A Gatherer added this little gem to a post entitled "i was black before I became president" by ashish j. This was a post about President Obama's response to a question from David Letterman about Jimmy Carter's comments on racist responses to the President's policies. I thought it was funny, and a pretty good deflection of the question... and I was pretty sure he was right. Then came this little gem, and I became just a tad disturbed.
My response was (yeah, it starts out with a good solid jerk of the left knee):
"...he likes to forget he is half white." WUT?!?
But then, I got down to what I REALLY thought:
Y'know, I've NEVER heard that particular take on ANY national black figure before this. Alluva sudden, I hear/see it EVERYWHERE. I have no idea where this sudden fear on the Right, that a man who has been black (under the old "one drop of blood" race-view) his entire life will suddenly forget he's partly "one of us," too, is coming from... or WHY?
Now, I want to know what YOU think. What"s YOUR take on this new approach to "black" in America?
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Comments: 290
Very well said Wyoming!
or is it culture?
That same person, or people who want to beat that dumb drum, as if it's a big deal, would not have thought of Obama as anything other than a black man, if they'd never seen or heard of him before, and passed him on the streets.
i don't care if the person running the show is purple, pink, green, rainbow, male, female, transgender, whatever. get the job done & i'll be a happy camper.
I do not like far left socialism/anarchism BIG Government, supporting dysfunctional adults who won't grow up! I am opposed to whoever is, regardless of skin color!
In this country, you are what you have to defend.
Time Magazine did an online photo essay of Obama's family tree. There's a photo of his mother's father taken during the 1950's. You can see the family resemblance of Barack Obama and his maternal grandfather. Yet in this country, the kink in his hair and the color of his skin make him Black, and that is what he has to defend.
My relatives insisted on mentioning my ex-husband's white mother whenever people asked about my kids' skin color. Don't worry about those kids! They have 3 white grandparents. HA! Wasn't it funny when we found the missing grandma and she was Jewish? Sometimes people can be so funny about that stuff.
I don't agree with Obama on many things, didn't vote for him and it had nothing to do with his race. I have a bi-racial grandson, who considers himself black and whom I love dearly. I have a bi racial nephew who is a delight to be around.
Yes there is racism but for crying out loud, not all who disagree are racist. Take for example those opposed to the health care reform, they were opposed to it when the Clintons were trying to get it passed. Was that racism?
Please stop it--the more you write articles about him being black or white, the more you cause damage. And do me a favor, stop playing the Limbaugh/Hannity card, you just trying to stir the Liberals to get comments. Shame on you.
No shame here, Kid.
Yep, he was black before he was elected and now some people want him to weasel out of it .... LOL. I love Letterman and therefore I did see the program. He does know how to work a crowd. Bringing up the heart shaped potato and accepting it as a gift was an ice-breaker and crowd pleaser. It pleased this viewer anyway. I don't do politics well and discussing them is way out of my league but I enjoyed watching President Obama on the Letterman show.
The Moonbat Right Wing-nutz think they've found a "GOTCHA!" What if he had said, f'r instance, "You know, I AM half white?" Why, they'd've been frothing that, "He's denying his black heritage!" "He's trying to minimize that he's part black!" "Why is Obama pretending he's not black?" And a quotes thousand like those. THAT, IM(never "H")O is where this is coming from. When he didn't take the defensive, "I'm half white," route, they only had this left, and they're playing it with a vengeance. They had a slogan either way.
It seems to me that in the discussion regarding Obama's "race" that some race to stress the idea that his white heritage is totally unimportant.
I agree that such is the case, but in thinking about that, I am presented with a puzzle.
What exactly is the big screaming deal that makes his black heritage any more important? Why are some of his ancestors more important than others... and most important of all, why are we discussing his heritage at all, instead of actual issues? Aren't there enough of them? Or... are all of the many major issues facing our nation so unimportant that we have time to get our national panties in a twist over which "race" gets to claim this one guy?
And your take would be he's...? Colonel, you know damned will I don't give a hoot WHAT color he is, and that I voted for and strongly support this remarkable young man. You also know that from the git-go, he was/is/will be black. It's the way "race" was/is/and for a long time to come probably will be, defined in the USA. Nobody denied or suggested otherwise throughout the election. Now suddenly, he's being excoriated because he discusses the debate about his color without mentioning his Caucasian co-heritage. THAT's the point of this article... NOT his color. And you've just gone and underlined, bolded, colored and in every possible way, demonstrated that my premise is correct. The whole discussion has shifted.
Yep, highest ranking of all our servants ; )
also
I know for a fact Deloris isn't a bigot I am saying this because this article is unfair to her. She may have worded a response wrong but she is no bigot.
