Not as black as Arabic writes Todd Lohenry. In fact, not as black as some other presidents.
Further, at only 6.25% African Negro, would he even be the first President who was part black? Not at all! Our 3rd President, Thomas Jefferson was our first part black President. And he’s not alone, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge were also part black.
It’s rare for someone to offer fresh news to the debate in Wisconsin’s blogosphere. Congratulations, Todd! It’s the first time I’ve seen this. The discussion is relevant and important since Obama has capitalized so heavily on his “black, like me” persona to win the primary. (Please let someone reading be quick enough to get that allusion.) No wonder Jesse Jackson wants to neuter Obama.
Take a minute and go read The Right Side of Wisconsin.
9 responses so far ↓
1 waukesha mom // Oct 14, 2008 at 11:22 am
I not only get the allusion, I read the book back in high school.
2 Kathryn // Oct 14, 2008 at 11:31 am
The Lohenry piece is one of the silliest things I’ve read in quite awhile. ARAB is as much (or more) an ethnic distinction as a racial/place of origin distinction. A person can be racially African and ethnically Arab all at once. One could as reasonably separate Anglicans from Presbyterians and claim that only the Presbyterians are British because the Angles are of German origin.
3 Cindy Kilkenny // Oct 14, 2008 at 11:52 am
Kathryn – I knew you would be sensitive to the Arabic label.
I will concede that sometimes culture is different than ethnicity. I believe Lohenry discussed ethnicity. I interjected culture.
4 Lucky Lady // Oct 14, 2008 at 4:46 pm
I read that Obama is from the African blacks that owned and sold slaves. That’s a far cry from the African-American history here.
5 K // Oct 14, 2008 at 5:16 pm
What is your point???? Are you more or less comfortable if Obama has a slave owning heritage…like yours???? If Obama isn’t the absolute definition of a AFRICAN-AMERICAN then I don’t know who is.
6 Cindy Kilkenny // Oct 14, 2008 at 5:33 pm
K – so Obama’s the absolute definition, except you lacked in that definition. You may not have spent much time here, but you’ll soon realize that kind of response has little weight on this site.
7 Zach W. // Oct 14, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Does anyone know where Todd gathered his information? Unless I missed it, I didn’t see him cite where he culled those “facts” about previous presidents.
8 Cindy Kilkenny // Oct 14, 2008 at 7:01 pm
You’re welcome to take that up on his site.
9 Jeff Cramer // Sep 14, 2009 at 10:01 pm
for info on other black presidents, Jefferson, Coolidge, Harding are among those cited, just google “black US presidents” and articles and authors will show up.
As to the title of this article, How Black Is Obama, if you do more than a cursory internet search you will find he is NOT half white and half black, no one is exactly half and half of any race, as is no one 100% of any one race.
You would have to go back through your entire ancestry, not just your parents and grandparents, but every possible inclusion going back to who knows how many hundreds of years or longer. Obama is actually only about 1/16th black, his father was not black, he was Arab primarily and less than 20% black, and Barack is more white and Arab than black.
So why doesn’t he play up the heritage he has most in him instead of what he looks most like? Answer: no political clout or leverage! He can call himself African American or anything else, I’ve got american indian in me and I don’t run around with a feather in my hair! His race is a mixed bag, very mixed, at best and if he or anyone else wants to call himself black, go for it, but he isn’t black by definition K or by heritage/ancestry. It’s a choice one has to make if they aren’t going to go by % in their blood. He can claim to be Arab racially and African ethnically and vice versa, no one side supersedes the other just because you or anyone else says so.
Stick to the numbers, figure out your/his heritage and go by the numbers, the % in your blood, your history, and remember no one is 50/50 anything!
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