A PROPOSED FOOD FOR THOUGHT.....
a friend of a friend proposed this. i thought it merited discussion:All right I have no link for this just a bizzare discussion I just had with two of my roomates. We were talking about the players in the election and what will happen if and when elected. So my roomate says that if Obama is elected he'll be worse to black people than any white president, and he'll "suck up to whitey" so I was saying buddy he is 50% white, I don't think he could suck up to white people then. So the argument came down to that my roomate thinks that the only reason Obama is sucessful is because he Black (the Bill Clinton comment from the S.Carolina primary). So he was saying that Obama "presents" himself as Black for political gain and that he never would have won the democratic primary (or the election if he does) if he was white. Furthermore, this kid(and then another one of the roomies joined his side) that America is just looking for something different, looking for a little history and wants to elect a black guy and then will go back to white guys for years to come (although the simple odds of that are all in that statements favor due to the percentages of white and black people in america is clear).
I was just curious on anyone's take (whether you like Obama or hate Obama, I don't think it matters in this question). It really is a social question about America's perceptions, not an individuals. Obama is 50% white, and he was raised by white people (save for that indian step father). But my argument was Obama not only looks more black than white, which is usually the deciding factor but in general if any person in America is half black they are therefore black in America's eyes (derek jeter, lenny kravitz, Bob Marley) So I was stating that Obama would be forced to present himself as black no matter how "white" he was growing up. I mean if their sentiment is right that Obama has "presented" himself as black for political gain for the past 10 years than I guess America has come an incredibly long way from 40 years ago when african-americans were still fighting for basic civil rights. But I just thought they were very wrong in arguing that he is consciously trying to portray himself as more Black to get more votes.
Anyway, let me know what you think if you feel like getting into it, I was just curious. Cause I thought it was an odd argument from perhaps jealous white kids, I don't know I didn't go that far in arguing with them. But maybe its just hysterical that people believe that a black guy needs to make sure he is black in order to get more votes. Or maybe I am the one who is completely wrong and in the minority. I just don't think Obama was like damn I got to make sure people know I'm really black so that I can win elections. I kind of just think he presents himself as he is, I mean he makes no secret of his mother and his mother's family. I haven't read "Dreams of My Father" but if anyone did I think he kind of addresses this whole point in the book, so feel free to educate me. Finally, I guess the kid starting the argument saying he though Obama if he won would suck up to whitey and treat black people poorly and then turn around and say that he is presenting himself as black to gain votes is kind of contradictory or a really shrewd political move.
I was just curious on anyone's take (whether you like Obama or hate Obama, I don't think it matters in this question). It really is a social question about America's perceptions, not an individuals. Obama is 50% white, and he was raised by white people (save for that indian step father). But my argument was Obama not only looks more black than white, which is usually the deciding factor but in general if any person in America is half black they are therefore black in America's eyes (derek jeter, lenny kravitz, Bob Marley) So I was stating that Obama would be forced to present himself as black no matter how "white" he was growing up. I mean if their sentiment is right that Obama has "presented" himself as black for political gain for the past 10 years than I guess America has come an incredibly long way from 40 years ago when african-americans were still fighting for basic civil rights. But I just thought they were very wrong in arguing that he is consciously trying to portray himself as more Black to get more votes.
Anyway, let me know what you think if you feel like getting into it, I was just curious. Cause I thought it was an odd argument from perhaps jealous white kids, I don't know I didn't go that far in arguing with them. But maybe its just hysterical that people believe that a black guy needs to make sure he is black in order to get more votes. Or maybe I am the one who is completely wrong and in the minority. I just don't think Obama was like damn I got to make sure people know I'm really black so that I can win elections. I kind of just think he presents himself as he is, I mean he makes no secret of his mother and his mother's family. I haven't read "Dreams of My Father" but if anyone did I think he kind of addresses this whole point in the book, so feel free to educate me. Finally, I guess the kid starting the argument saying he though Obama if he won would suck up to whitey and treat black people poorly and then turn around and say that he is presenting himself as black to gain votes is kind of contradictory or a really shrewd political move.
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