I think you hit it smack on the head.
This isn't a problem.
If he considered himself white, he'd be on a street corner in Chicago holding a tin cup.
As far as I'm concerned, since the topic was brought up.. I guess that since I have a grandmother who was half Indian... oops, excuse me... HALF NATIVE AMERICAN...( PC idiots )... they can all kiss the Indian half of my white ass.
Admit it, Chuckles and all your lib friends... you just love to hate, don't you?
I missed all of the above episodes of "hate speech rhetoric" and you know what? I could give a rats ass about any more of this hate speech, posted by liberals. I'm tired of it, period.
Go ahead, you liberal FREAKS. Hate anyone who disagrees with you. Just be done with it, as the kind lady above said. ( Watch them nail me, for name calling now. Then note the hate speech of the original poster, as he describes anyone other than a liberal. )
Get your facts straight. ACORN did not get any "fake" voters signed up. They CAUGHT THE FAKE REGISTRATIONS AND PULLED THEM OUT SO THEY WOULD NOT BE REGISTERED. They did the correct thing and have been pounded by idiots as a result. NOT ONE PERSON VOTED AS A RESULT OF THOSE REGISTRATIONS. NOT ONE.
I can hardly wait for Acorn to be investigated, cause then they can be cleared, just like the Gov of New Mexico. He had to decline the Secretary of Commerce position in Obama's administration due to these right wing alegations, but it was recently announced that the Gov. was cleared of any wrong doing. Acorn will also be cleared.
Sonofagun! that black guy won again. So now they're busy making as much BS out of every angle that presents itself, figuring that in another 4 years he'll be beaten down.
Guess what! It ain't gonna work!
The rest of your stuff is too unspeakably crazy to even comment on.
But thanks for letting the world know that you're a racist, a misogynist, an anti-gay bigot, oh, and a "Christian".
ROFL
Last I looked he was a light shade of brown. He had his mouth open of course and he does have white teeth.
There are plenty of other reasons not to want him in the White House and not need to use his "race". I never have.
I've seen how both whites and blacks treat a bi racial person and I feel sorry for Obama. Yet I blame him for taking one side into his life and not the other. He is only half a man because of that. He needs to accept both and go on from there.
I would love to see Obam not as Black or not as white but I would truly love to see him All American. Guess none of those are going to happen.
You don't have any mirrors in your house, do you, (The Other) Dale C.?
If course it's easy to make such judgments regarding someone you don't know.
I think honest people who have a viseral rejection of Obama can believe they are not subliminal racists, only different in their ideologies. But IMO is it largely racism.
World has greater issues both natural and man-made and if we go on cultivating issues that need to be laid at rest, then it could add to the distractions for tacking the vital areas of national and international interest. Already El Baradel has declared that Iran would soon come out with a nuclear bomb. North Korea has not been mollified and they are still on the fence. There are other nations who may be in the waiting for a declaration of their own. Let us allow the US President to work his way up and if in any way we spot any lacunae, then we may raise issues of lesser significance. Till then we need to bury the color and forge ahead towards a greater future.
It's just plain frakking crazy.
In america...white is becoming the minority. Who cares.
{ The book of Esther is unique in that the name of God is never directly mentioned }
http://dyn.politico.com/members/forums/thread.cfm?catid=1&subcatid=5&threadid=2408152&start=91&CurrentPage=4
WUT?!? Colonel (Man, you are makin' it hard to keep givin' you that honorific), are you SERIOUS?!? He's BLACK. His race was a HUGE factor in his campaign from the FIRST day he announced (and, truth to tell, probably had a lot to do with the delay in his announcement).
Remember Colin Powell? HIS race was the ultimate reason he gave for NOT running. His wife was terrified he'd be assassinated BECAUSE of it. Do you REALLY think anything changed on THAT issue in the intervening years?
Your arguments, while (in MY view, of course) often wrong-headed, are usually at least cogent.
Colin Powell would have been elected if he had run.
I personally think he didn't take the job because he is smart.
Funny thing about Powel I didn't notice he was supposed to be black until someone pointed it out to me.
No, it didn't.
The comment thread that is
Me, I'm of Jewish descent from both sides of my family, Sephardic and Askenazi, yet you Americans will insist that I am black and most Jamaicans are puzzled that I am as proud of the Jewish ancestry as I am of the Negro ancertry.
AMEN Dexter
I'll remove it, although I think it's too late.
But the race card is the same formula. It is the lowest of the low paths to take when you feel you are losing an argument. The liberals are losing the Health Care Argument, so what are they resorting to? The race card. People disagree with Obama on Healthcare so they are racists. What a crock. It is just as bad as bringing Hitler into the equation from the right. Both sides are nutcases.
