Not Black Enough
I'm sitting in Gelato Vero, a coffee shop down by Pacific Hwy in San Diego.
Trying to get some writing done for my statement of purpose. So far I have an obnoxious outline and an old statement of purpose.
I just feel blank. I can't write. How do I define my career goals when I'm not even sure? I have to make up this story about myself that is super intelligent and unique without seeming too pretentious. I have to standout somehow.
Since I am not able to focus on this right now, I thought I would write about something entirely different to get the juices flowing.
I've been looking into this whole "Obama-isn't-black-enough" thing and it reminds me of two little kids fighting about semantics. The word "black" as it is being used to describe Mr. Obama, has at least two distinct uses and definitions. This is what all the fighting is about. Some people are using it in one context, some people are using it in the other common context, and both are fighting about how the other is wrong without realizing they are using it so.
Black definition 1:
A person of West African descent, a descendant of African American slaves (a definition of heritage).
Black definition 2:
A person exemplifying typical cultural and socio-economic characteristics. (a definition of culture+class)
Black defition 3:
A person who has skin color that is not white.
So here we have this "Triforce of Blackness" as I like to call it and we can rate Mr. Obama.
By definition 1: Mr. Obama does not fit with this definition simply because his father was a recent immigrant from Kenya and his mother a white women from Kansas. His heritage is not the typical African American heritage as experienced in America, which is explains some of the differences in culture and class.
By definition 2: Mr. Obama has shown to have more black culture than say, Colin Powell. Which is one of the reasons he is more accepted. He has shown he has some basketball skills (I'm making a joke here), some significant experience in the black church, and some ties with poorer African Americans in South Chicago. What he DOES NOT have in this category is the same socioeconomic status. He has been raised middle-upper class and educated as such. His lifestyle is not akin to the typical African American experience because he has had more money and been for the majority of his life in a different class than the typical African American. To put it bluntly: Eminem would be blacker than Obama in this context. This is largely what people mean when they say Obama is not black.
By definition 3: This is a practical definition. Meaning that if someone walked in the room and you were trying to describe the person you would say "the black guy." Mr. Obama's physical characteristics, even if he is biracial, would practically lead him to be called "black" as a descriptive quality. Often ultra liberals are afraid of using black in this context because they are afraid of being called racist. I have heard many times, "I hate to say it, but... the black one," which is the same thing as, "I hate to say it, but... the fat one." People have even gone so far as to say, "the guy in the blue shirt" when that guy is the only black guy in the room just so as not to appear racist. This is silly. If "black" or "fat" or "white" or whatever is the easiest way to practically described someone in the context of that, it is not racist! Please do not be that ultra politically person that does "the guy in the blue shirt" stuff.
If it was being explained this simply, then I don't think anyone would disagree if people said, "Obama is not the typical African American." Most people would accept that he fits definition 3 (and this is what Colbert joked about when he said he looked at Obama and "thought I was voting for a black man"). It's just that some people have a hard time swallowing that Obama does not live up to their expectations in the context of definitions 1 + 2.
None of these contexts need to involve genetics. That's a whole other can of worms. I think what people are attempting to describe is that Obama is not black when it comes to heritage, class, or the typical cultural experience of an African American. That being said, this is not meant to be attempt to prove Obama is not black. All I am trying to say is that given the context the word "black" is being used, Obama is less or more of it and that it is a false dichtomy. He is both black and not black at the same time.
THE END.
Trying to get some writing done for my statement of purpose. So far I have an obnoxious outline and an old statement of purpose.
I just feel blank. I can't write. How do I define my career goals when I'm not even sure? I have to make up this story about myself that is super intelligent and unique without seeming too pretentious. I have to standout somehow.
Since I am not able to focus on this right now, I thought I would write about something entirely different to get the juices flowing.
I've been looking into this whole "Obama-isn't-black-enough" thing and it reminds me of two little kids fighting about semantics. The word "black" as it is being used to describe Mr. Obama, has at least two distinct uses and definitions. This is what all the fighting is about. Some people are using it in one context, some people are using it in the other common context, and both are fighting about how the other is wrong without realizing they are using it so.
Black definition 1:
A person of West African descent, a descendant of African American slaves (a definition of heritage).
Black definition 2:
A person exemplifying typical cultural and socio-economic characteristics. (a definition of culture+class)
Black defition 3:
A person who has skin color that is not white.
So here we have this "Triforce of Blackness" as I like to call it and we can rate Mr. Obama.
By definition 1: Mr. Obama does not fit with this definition simply because his father was a recent immigrant from Kenya and his mother a white women from Kansas. His heritage is not the typical African American heritage as experienced in America, which is explains some of the differences in culture and class.
By definition 2: Mr. Obama has shown to have more black culture than say, Colin Powell. Which is one of the reasons he is more accepted. He has shown he has some basketball skills (I'm making a joke here), some significant experience in the black church, and some ties with poorer African Americans in South Chicago. What he DOES NOT have in this category is the same socioeconomic status. He has been raised middle-upper class and educated as such. His lifestyle is not akin to the typical African American experience because he has had more money and been for the majority of his life in a different class than the typical African American. To put it bluntly: Eminem would be blacker than Obama in this context. This is largely what people mean when they say Obama is not black.
By definition 3: This is a practical definition. Meaning that if someone walked in the room and you were trying to describe the person you would say "the black guy." Mr. Obama's physical characteristics, even if he is biracial, would practically lead him to be called "black" as a descriptive quality. Often ultra liberals are afraid of using black in this context because they are afraid of being called racist. I have heard many times, "I hate to say it, but... the black one," which is the same thing as, "I hate to say it, but... the fat one." People have even gone so far as to say, "the guy in the blue shirt" when that guy is the only black guy in the room just so as not to appear racist. This is silly. If "black" or "fat" or "white" or whatever is the easiest way to practically described someone in the context of that, it is not racist! Please do not be that ultra politically person that does "the guy in the blue shirt" stuff.
If it was being explained this simply, then I don't think anyone would disagree if people said, "Obama is not the typical African American." Most people would accept that he fits definition 3 (and this is what Colbert joked about when he said he looked at Obama and "thought I was voting for a black man"). It's just that some people have a hard time swallowing that Obama does not live up to their expectations in the context of definitions 1 + 2.
None of these contexts need to involve genetics. That's a whole other can of worms. I think what people are attempting to describe is that Obama is not black when it comes to heritage, class, or the typical cultural experience of an African American. That being said, this is not meant to be attempt to prove Obama is not black. All I am trying to say is that given the context the word "black" is being used, Obama is less or more of it and that it is a false dichtomy. He is both black and not black at the same time.
THE END.