Dear Mr. Obama,
I purchased one of those online ministerial certificates, so I feel I have the moral authority to hence-forth call you Caucasian. So, now that you are officially white, will you stop calling yourself black!
See the stinkin-thinkin in that? My point is this labeling of a person's skin tone has to stop. Labeling is an epidemic in America. Even the apple I ate this morning has a label with a serial number taped on it. You, Mr. Obama are just as much a reflection of both melaninally challenged sides. I know there's pressure to be the first this or that. If we must put a label on you, how about honest, intelligent and fearless -- capable of taking on those who've committed the velvet coup we now find ourselves living with.
Tell us the truth. We can take it now. Our eyes have been opened, and we now understand unreal expectations lead to unrepentant liars. Imagine a man who cannot be labeled Black or White. This will take some help from the press. We have become addicted to labels in order to avoid complexities. The press has got to realize there are inappropriate labels and questions. John F Kennedy took massive amounts of pain killers. He must have fought that addition. He hurt his back fighting a war. No one labeled him a drug addict. FDR was also in constant pain and surely needed help for that. Both presidents were not grilled on these issues because being human and having pain did not appear to keep them from their presidential duties. The press had manners then. Watergate changed all that, and the Bush legacy of suspicion and lies destroyed any trust that had been rebuilt. If we expect candidates to be free of human flaws, we will get candidates who admit to smoking marijuana but do not admit to inhaling. I crave the truth without slant.
We lighter people know soul when we see it, and even though you apparently can't dance, we can tell you've got soul. I am not committed to voting for you as of yet, but I am forever grateful you have shown the world what kind of man you are. You have seen this country from the perspectives of both light and dark -- dark and light. Not too many people learn the wisdom that view of the world provides. You've seen the diabolical thinking from both angles of dysfunction, and you know that no race is innocent. Racism cuts both ways and you know that better than anyone. If you believe those with certain melanin levels won't vote for you unless you call yourself theirs...bad on them. They could make you lose a presidential election. Label that self destructive.
So you have managed to navigate that bi-racially slippery slope. I know someone who tried it, and failed. The expectations from both sides were too intense and he burned up in the conflict...completely losing himself. You, however, forged ahead. Damn, that took courage. You have learned to maneuver the white world and the black world with grace and you had the moxie to survive. It can be a mind molesting ordeal, but you have apparently figured it out. Label that rare.
Americans are always crying racism and by the time I was a 13-year-old living in the south, I had seen enough racial hatred to last me a lifetime. Racism cuts every which way and always has. While covering the Los Angeles riots, running down a Compton sidewalk just a block from where Reginald Denny was assaulted by a group of angry kids, I heard someone yell, "Sweet thing, get yourself in this house!" I turned and saw a woman waving her hand toward her front door. "Oh God really, thank you." I said, wide-eyed and full of fear. Shaking her grandmotherly head she said, "Honey those kids are out of control." Now she was pulling my arm toward her house. "Is this over that Rodney King thing?" she asked me "Yes ma'am it sure is, among other things." When an angel takes your hand you don't make mental note of melanin levels.
But, Obama, you know good and bad come in all shades, and I am proud of a country that could create the likes of you -- the son every mother would love to have. Americans have witnessed so much evil since 9/11. We are now labeled across most of the world as cruel, lying bullies. Others use the label fascists. I try to keep my eyes open in this country I hold so dear, and you give me courage to push past the disillusionment and deliver a big reverent BRAVO! So, Black America -- call me what you will, lighter Americans helped create this man too. Peel away the labels and let's all set him free to just be a man.
del8300
ie7
There's never been a President whose made a big deal of being white, or male, so why make a big deal of not being the so-called-norm.
The risk was whether voters would see his race (or races) as being just one aspect of who he is and far and away NOT the most important aspect.
And so far, it's working. It started working, where it needed to most, in overwhelmingly white states like Iowa and New Hampshire. Then, in South Carolina, where the Clintons forced the dialogue to focus on race, the polarization one might have expected occurred. But what also occurred was the media's insistance on viewing the race as one of identity politics.
Obama, however, has stayed on message and in recent states, we are starting to see more colorblindness on the part of voters.
What's frustrating are the people who "don't get it." Those who insist on interpretting every victory as some variant of "because he's black" ignoring the fact that that has never been a plus in national elections before.
What is inspiring is the candidate's refusal to be frustrated. He stays on message, and slowly the people step up and accept it. He's given us a reason to be proud, not only of him, but of our millions of countrymen who have voted for him. When was the last time a politician did that?
#1 = Obama already IS a Washington DC insider/ Gamer...
MSNBC spins stories like it is Obama Election Headquarters... G.E. is MSNBC "parent" Company...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/23/business/main1746883.shtml
AP) Hitachi Ltd.(Hitachi bought out Westinghouse) and Connecticut-based General Electric have been tapped to build two nuclear reactors in the U.S. in a $5.2 billion project that underlines how soaring oil prices are boosting global interest in nuclear power.
The deal, confirmed by Hitachi on Friday for reactors outside Houston, for American power supplier NRG Energy Inc., is also likely to help the Japanese electronics and power plant manufacturer compete better against rivals.
