Reply #100: In this America, for all intents and purposes, he's black [View All]

[EffieBlack]

Don't look at me - I didn't make the rules.

Interestingly, most black Americans are bi- or multi-racial. Very, very, very few of us are pure black - we are full of white blood. But that was never enough for us to go around calling ourselves "white" or "bi-racial." If we had a drop of black blood, we were black. Period.

My grandmother was as white-looking as she could be - the result of more than one slave master in her heritage. Didn't matter. She was black (or "colored") and, as such, subjected to all of the inferior treatment accorded to black people, despite her advanced education and intellect.

In fact, Barack Obama probably has more black blood than most African Americans, given that he is one-half African, something that most black Americans cannot claim. Our African blood has been so diluted and intermingled with other races that it really is hard for us to tell what our actual racial background is. But it never mattered before because in THIS America, we have black blood and brown skin, so we are black, no questions asked.

So I find it amusing when some of the very people who are responsible for the continuation of the racial divide and are the most eager to classify, identify and define us by our "blackness" (you are NOT in this category, by the way) are now insisting, "Obama's not REALLY black, you know. He's BI-RACIAL." I call bullshit on them and tell them, "Not so fast, buddy. YOU made the rules. And according to YOUR rules, Obama is a black man - not 'bi-racial,' not 'multi-racial,' not 'post-racial,' not 'half-white' - black. So now that it looks like he could reach heights you never thought one of us would reach, don't go all multi-cultural on us and try to pretend that he's not REALLY black. By YOUR rules, that's exactly what he is."