Race of spouse important in politics?

[Boojatta]

<...> blacks fear that one day he'll go Tiger Woods on us and get all race transcendent (he might well have never been in the running without a traditionally black spouse and kids).

The "he" in the above excerpt is Barack Obama.

The excerpt is from an article by Dickerson. Here's a link to the article:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/01/22/obama/

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. his mother is white

so he's already 'race transcendent' (whatever the hell that means). What a moran.

[Boojatta]

3. I'm not yet ready to classify the author as a moron, but

I wonder why the author included these words in the article:

For all our sakes, it seemed (again) best not to point out the obvious: You're not embracing a black man, a descendant of slaves. You're replacing the black man with an immigrant of recent African descent of whom you can approve without feeling either guilty or frightened.

Of course, Obama couldn't run for President if he were an immigrant.

From Obama's website:

Barack Obama was born on August 4th, 1961, in Hawaii to Barack Obama, Sr. and Ann Dunham.

Anyone who calls Obama an "immigrant" should also call a lot of other people immigrants.

[Igel]

5. He should have written

"You're not embracing a black man, a descendant of slaves. You're replacing the black man with the son of an exchange student, a man of recent African descent of whom you can approve without feeling either guilty or frightened."

The recency of the arrival of his Y chromosome to the US is the point, not his immigrant status.

[jcrew2001]

11. Obama grew up in the White household of his mother

so because he's lived with White people for his developmental years, he is better at connecting with the white audience which is the majority of American voters. the question isn't whether he is black enough, but whether he is acceptable to the white suburban voters, and Obama basically grew up in a white surbaban household.

I'm not sure if his mixed background makes his skin lighter, but I've read studies where lighter-skinned Black people are faced with less racism than darker-skinned Blacks.

If Obama had married a white woman, like Tiger Woods, that would have directly confronted societal norms against miscegenation, and the Media/Hollywood/Society isn't often accepting of inter-racial couples.

[johnnytoxic]

13. It's actually "m-o-r-o-n". n/t

[sam sarrha]

2. race is only important to Corporate Media Whores for Reich Wing propaganda..

[Donald Ian Rankin]

6. Absolutely untrue, alas.

It matters a lot to a great many "ordinary Americans". It would be nice if it didn't, but that's not unfortunately the case, at least not yet.

[Freaks1932]

9. Why would race matter?

I don't just stick with voting for one party but Barack Obama is certainly one of three people running that I would like to see as president. Race was never a factor in it, it shouldn't be a positive or negative thing. His race has nothing to do with the ability to be a good president, he should be judged on his abilities.

[wickedcity]

8. Ridiculous...

Are you really that self-righteous? Race is an issue in America because no one (no one) will let it go. As I've said before, if race is unimportant, then why does everyone, including blacks and democrats, feel the need to shout their race from the rooftops? The Democratic party is just as blatantly racist as the Republicans. Shutting up Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would do just as much for the cause of equality as shutting up the KKK.

On the issue of Obama: I'd be inclined to respect him more if he and his supporters didn't stop acting as if his race has any bearing on his ability to run a country. We know you're black Obama, why should we care? Your multi-racial background is irrelevant. Democrats are making his race an issue by preemptively crying racism and flaunting his multi-racial background. Racism isn't just for Republicans.

[johnnytoxic]

15. apparently it's important to the sistah's who want to make sure...

that Obama is married to the right kind of black woman.

[China_cat]

4. To paraphrase MLK

I have a dream that all people will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

[necklace]

7. Beautifully and eloquently stated!

In the end, does it really matter? We Americans are more obsessed with race than the Europeans are. When will be stop being "White Americans" "Black Americans" "Asian Americans" etc., and become Americans - one nation...indivisible with liberty and justice for all!!!

[mbali]

10. I'll tell you one way that the race of the spouse matters . . .

While it's been little discussed, I believe the fact that Obama's wife is black really helps him in the black community, especially among black women.

Every black woman I know was relieved to see that Obama's wife is black - not just "black" but a "sista" in every sense of the word.

While race "transcendence" is great in a global sense, many black women are sometimes frustrated to see so many prominent black men choosing white women for their partners - as if they are sending an unintended message that black women are not good enough for them. It's not that we have a problem with white women or white people or with intermarriage in general. But society has so consistently denigrated black women and negatively compared us to white women (as personified by Imus' racist comparisons between the "nappy-headed, etc." black Rutgers players with the "cute" white North Carolina players), it can hurt to see black men chose a white woman over a black one, even when the choice has nothing to do with race or that they think white women are superior to black women.

Many times, we are drawn to an interesting, talented compelling black public figure, only to find that the woman on his arm is one who looks nothing like us.

So when we first saw Obama, we were interested and excited by his prospects and promise. But as he rose to prominence, a whole lot of black women held their breath and said to themselves, "Oh, Lord, please don't let him show up with a white woman!" Not because we don't like white women, but because we were hoping to see that Obama appreciated black women. And when we saw Michele Obama, many black women breathed a sigh of relief.

That's probably one of the reasons that you don't hear a whole lot of black women (beyond the likes of Debra Dickerson) claiming that Obama "isn't black enough." The fact that he LOOKS black (no one would mistake him for a white man), has self-identified as black all of his life, and has worked so hard his entire professional life for our community goes a long way toward debunking that argument. But the fact that he chose as his life partner, not a white woman or a black woman who's just barely that, but a real-life, honest-to-goodness sister pretty much knocks that claim right out of the park.

[angee_is_mad]

12. Amen

Being a woman of color (black) I agree wholehearted to what you have said.

The mainstream media has forced down our throats this european ideal of beauty that many little black girls till this day think that they are ugly if they are dark-skin with short,kinky hair and broader features.

So hell yeah if felt good to see him with a woman who was identifiably black.

[Name removed]

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