUH... these are the people who loved, molded and raised him to be who he is today... THEY ARE white, is that something he should deny because he is bi-racial?

[vonniewit]

No - he should not deny them. But he was/is forced to live as black in this society. It reminds me of my cousin who has a white father and black mother. His father talked with him often about how his experiences living in America will be different than the father's. He explained to my cousin how he will face challenges as a "black" man and that he would not have the "freedom" a lot of whites take for granted. He explained to him that he will have to work harder and smarter, because even when he is more qualified, people are quick to question him. Consider the bitter, ugly Clinton supporter who called Obama an "inadequate black man." Obama is more qualified than her and her family combined; yet, it is easier to accept defeat if Obama is reduced. Unless you experience what it means to be black in America, you will never understand. Just because you don't practice racism or hate does not mean others are not engaged in such.

[imalonghorn]

I'm not sure if Weismann actually believes the comment he made, maybe he was just trying to help him in the VA area.

I am a black woman with a white father and a black mother. The reason I consider myself to be a BLACK woman is because no one ever looks at me and say..."Oh that girl isn't just black, she's white too." That's our struggle.

Weismann said that he didn't become immersed into Black American culture until college. Well news for him, once he entered the real world that's when he realized he was seen as a black man.

There is no such thing as white culture...­Just ever evolving American values that have some subsets based on race/ethni­city-which still vary depending on what part of America you live in.

[YankeeCanuck]

Well said! Thank you.

[BTJ46]

Well said. There is a strange pathology going on in this dialog about race that we are having. "More white than black" is apparently meant as a complement -- and I've seen similar disheartening comments on a pro-Obama website.
I recall, I hope well, an early Obama comment that he knows what race he is when he tries to catch a cab in New York.
We've got a lot of work to do.

[kenyaw]

ditto.
You summoned up what I have been trying to tell people since Halle won the Oscar and more recently since this election started.
No one in this country born before 1980, used to think of a half white-half black person as "white".
Why do people think that his entire family was so ahead of the times and so enlightened?
They weren't.
I bet my life that his famiy considered him black, and they loved him just the same. This was the 60s & 70s people. Read your history Or READ his book!!!!!!!

[GrainOSand]

What is a white or a black person? Do people realize that when they assume these labels that they do a disservice to self? Humans are far more than the paint of their skin just as a house is. Large segments of society are gripped by the mental disease of seeing human worth, value, and tendency as color, versus seeing all human beings as worthy of care, concern, and presumed respectability. The thinking is along the lines of; if it does not look like me then it is wrong, suspect, deficient, or guilty.

Love the concept of death, because no matter how much a person postures as a God on earth, the real God says, you have only so much time to act a fool, before the curtain draws on your foolish acts. Centuries and millions of lives have been lost on this race question. Advertisement budgets swell as the propaganda machines work overtime to push racial identity for profit and political power through subliminal and not so subliminal messages. From Birth of a Nation to the Willie Horton Ad, America has funded division, promoted division, and contributed to division as part of its world identity. The problem, America spends a lot of energy and money denying its racist underpinnings. I am a fiscal conservative, so I call for fiscal responsibility and for America to state openly, it is a racist nation. This would eliminate the propaganda budget and allow for open bigotry without costly apology or spin.

[ricitizen]

Your post was well written. I would ad that while we might eliminate to cost of pandering for racial constituencies if there was more openness regarding man's inherent prejudice against others we don't identify as like ourselves. I think that bigotry and racial prejudice is very expensive. There is tremendous waste of time, talent and resources because millions of people were restricted from the opportunity to ad their labor, talent and resources our society with equal freedom. So much was lost. How much greater our America could have been. The illogic of waste.

[bubbadoc]

only in America can an African American Man running for POTUS be accused of beingmore white than black and elitist.
what next, well as a Black professional, what next will likely be an accusation that he is " overqualified". Get over it!
God Bless the USA.

[TinaGirlla]

I was born to a mother who came from Irish immigrants and a father descended from African slaves. All of my life, I have been identified as "black", because the idea of actually being biracial or bicultural seems to cause people's brains to short circuit. I am comfortable and at home in both cultures and both sides of my family.

I kind of laugh at all of this pondering over Obama's race. Most of these folks cling desperately to a dualistic racial vision, despite the fact that we all carry multiple ways of identifying ourselves. For example, I am both a daughter and a sister, a human being and a citizen of the United States. I also happen to be what we call "black" and what we call "white". I have no problem with it, it is actually really nice to see things from a perspective others can't. Others spend time scratching their heads trying to figure out whether I am "black" or "white", and I just feel sorry that their vision is limited by race, which is nothing more than a powerful social construct.

Most irksome and racist and ignorant of all: labeling certain behavior as "acting white" or "acting black". A caucasian friend recently said "It's not like Obama represents black experience in the US". Huh? All of a sudden his experience is invalid because he doesn't measure up to someone else's fantasy about what being black is all about? Weisman's comments fall into this category.

[seventhsonspeaks]

On the one hand, based solely on this snippet, I don't think Weisman's assertions are negatively connotated, however, they are a bit naive. It ignores external forces (people reactions to his skin color) that may have have shaped Obama's own self-view before he came to Chicago. Skin color is very much apart of culture. Inseparable even.

[Mygirl]

I wonder if my grandson is more Black than White since his father is Polish and my daughter ( his mother) is Black. Boy who comes up with this stuff ? Is it people who think that the White side make him not so bad and almost Ok ? Why is it an issue?

[CalexenderJ]

What the HELL does that mean? Beyond skin color he is much more white than black?!? If you take skin color out of it, what makes a person white or black? Is it how they talk? What type of food, music, or movies they enjoy? Is it their vocation? I don't think Weisman knows a damn thing about black people so he should shut the hell up.