Reply #50: Do you prefer "he has chosen to participate more fully in the black community, than any other"? [View All]

[LooseWilly]

I'm not trying to say that he actually gets to choose the degree of pigmentation in his skin... that would be silly. I'm speaking of community affiliations, and all that that entails in US society. Being of mixed race, I think that he was faced with more of a choice in that context than a "uniracial" person would be faced with.

Granted, black pigmentation carries with it a "special" historical set of societal forces and pressures with this regard... but I can't help but feel that, if Obama had really wanted to, he could've chosen to participate in some other community than the black community. He probably would've been perceived to be even more of an outsider in any other community... but as the questions of his "blackness" in the early portions of the primary showed so clearly- he did face some "outsider" perceptions even from the black community.

I, for one, feel like his ehtnic self-identification is up to him. In that respect, I do think he had a choice. Some options may've been likely to face more resistance than others... but Obama has consistently shown himself to be the sort of man who can overcome resistance and obstacles.