Slightly Sarcastic

A couple years ago we were introduced to Barack Obama, a first term senator from Chicago.  When he announced he would run for president we learned he was the product of a white mother and a black father.

CNN Quote – The 2000 U.S. Census was the first time Americans were allowed to identify themselves as “multiracial,” and more than six million people checked more than one box in the race and ethnicity category.

Included in the multiracial category is the Democratic presumptive nominee, Sen. Barack Obama. With a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya, Obama is the nation’s first biracial candidate for president. The media, however, have continually called Obama the nation’s first major party “black candidate,” saying he could make history as the first “black president.” But is that accurate?

A columnist examining Obama‘s background summed up his racial identity into one equation: white + black = black. ”

In the beginning he wasn’t black enough.  His mixed-race heritage and solid midwestern timbre have left some claiming he is not black at all. His background – raised by his white mother and grandparents in Hawaii and Jakarta, he attended Ivy League colleges and then taught constitutional law at university – fits no known mould of black American life.  Now, the black population seems thrilled that one of their own is in office.  My question is this:  If Obama had been raised by his father, would he be the president today?

I am frustrated by what I see as reverse racism – blacks against whites.  What really kills me is that the biggest fight Obama had was to convince the black community that he was black enough.  My personal belief is that Obama transcends the labels of race to appeal to all races.

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