Reflections From a Murky Pond

I’ve got question for the “Black Community.” Is Obama a mulatto yet or is he still Black insofar as your people are concerned?

Really! This seems a fair and honest query to me. We all know that “Blackness” has everything to do with culture, presentation, and ideology and little at to do with genetics.

So is Obama still Black enough to be Black?

Years ago Wanda Sykes, at the 2009 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, made a joke that wasn’t just a joke judging from the normative behaviors and attitudes of the “Black Community.”

This is amazing, the First Black President – I know you’re biracial – but the First Black President! You’re proud to be able to say that – The First Black President. That’s unless you screw up. Then it’s going to be, “What’s up with the half-white guy, huh? Who voted for the mulatto, what the hell?”

– Wanda Sykes
2009 White House Correspondents’ Dinner

So, has Obama screwed up enough to be mulatto? Has this half-breed finally lost his “Black Card?”

OK; I can easily understand why you all got right past Obama’s being a “a ‘light-skinned’ African American with no Negro dialect” even though you rarely extend the same courtesy or tolerance for other light-skins. Yet what has he done to maintain his “cred?”

C’mon! What’s Obama done for you and your people? More importantly, what has he done to you?

• Black education is continuing to degrade, especially for Black males;
• Black unemployment continues to skyrocket and greatly outpaces White employment;
• Black entrepreneurship is in decline;
• Black incarcerations rates remain “criminally” high and;
• Blacks are still much more likely not to have access to health insurance that they can afford.

Contrariwise, a whole lot of Wealthy, White Liberals and Progressives – voters he’s had to work, at least a little bit, to get and maintain – have been getting their needs and desires met, most often to your people’s detriment it seems.

Are you really going to blindly follow the lead of your politicians?

As the chair of the Black Caucus, I’ve got to tell you, we are always hesitant to criticize the President. With 14% Black unemployment, if we had a White president we’d be marching around the White House. … The President knows we are going to act in deference to him in a way we wouldn’t to someone White.

— Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
Chairman, Congressional Black Caucus

So what’s it going to be? Are you ready to apply the same standards to Obama that you apply to yourselves, or is he still Black enough for you? Now that he’s a lame duck, you can ask yourself that question just as I have without risking much of anything.

Tags: America | Blacks | Culture | Humor | Mulattoes | Obama | Politics | Race | Race Baiting | Racial Politics | Racism | Sarcasm | Society | Whites

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 5th, 2014 at 12:41 pm and is filed under Humor, Politics, Society. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.