Posted on 02/24/2004 9:45:36 AM PST by paltz
Teresa Heinz Kerry: 'I'm an African American'
First lady-wannabe Teresa Heinz Kerry sometimes describes herself as an "African American," even though she grew up amidst segregated privilege in colonial Mozambique.
"My roots are African," she told a reporter in 1995. "The birds I remember, the fruits I ate, the trees I climbed, they're African."
Throughout the 1990s, Heinz Kerry referred to herself as "African American," the Baltimore Sun revealed on Tuesday. And when her use of the term set off a firestorm of controversy in 1993, she defended the claim.
"African-hyphen-American belongs to blacks," Heinz Kerry's spokesman told reporters, insisting that it was proper for his boss to call herself African American as long as no hyphen was used or intended.
The one-time Republican's depiction of herself as African rankles some who knew Heinz Kerry in the days when her father ran a medical clinic in Mozambique.
Some say the wealthy "African American" has snubbed blacks in her homeland, because she has done next to nothing with her vast Heinz Foods fortune to improve living conditions there.
"We are proud she is a daughter of the land," Neo Simbine, 75, a retired black nurse who worked with Heinz Kerry's father, told the Sun. "But you have to live what you say. If she really loves Mozambique and has lots of money, why doesn't she build us a hospital?"
Heinz Kerry's fortune is equal to nearly a quarter of Mozambique's annual Gross Domestic Product.
But aside from a contribution to her homeland's Save the Children Fund, the woman who repeatedly invokes her Mozambican roots has limited her generosity.
A spokeswoman for the Heinz Foundation said the prospective first lady would give more if she were more confident the money would be managed properly.
showed how ill educated you are by calling South Africans " Southies ",
is it "ill-educated" to call someone who lives in the south of something a "Southie," or is it merely a slang term that pushes your buttons? (and by the way, do you have a problem with Irish people who live in South Boston? -- what, South Africaners are much better than them, right? And I'm the bigot?)
impugned white South Africans by stating that they are " pushing " Apartheid now,
a re-read is in order for you. I said that all south africans push apartheid ???, or did I invoke the image of a particular south african that pushes apartheid, merely for the sake of illustration?
There is no need for you to answer these questions. Thank you for offering yourself as further proof that the accuser is usually guilty. Do some remedial reading. Pick up a college level literature book. I think you've been living on sound-bytes and sensationalism a bit too long. Best wishes.
"Southie", is NOT what any one or nation is called, because they live in/come from an area south of something, or South Africa.In point of indisputable fact, "Southie" refers to a person/persons from an area of Boston, only. I have never seen written or heard someone from Georgia,Australia, South America.nor South Africa called a "Southie" by anyone but you. That alone, makes you appear ill educated; twice now.
No,I don't " have a problem with Southies"..do YOU? But they are lower class people, who fought enforced busing ( and they were right, I was on their side, when this was going on )and taken in context, with your implication ( your snide Apartheid comment )of racial bigotry, that furthered the appearance of your being a bigot and ill educated.
You left off any modifier......all, some, a few, etc., implying, therefore, that all South African whites were Apartheid loving bigots. Please get someone to help you.......you don't even understand what you write, let alone what I have written.
No, thank YOU, for proving that some people here will post about anything and everything,especially things they don't know much about,and only want to engage in flaming.
"Southie", is NOT what any one or nation is called, because they live in/come from an area south of something, or South Africa.In point of indisputable fact, "Southie" refers to a person/persons from an area of Boston, only. I have never seen written or heard someone from Georgia,Australia, South America.nor South Africa called a "Southie" by anyone but you. That alone, makes you appear ill educated; twice now.I did not know what a "Southie" was until I read your post. Very interesting.
I'm too young to remember the start of forced bussing, so I was surprised to learn that even people in liberal-controlled Boston fought this ill-conceived policy.
Reminds me of when Boutros Boutros Ghali, head of the UN at the time, gave a speech to the OAU stating that "I too am an African" (Mr. Ghali is a fair skinned Egyptian Copt). There was considerable uproar from the audience and Ghali never quite recovered his status with the African nations.
Although opposed to bussing, I had little symphathy for the "Southies." For years, the citizens of South Boston enjoyed the benefits of socialism, through government jobs, housing projects and public works. They loved socialism when it benefitted them, but then got pissed when they had to share their government schools with the blacks in Roxbury.
The left wing Negros are the ones who insisted on being called African Americans to whitewash Negro, Black, Colored, and other terms claiming these were derisive. So they push for new terms that a white Teresa can legitimately claim. So how are Haitians, Jamaicans, blacks from South America properly cataloged as African Americans?
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