First black president of the USA... not really

[minx]

i'm sorry sobo but you're a racist pig. i'm going to have to ban you now. how dare you question the major media outlets.

[sobo]

I don't agree with the idea of treating any discussion of race as taboo. I think there's far more danger and stigma in avoiding a subject than just getting it out on the table. Like it or not, race, like gender, sexuality, and a bunch of other things we're granted at birth, is an important aspect of human interaction.

This is the smartest thing said yet on this thread, and is followed closely by ivan's comments. I did not post this thread to start a race war. I asked why the media is ascribing a label to Barack Obama that doesn't fit by the definition.

 

Joseph-

I don't know why you consider this discussion "rancid". Read what Pat said.

 

Matt-

I don't why you'd be surprised, unless you're thinking I'm a racist pig. That said, your second post (below) shows me that you "get" my question.

 

...I agree that there are some confusing ideas related to whether this is the first "postracial" President-elect or whether he is the first "African-American" President-elect or both...

[sobo]

i'm sorry sobo but you're a racist pig. i'm going to have to ban you now. how dare you question the major media outlets.

Banned camp... at last! Oh, how I have awaited this day...

[minx]

sorry, i injured my banning finger. you'll have to wait

[tvashtarkatena]

Sobo's original post was obviously a satirical potshot at how manufactured and subjective our definition of race is. Apparently, the satire was too realistic for some here; they just didn't get it.

[minx]

ummm..did you think i didn't get that?

[kevbone]

Please clear something up for me here... The media outlets to which I turn to for news (AP, UPI, NPR, Reuters, etc.) all state that Barack Obama is the first black president ever elected in the United States. But that cannot be true, by definition of what is required in order to be considered "black." To be black (or white, or Asian, or Hispanic, or Native Whatever, etc.), one must be able to trace at least 75% of their ancestors to the same geographic region associated with a major racial group.

Source: Wikipedia - Multiracial

 

Since Obama is the offspring of a black father and a white mother, he can, at best, claim the title of being the first biracial president of the United States, and not the first black president. I think the media is making more out of this election result than it really is. So my question is, "Why does the media ascribe a label to him that is patently not correct?"

 

Two things got me thinking about this in the first place. The first was an interview broadcast on NPR that I heard on my commute home one day this past week in which a young man and a young woman were interviewed about their views and feelings about the outcome of the election. NPR was quite clear, as was the woman, Trish Callahan, that she be identified as being biracial (black father, white mother). I thought this similarity curious, knowing that Barack Obama, too, has a black father and white mother.

 

The second thing was that in the run-up to the election, the first paragraph of Barack Obama's Wikipedia entry identified him as being both biracial and African American. Now that the election is over, his Wikipedia page indicates only that he is African American. Did he somehow manage to change his race as a result of the election? And don't give me with the "It's not his fault - Wikipedia entries can be uploaded by anyone" argument. As I understand the wiki process, there is some vetting that must go on before changes are uploaded to the site.

 

Now, before this post results in accusations of me being a racist, an anti-miscenegist, or a white supremist, just cool your jets and respond to the question posed, "Why does the media ascribe a label to him that is patently not correct?"

 

Thank you.

 

 

Sobo.....well thought out questions and topics. Here is your answer.

 

 

WHO GIVES A FUCK.

[kevbone]

sorry, i injured my banning finger. you'll have to wait

 

 

Mmmm.....how did you do that? Feeling a little lonely lately?

[JosephH]

It was far from obvious and being married to a 'biracial' Native American who has often been subjected to various insults both at home and abroad I'm more than a little sensitive about the issue. 'Discussing' race is one thing - Ann Coulter does it all the time - how it is discussed and in what context matters greatly.

[sobo]

When you are king, maybe your historians will tell you that by tradition we in American have defined multiracial persons, with one black parent, as "black," "African American," or "negro." Seriously. I'm surprised by your post.

Well, I wasn't king at the time, Matt, but when I was growing up in Europe, I had more than just a few schoolmates whose parents were in mixed-race marriages. It was fairly common in Europe at the time, probably more so than in the US (early 70s). The kids preferred to be called biracial more than any other moniker that I can now recall, despite what you have written above.

 

If memory serves, "black" referred more to the movement toward black representation/recognition at that time, "African American" was a term that had yet to be coined, and "negro" had fallen out of fashion long before all of that. "Afro-American" was a term gaining popularity at that time, eventually to be supplanted by "African-American" by the late 70s.

[kevbone]

Can we please get back to minx's finger?

[sobo]

Please clear something up for me here... The media outlets to which I turn to for news (AP, UPI, NPR, Reuters, etc.) all state that Barack Obama is the first black president ever elected in the United States. But that cannot be true, by definition of what is required in order to be considered "black." To be black (or white, or Asian, or Hispanic, or Native Whatever, etc.), one must be able to trace at least 75% of their ancestors to the same geographic region associated with a major racial group.

Source: Wikipedia - Multiracial

 

Since Obama is the offspring of a black father and a white mother, he can, at best, claim the title of being the first biracial president of the United States, and not the first black president. I think the media is making more out of this election result than it really is. So my question is, "Why does the media ascribe a label to him that is patently not correct?"

 

Two things got me thinking about this in the first place. The first was an interview broadcast on NPR that I heard on my commute home one day this past week in which a young man and a young woman were interviewed about their views and feelings about the outcome of the election. NPR was quite clear, as was the woman, Trish Callahan, that she be identified as being biracial (black father, white mother). I thought this similarity curious, knowing that Barack Obama, too, has a black father and white mother.

