Comments on: OBAMA’S BLACKNESS, BY APPEARANCE

By: Phil G

Phil G — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:34:16 +0000

I agree with the premise of your post. I’d just like to add something that came to mind as i read it.
The Christopher Hitchens comment is one that i have heard from some black people but with a different meaning.
Evidently the premise goes like this… if Obama was from the same family background as his wife, he would not have been so easily accepted. If he was as dark as say.. actor Wesley Snipes or the singer Seal, the results would have been different. But because he is light brown and paraded the pictures of his white mother and grandparents, he was more palatable to the whites in the country.
Racism is not only about what we see and think in the faces coming towards us… but also about how we choose to live after we look in the mirror.
Many blacks after seeing what Obama had chosen to do with his life prior to becoming Senator were then convinced of his “blackness”. If his path were one of riches, greed and ignorance… you would have seen a different kind of turn out from the african-american community.

By: CT

CT — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 02:10:09 +0000

@jayjay: The improbability of reverse-passing, i.e. a white American wanting to be recognized as black, is what I was getting at in the Presidential example above. Ridicule indeed would have been the least of their problems — but again, during their eras, it would have been unimaginable for them to even make such a claim.

Keep in mind there were no DNA tests or the like during their lifetimes, even for the post-slavery Presidents Harding and Coolidge.

By: jayjay

jayjay — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:31:42 +0000

Actually your statement that Jefferspn, Jackson and the rest would have been laughed at if they tried to pass as black is historically inaccurate. We know that many, many black/white mixed race people who looked white had to cut ties with black society and sometimes even change their names to “pass”. Because of the one drop law in the US that stated that anyone with 1/16th – or maybe it was 1/32 – black blood was black, it was imperative to keep the notion of a black ancestor a secret to continue to enjoy the benefits of being part of white society. Those presidents that may have had black blood in them would defiinitely NOT be presidents if their lineage were known. They would not be lauughed at; more likely their rightful owners would be found. Several books have been written about people being “outed” who passed for white in those days. I do agree with you that in today’s world appearance is what matters.

By: Anne of Carversville

Anne of Carversville — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 14:45:01 +0000

Obama’s Blackness By Appearance: Population Statistic…

Anne here. I just added Population Statistic as a blog on Obama-Mania. Highly-opinionated and irreverant, Costa Tsiokos appears to speak out from a factual base of analysis. His is not a political blog, but a culture-commenting game of word-smithing …..