General Electric's Nuclear-Powered Returns http://www.forbes.com/2001/05/18/0518ge.html
Excelon, the largest nuclear operator in the United States helped bankroll Obama's Campaign into the US Senate after he watered down a Bill to REQUIRE Nuclear Power Plant Operators to report leaks... (Like the 2 or more LEAKS in Obama's Home State they failed to report to the State) Obama's Campaign Manager is a former Excelon Public Relations Consultant... Obama's watered down Bill died in Committee...
#2 = Racist? Obama ran Ads, that there is only ONE AMERICA... So, who/ what is a "Black American, African American, or Black Person"? Upon Death does a "Black Spirit, or Soul depart? The Obama's have both played to race and skin color, as well as the Race Card accusation against the Clinton's...
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Martin Luther King, Jr.
#3 = A very slick Politician who has clearly played the underdog against the fabled Clinton Political Machine... Clearly also, has created a hostile divide in Democrats as Politics as Usual chooses sides... Preaches Hope, Dream and Change, while practicing deception...
The very idea of race was invented by white people to subjugate non-whites; witness the witless rules that decided who was "Indian" in Oklahoma a century ago (and still today as far away as the Carolinas), and the blood quanta labels that identified how "black" (not, tellingly, how "white") a mixed blood child was for hundreds of years. Obama: octoroon? quadroon, maroon? Who CARES?
Obama does have much to offer in terms of healing, and understanding race issues.
But symbolism, speeches and ideas can create an image that may not be based in reality.
While it is easy to like all the intangibles about Obama, his voting record and other "decisions" prevent me from trusting him.
Obama hired Moses Mercado on as a senior consultant for his team.
Mercado is a greasy K-street lobbyist for:
The NRA
The Carlyle Group
The Blackstone Group.
Obama hired Ben Rhodes as his main speech writer.
Ben Rhodes worked directly for Lee Hamilton on the flawed corrupt 911 Commission.
Lee Hamilton the good investigator who gave Reagan and Bush a free pass on Iran arms dealing when he chaired the committee tasked with investigating them.
Ben Rhodes co-authored a book "Without Precedent" with Hamilton and Thomas Kean.
Obama did not show up to vote against Mukasey when he was confirmed as AG.
Last week Obama had another chance to vote for safeguards against torture.....and again he failed to show up. Why? Why not be CLEAR and show leadership on this issue.
Obama has not shown any leadership on the current FISA mess. Why? A perfect opportunity to stand up to Bush, show leadership and character. He is silent, has missed votes, and appears to want it both ways on the FISA issue.
Obama clearly put down the idea of impeachment last fall when Kucinich was trying to get this issue to the Senate floor.
Obama makes much of his original stance against the crime in Iraq....but voted to fund it three times last year.
Obama's votes do not back up his rhetoric, and his close association with several shady neocon characters are not the stuff of hope and change.
My bias as a disgruntled Kucinich supporter may show through (guilty as charged) but the facts about Obama are hard to ignore.
When those like me who are "bi-racial" (I use quotation marks here because so many Black Americans are of mixed race) identify ourselves as Black it is an expression of political solidarity as much as of cultural identity. It is not a rejection of our white parent or of white people. It is rather an affirmation of where we choose to situate ourselves, firmly within a Black community under siege. It is a statement of our solidarity with our Black mother or father, and Black grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. It is the way that we say that we don't want some backdoor out of the space in which society continues to confine those who are black; instead, we will spend our lives along side of other Black men and women (and allies of all races) working to build a world in which life chances are not tied to racial categorization.
And while you may be willing to "unlabel" Barack Obama, he has clearly identified himself as an African American. And for where I stand, that is the truly righteous move.
I think dozens of writers have called Obama a post-racial candidate already.
However, as a journalist, maybe you should investigate in the hearts of the Mid-West and Deep South, where most of the racists and right wing militias are, and ask them if they think Obama is just another American man.
I find it interesting that ever since Obama's candidacy, no reporters have dared to enter the heartland to find out what the haters think.
It seems so many in the MSM have forgotten the Oklahoma City attack and the all the right-wing domestic terrorist groups that came out of the woodwork during Clinton's presidency.
I think an Obama presidency would be good on some levels, but I am not in denial about the racist underbelly of this country who would murder and maim before accepting a black man as president.
Blacks have every right to be proud of Obama, if they choose, for the accomplishments of "a Black man." Blackness is not a race determined by a pipette of genes; it's membership in a history and culture, however diverse.
As for race: forget it, madam. Red necks, octroons & almost every shade is obsessed with having the correct shade of skin. This country has a history of headling yellow peril, red sympathizer, black brute, ad nausium.
We now have neo-cons, red diaper radicals, flaming, knee jerk, liberals, etc.
One who enters a comment on HP which isn't PC is labeled a lilly livered, right wingnut troll.
I must close. I have to cut the labels of my new tee shirts off to avoid looking like a wannabe fashionisto. That simply isn't done in my circle. We look upon those who wear designer jeans emblazed with trade marked designs on the hip pockets as insecure, newly rich, clods who have no idea of what is both proper & fashonable.
He looked pretty good on Ellen.
America will likely go the route of McKook as this nation is addicted to violence and there remain all those dark hordes out there...
You may be ready, this nation is not.