I'm sure it's been pointed out to him, time and time again.
Deloris Wright can flag this because you used her name in this way in a post that upset her. Take her name out of the article, make the Gatherer in mention just a faceless "somebody" ... and then it is okay.
(I think)
BTW, George... it wasn't out of context. The context is fully described in the lead-in.
"EBONY AND IVORY-eee
LIVE TOGETHER IN PERFECT HARMO-NY-eeee!!!"
(growing sound of heckling bloggers in background)
"SIDE BY SIDE ON MY PIANO, KEYBOARD, OH LORD WHY CAN'T WE---eeee!!??"
(crashing sound of person being thrown off of karaoke stage)
Some people need an excuse to hate. Even if the excuse is dumb.
Since the president is both black and white, who is there to be racist?
I don't consider these efforts offensive. I think it would be wonderful if one person could make such things happen, but one person cannot. Our country is not a dictatorship, but our president doesn't want to accept that.
The American president does not rule this country. Our legislators make laws as representatives of We the People. WE tell them how to vote. If they don't follow our instructions, we should vote them out.
The president is generally considered to be black rather than bi-racial. When there is opposition to his suggestions, muckrakers claim it is due to his race. For that reason, it may be difficult to elect another black or bi-racial president in the future.
(and yes, I've got to use both terms because not all liberals are democrats, and not all democrats are liberal.)
Nah! ALL (including Fox and it's anything BUT liberal commentators) the media were asking that question. So were private citizens. Th' Luvly Laura's best friend (a staunch Conservative and utterly uncritical approver of GWB) said she was glad a black candidate could be taken seriously, but it was still too "early" for a black president (there was no mention of his white half).
It wasn't until after the subject was brought up by the liberal end of the media that I heard anything from anyone else on the subject, and the first thing I heard from the conservative end, especially talk shows, was their discussion on the subject of what the liberal end of the media had said.
While I'm at it, I've heard/read/seen his skin color discussed more among and by liberals than by conservatives, as well. Liberals discuss it in public forums like this. The main conservative discussion on the subject seems to be responses to accusations made by liberals based on liberals' assumptions regarding conservatives' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to him and how those tie in with any potential racism.
It's pretty obvious to me that the people who are the most hung up on Obama's skin color are his own supporters.
I'm only ashamed because you caught undeserved flack about this, when what you did was turning over a rock and let the worm see the light of day.
And I'm beginning to wish I'd left the name of the Gatherer who first said it in the introduction... flag or no flag.
One thing I know about him is that he don't need your help, He can stand on his own feet and defend himself if need be or ignore the remarks as he should. Don't be so damn sensative about his race and look at him and the job he is doing. Performance is what counts not the color of the worker.
It is true that she has two great grandchildren who are half white and half black. It is also true that she is not prejudiced or Racist. It is true that she believes Obama should become the President of ALL of the United States and celebrate his diverse heratage.
The people who seem to be most concerned about his race are the liberals since they are the ones always bringing it up and calling people racist when they are postsing in opposition to some legislation he has endorced.
I have not, and will not take that flag down since this entire article should have been taken off and also the deragatory remarks against a fine and caring woman. You all should be ashamed.
BTW Lincoln Never threatrened to free the slaves. He issued a proclamation to free the slaves in states that were in conflict with the north at the time and that is all he did.
How do I say the racist remarks come from liberals? Every time I post something against one of Obama's pet projects I get called a racist.
Race has nothing to do with opposition to a bill he happens to endorce, it has to do with a piece of legislation. I get the race card pulled on me every time.
I found the comment thread fascinating. It seemed remarkably balanced into two distinct viewpoints with one side making little impact on the other [and vice versa] through open discussion. Mostly, I found that people just kept reiterating their viewpoints, aggressively or defensively. What the two had in common was, for the most part, a reluctance to be considered racist because of their viewpoint.
This became not so much a discussion of the post itself but rather a forum for two groups to express their viewpoints, i.e. 'Obama is doing a good job; Obama is doing a bad job.'
I have my own opinion of Obama, his policies, his record so far, the race issue, etc., but I've decided not to share them with you at this time. No need to thank me, lol.
I do want to thank you all for an interesting post. Please, do no let me interrupt your dance. Do continue.
IMO, the thread detoured into right vs. left, who is a racist, conservative vs. liberal, disagreements about what Obama has done, wants to do or will do as well as personal assessments of his character, etc. rather than what I thought was the initial topic. I thought the main question was based on the acknowledged populist opinion that a person is considered black in this country if s/he has any intermixing of races in their genealogy. And how/if that perception is changing due to Obama's genealogy. But Perhaps I am mistaken.