 

The second thing was that in the run-up to the election, the first paragraph of Barack Obama's Wikipedia entry identified him as being both biracial and African American. Now that the election is over, his Wikipedia page indicates only that he is African American. Did he somehow manage to change his race as a result of the election? And don't give me with the "It's not his fault - Wikipedia entries can be uploaded by anyone" argument. As I understand the wiki process, there is some vetting that must go on before changes are uploaded to the site.

 

Now, before this post results in accusations of me being a racist, an anti-miscenegist, or a white supremist, just cool your jets and respond to the question posed, "Why does the media ascribe a label to him that is patently not correct?"

 

Thank you.

 

 

Sobo.....well thought out questions and topics. Here is your answer.

 

 

WHO GIVES A FUCK.

Wow, what a well-thought out answer, kevin.

I'm reeling in the wake of your scintillating intellect.

[sobo]

Sobo's original post was obviously a satirical potshot at how manufactured and subjective our definition of race is. Apparently, the satire was too realistic for some here; they just didn't get it.

emphasis added by sobo

 

Somebody gets the question. It's about the media and the way they slant/skew the reporting.

[kevbone]

Wow, what a well-thought out answer, kevin.

I'm reeling in the wake of your scintillating intellect.

 

 

Please stop using big words. I am getting confused.

[sobo]

ummm..did you think i didn't get that?

Yeah, I figured you did, too.

[sobo]

It was far from obvious and being married to a 'biracial' Native American who has often been subjected to various insults both at home and abroad I'm more than a little sensitive about the issue. 'Discussing' race is one thing - Ann Coulter does it all the time - how it is discussed and in what context matters greatly.

I thought I was quite clear in my discussion and posing of the question that I was not trying to start a race war on this site. I took, IMO, great pains to avoid any sort of comments that might be considered racist and/or inciteful. I felt I dealt with the subject and question in a respectful manner. Why does the media manufacture news where none exists? Or slant it in subjective ways where it does?

 

I can understand your sensitivity, Joseph. I sometimes get the same treatment when out and about with my two adopted kids. And I don't find Ann Coulter to be the standard by which all others are judged when it comes to her positions on just about anything. I think she's hateful most of the time.

[mattp]

Sobo, I get some of your point about labels but, in Michigan where I grew up (even in the liberal hotbed of Ann Arbor) any mixed race person who looked black at all would have been perceived as black. And in the Seattle neighborhood where I now live there were originally covenants barring blacks, jews, and people of Arab descent. In the 1950's I bet it would have caused a serious reaction had even Obama with his white mother moved in.

[sobo]

I can see your point, coming as it does from your experiences in Michigan during your formative years. I came up through different experiences in Eastern Washington and then Europe. Different experiences shaped our views differently. I have long thought that I grew up somewhat naive on the issue of race, given my early exposure to so much variety thereof. I'm just glad I didn't grow up in the Bible Belt of the southern US. I never would have guessed that some Seattle neighborhoods had those kinds of covenants. I would have expected something like that from Houston or Birmingham.

[Bug]

According to the family story.....

My great, great grandfather was a german prince.

My great, great grandmother was his chamber maid.

My great grandfather was born in America after his mother "immigrated there" with a reasonable sum of money with which to establish a seamstress business.

 

So that makes me german royalty.

I hereby proclaim this board as mine.

You are all welcome to stay awhile if you behave according to good german doctrine.

If you do not go along with this proclomation I will invade with my superior military mind and decimate your every feign and thrust.

 

Now, rule #1; Bark like a dog every time you post in spray.

[tvashtarkatena]

ummm..did you think i didn't get that?

 

Wasn't replying to you, Miss Center of the Universe.

[sobo]

You didn't bark...

[minx]

you know, i was really hoping i was wrong last week. nope not.

[Squid]

Sobo,

I think you should read up on the 'one drop rule.'

 

Here is the wiki entry for the concept; here is succinct essay on the topic.

 

I respect your opinion, and enjoy your posts, but your premise in this thread is dead wrong, and dangerously sweeps under the rug centuries of racism in America.

 

 

If a man is black enough to have trouble getting a taxi after dark, if a man is black enough to have store security trail along behind him whlie he shops, if a man is black enough to get pulled over for DWB, then he's black enough to claim the title 'black.'

 

Peace out, and congratulations on our great new president.

[sobo]

Sobo,

I think you should read up on the 'one drop rule.'

 

Here is the wiki entry for the concept; here is succinct essay on the topic.

Wow, thanks Squid. I had not heard of the one-drop rule until now. Very interesting.

I will have to spend more time on that after the work day is over. Thanks for the tip.

 

I respect your opinion, and enjoy your posts, but your premise in this thread is dead wrong, and dangerously sweeps under the rug centuries of racism in America.

My premise regards the media's presentation of race, not race itself. If anything, I'm pulling the issue into the light of day, not sweepeing it under a rug. What does "DWB" mean?

 

Peace out, and congratulations on our great new president.

Indeed, congratulations are in order to the man, although I will reserve bestowing the adjective "great" upon him until his presidential record becomes more established. At this time, he doesn't yet have one, so calling him a "great" president is a bit premature. All that said, I do wish him well in his new position.

[mkporwit]

My premise regards the media's presentation of race, not race itself. If anything, I'm pulling the issue into the light of day, not sweepeing it under a rug. What does "DWB" mean?

 

Driving While Black