Tell me where I'm wrong (Like you guys wouldn't be happy to!). But wouldn't that be kind of a good thing for Obama? Maybe when they get behind the curtain, people who might not feel entirely comfortable voting for a black man might do so if they knew he was half black/half white. Does his true status make him a pariah in the black community? I'm confused as to what the downside is here.
Me too.
I recall some hedging in the Black Community over Colin Powell's status as "authentically Black" due to his Caribbean ancestry. Evidently that is being glossed over this time. But of course this is all about ideology: Powell was too conservative for most Democrats; Obama is 'perfectly liberal'.
The downside is that he's a sneak and a liar.
Believe it or not, it really does. I read a very long article about this not long ago (I wish I'd saved the link, but I didn't), and how it's indicative of the complete 180 in the black community from the 1960s when they were ecstatic to have anyone even a "little bit black" (remember the old "one drop" rule?) involved in mainstream politics.
Apparently it's not so much a physical issue of "not enough black blood" as it is an issue of Obama not acting "black enough". A lot of black people seem to think he's some sort of "sellout to the white man" ... not quite an Uncle Tom, but just Too Damn White in his speech, mannerisms, dress, etc. And on top of that, a lot of black people, particularly in urban areas, despise that he's worked his way up in the political scene the "white way" (that is, starting out at the bottom and then seeking higher office the way everyone does in politics) instead of the "activist" way like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, etc.
It's bizarre to think about, but it's very real. And I can't figure out how this stance can possibly help the black community whether Obama eventually wins or not.
Historically, white against black racism was targeted at anyone who had any black blood. Plessy of Plessy v. Ferguson was only 1/8 black, yet the laws of Jim Crow applied to him just as much as if he were 100% black. A white person who hated blacks, would, in all likelihood, refuse to vote for Obama, white mother or no white mother. I don't think that being only 1/2 or 1/4 black makes a difference to whites- the few who are still racist would hate him anyway and the majority who are not would not care about the color of his skin. Of course, being non-white I can only speculate.
For blacks, in general, oftentimes someone who is half black and half white is looked at with a degree of suspicion. There is a fear that someone who is only half black will run away from their blackness, so there is a lot of pressure placed on someone like Obama to associate with blacks and disassociate from whites in order to be accepted by the "black community". Contrary to the last lines of this article, sadly I think that if Obama associated mostly with his white grandma he would have an even harder time gaining black support. It is black racism and insecurity that fuels this attitude, IMO, but it is the current reality.