Do some blacks care that Obama isn't a real African American? (generations, Barack Obama)
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I was wondering if some blacks in America care that Obama isn't a true African American (he is in a sense, but not an African American as in having been here for generations). No, not that he's half white, but none of his ancestors were slaves, and in a way he's just an adopted part of the black community. Ultimately it doesn't matter, I know, but it seems he's seen as more 'black' just because of the colour of his skin. A Chinese American or a White American who worked in the slums of the Chicago is just as much a part of the African American community as him, yet they wouldn't accept them as a true AA as they have Obama. Why aren't more African Americans not a bit disappointed that the first 'black' President wasn't a descendant of slaves? Wouldn't it make it far more poignant if someone like MLK had become President?
The problem is with your term. He is African American without a doubt. What he isn't, is a descendent of slaves. I think that is what you are getting at.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Originally Posted by chattypatty
The problem is with your term. He is African American without a doubt. What he isn't, is a descendent of slaves. I think that is what you are getting at.
Technically, a white South African who becomes American or an Egyptian who becomes American is an African American too.
Yes, I mean African American in the sense of being a descendant of slaves that came here centuries ago.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20
I was wondering if some blacks in America care that Obama isn't a true African American (he is in a sense, but not an African American as in having been here for generations). No, not that he's half white, but none of his ancestors were slaves, and in a way he's just an adopted part of the black community. Ultimately it doesn't matter, I know, but it seems he's seen as more 'black' just because of the colour of his skin. A Chinese American or a White American who worked in the slums of the Chicago is just as much a part of the African American community as him, yet they wouldn't accept them as a true AA as they have Obama. Why aren't more African Americans not a bit disappointed that the first 'black' President wasn't a descendant of slaves? Wouldn't it make it far more poignant if someone like MLK had become President?
I'm assuming your deriving these questions from your own head because no one else appears to be asking them. Just so you know, you're questions could be perceived as baiting- you're using terms like "true AA" and then go on to be puzzled why AAs aren't some how disappointed that his ancestry doesn't include American slaves? Also were are you getting this more black thing from??? You're line of thinking isn't making any sense really but to answer your question anyway..."No."
You forgot to add - Obama's father was from Kenya, far away from where African slaves were bought from. Also, he was raised by Whites because - and all too common by Black men - his Dad abandoned him.
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Originally Posted by sarahnyc
You forgot to add - Obama's father was from Kenya, far away from where African slaves were bought from. Also, he was raised by Whites because - and all too common by Black men - his Dad abandoned him.
Yes, what annoyed me was how he was championed as some sort of symbolic representative for African Americans - with all their history of slavery etc, when he wasn't even one of them! Not saying he can't represent them or be embraced, but it's wrong to portray it like his ancestors were slaves, went through Civil Rights etc, because they didn't! The half white thing doesn't matter, many AA's have white ancestry, but I just was annoyed how such a fuss was made about him being the first African American ancestry.
I don't see the point of this post. Who cares if he's a descendant of slaves? He is black and he was elected President of the United States. That's great for the black community whether they're from Africa or elsewhere. How he got here is irrelevant.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sarahnyc
You forgot to add - Obama's father was from Kenya, far away from where African slaves were bought from. Also, he was raised by Whites because - and all too common by Black men - his Dad abandoned him.
His Dad abandoned him? Hmm, then you need to basically then make the case each and every couple that gets a divorced w/ children, is an abandonment by the father. The split up after his mom went to Harvard w/ Barak while Obama Sr was in a PhD program there. After the split she went back to Hawaii. Like 30 seconds of googling would reveal accurate and factual info- but I guess it adds more to the drama to say like most black men he left his baby momma to fend for herself.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by yman97
I don't see the point of this post. Who cares if he's a descendant of slaves? He is black and he was elected President of the United States. That's great for the black community whether they're from Africa or elsewhere. How he got here is irrelevant.
A Kenyan is as genetically close to a Jew as he is to someone from the Ivory Coast. All people with dark skin are not more related to each other than other races. Papua New Guineans are genetically the most distant from West Africans of all human beings.
His Dad abandoned him? Hmm, then you need to basically then make the case each and every couple that gets a divorced w/ children, is an abandonment by the father. The split up after his mom went to Harvard w/ Barak while Obama Sr was in a PhD program there. After the split she went back to Hawaii. Like 30 seconds of googling would reveal accurate and factual info- but I guess it adds more to the drama to say like most black men he left his baby momma to fend for herself.
Jeez...
Actually, Obama's mother never went to Harvard, or even to Cambridge, apparently. Obama's father left the family in Hawaii to attend Harvard.
Then, when Obama was almost 1, his father left for Harvard to get a Ph.D. in economics. He had also been accepted to the New School in New York City, with a more generous scholarship that would have allowed his family to join him. But he decided to go to Harvard. "How can I refuse the best education?" he told Ann, according to Obama's book.
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