What I didn't agree with was 'flagging' the post. I also know that the Gather Team decided that the 'flagging' was not valid in this case.
As far as other objections you may have had with this post ~ those didn't appear to be clearly stated and/or addressed, including the reasoning behind your feeling that her statement was misrepresented.
That being said, I do applaud you and your wife for being forthright in your objections without lapsing into nothing but name-calling and in your taking public responsibility for 'flagging'. IMO, those who flag anonymously are at best cowardly.
I see no reason for your wife to retire from expressing her political viewpoint. I like a spirited discussion. For myself, I prefer those discussions that focus on an individual's beliefs with hopefully verifiable 'facts' and of course logic to support those beliefs.
I hope my 'long-windedness' [still bereft of my opinion of the topic here] is taken in the spirit with which it is given ~ i.e. my appreciation of the discussion. I was moved by it to take the time and energy in a thoughtful way to share my thoughts with you.
Thank you for listening.
scott k. Sep 26, 2009, 3:14pm EDT
"Oh let me plz. LOl Grow up Chuck."
This does interest me, though. You asked, "so WHY am I hearing Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Deloris Wright, et al, insisting he acknowledge he's "half white?"
I get more Fox News from you left wing nut jobs here on Gather than I've ever gotten from Fox News. Who or what is the majority of viewership on these right wing programs, or do you just wait until someone on MSNBC spins some yarns about what they actually said and come back and repeat it like the parrot patriots of MSNBC you are?
So far as your question is concerned... Well, I'm ashamed to admit, I find a strange fascination in Messrs. Hannity and Limbaugh. I listen to one or both (depending on when I'm in my car) for about ten minutes every day (that's absolutely ALL of either of 'em I can stand - fascination or no). And I've heard BOTH of 'em ask why the President is denying his white heritage.
I'll say it again... I've NEVER heard this question applied to ANYONE, celebrity, politician, ordinary citizen, or "other." Why is it suddenly of paramount interest (or ANY interest at all) to the Moonbat Right? The only answers I've seen to THAT question are patronizing nonsense. It's apparent to ANYONE WITH A BRAIN, that for anyone who appears to be black to emphasize his "part white" heritage is to invite ridicule from both blacks and bigoted whites. As I pointed out earlier in the thread, if he'd answered in that vein, the President would've been excoriated by the likes of Hannity and Limbough (and you, I suspect). They'd've been frothing that, "He's denying his black heritage!" "He's trying to minimize that he's part black!" "Why is Obama pretending he's not black?" And a thousand quotes like those.
And now, I just went and looked at your comments. The one I put up for vote and you (I guess it was you) deleted isn't there. How did you do that?
Also unlikely... very unlikely son.
Unless you deleted another comment, I guess Scott's is the one you did delete.
"I deleted NOTHING!"
Well, I just can't believe anything else you say after that.
I love your "Christian" attitude.
I think you should pray for humility.
That shows that the comment was deleted by whoever left it. If you have another comment which you are claiming was deleted, I challenge you to leave it again.
Comments: 274 ( 1 removed by Chuck L)
Unless you deleted another comment, I guess Scott's is the one you did delete.
"I deleted NOTHING!"
Well, I just can't believe anything else you say after that.
Sue... you're an idiot. Scott pulled some sort of stunt. He deleted his first comment, and then removed it from his comment list. The second comment (the one you found, he also deleted. If you read his comments one after the other, you can figure it out...
He's just a smartass kid without the adult tools to actually engage... so he indulges in what amounts to hacking, smirking his way around the thread because he did something no one can figure out. He's up there laughing at me (and you). I don't care about him. He's just a kid, and a twit to boot.
You, on the other hand, piss me off. Adults shouldn't be dumbasses, and they shouldn't fall for stupid kid stunts.
You said you deleted nothing. The heading at the top of this post shows what the poster, and only the poster, of this post deleted.
You can call me whatever you want to call me with no proof, but I don't need to call you what you are because the evidence speaks for itself, Chuck.
No, you didn't scotty. And you never put the comment back... didja? Nah. Too much fun to fool poor Sue into defending you.
Sue... you're still and idiot. Little scotty th' super-xtian is a liar and a trickster. You're a s.ucker for believin' him
scott k. Sep 26, 2009, 10:00pm EDT
I did delete the first
And just to explain what all this is about in the first place, little scotty's comment I asked for votes on went like this:
"Obama is black?"
I thought he was a Negro."
I found that offensive. I pretty much find little scotty offensive. Too much snide. Too much sneer. Too much sly. And WAY too much, "Ain't I cute?"