Posted on 02/21/2008 9:42:57 AM PST by K-oneTexas
Wow! Barack Obama is African-American? Let's Be Honest About Race By Herman Cain
February 18, 2008
A few weeks ago, I heard Dick Morris, former advisor to Bill and Hillary Clinton, say in an interview that if Hillary falls behind Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primary elections, then Hillary's campaign would play the "race card". Not directly, but through her surrogates.
Dah dah! After last Tuesday's primaries, Barack Obama took the lead over Hillary Clinton in delegate votes for the first time in the Democratic presidential nominating contest. On Wednesday, a quote by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat who supports Clinton, appeared in the media:
"You've got conservative whites here (Pennsylvania), and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate."
Wow! I didn't know Barack Obama was African-American. I must have been living in a cave for the past year. And I am sure millions of voters may not have given much thought to Obama's race, but they might now!
I first saw the quote on the Fox News Channel last Wednesday, and could not believe that Dick Morris's prediction would materialize so quickly. Coincidentally, the Pennsylvania primary is on April 22. That's about two months for voters in Pennsylvania to ponder Gov. Rendell's comment. It may not matter by then, but it could matter at the Democratic National Convention next August or in the general election in November.
Let's be honest about race.
Populist race hustlers such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have been exposed for their hypocrisy time and time again. Selective media outrage over racially insensitive comments is not even a debate. But when most of us believe we have come so far from civil rights to equal rights to equal opportunity, the Democratic establishment candidate plays the race card to remind some people of old attitudes.
Let's be clear. Barack Obama is not my presidential candidate of choice. My intent is to remind people how easily it is for their attitudes to be tainted and distracted for someone else's quest for political power.
This country is only temporarily color blind, until someone uses the power of suggestion to bring race from the back of the bus of someone's consciousness to the front of the bus. The good news is that only a small percentage of people, black and white, fall for this age-old psychological tactic.
Gov. Rendell's comment was not racist, but it was racial. And for some people, a racial comment is all that is required to stir up racist feelings. Or at a minimum, it is enough to cause someone to hesitate when they get ready to cast their vote for the next president of the United States of America.
Some people will always have racially inspired motives for their actions. But I firmly believe that most people have gotten past those attitudes. This is not based on a poll or survey or media sound bite. This is based on the personal experiences of my successful career in corporate America, and my impressive second place finish in the 2004 Georgia Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
I am black, and I did say I ran as a Republican in Georgia.
This country has a lot of strengths. But one of its greatest strengths is its ability to change for the better. And no matter how much we move forward, there will always be some people who will try to stir the attitudes of the past.
Now let's get back to the presidential race.
He is Hafracan.
Correct me if I’m wrong. I though Obammy was 1/2 white, 1/4 African, and 1/4 Arab.
I know that’s cute and all when Rush says it, but it’s not helpful. Fact is that by any standard over the course of the country’s history anyone with a certain percentage (I’m too lazy to look it up) of American/black blood would be listed as “black” or until at least the 50s or so “colored.”
100% liberal! That’s what I’m prejudiced against.
Lucky Barack, he came out black. The genes were with him, but not all kind. He’s got those dumbo ears and a two piece jaw line.
Hi—well, I thought his father’s Kenyan citizenship listed him as an Arab African. Somewhere on his father’s maternal side there is some African ancestry. Obama is predominantly Arab-American, not African-American. Arabs in Kenya were notable slave traders...
I can't remember, and I don't have the time right now to reasearch, but just because he is black does not necesarilly mean he is African.
IIRC, his daddy was Haitian, or Indonesian, wasn't he?
If so, he's more Voodoo than Zulu.
Obama's ideas: 1/2 assed.
Hi—well, I thought his father’s Kenyan citizenship listed him as an Arab African. Somewhere on his father’s maternal side there is some African ancestry. Obama is predominantly Arab-American, not African-American. Arabs in Kenya were notable slave traders...
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The ultimate irony! Very funny. I wondered why his mother went from an African husband to an Indonesian, it didn’t seem consistent. But she really went from one muzzie to another, neither of whom were black.
That's what I thought too.
This guy says Obama is an Arab-American:
http://kennethelamb.blogspot.com/2008/02/barak-obama-questions-about-ethnic.html
It used to be referred to as “The one drop rule”
Halle Berry (a certifiable babe) wins the Oscar and calls it a win for black people. No thanks to her white mom.
Having some white blood amongst the black is not a distant thing. It is their direct parent.
Would recognizing one's immediate lineage be racist?
Ain’t it ironic? The black side of Obama’s family is from Africa and never experienced slavery. The white side of his family owned slaves. That’s right, Obama is the descendant of slaveowners but not the descendant of slaves.
Sorry that was vague...One drop rule meant if you ahve one drop of “Black” blood, you are Black.
Right. Thanks.
Exactly.
People are against ANY candidate who will EXTEND AND ENLARGE upon already bloated taxpayer funded, government give-away plans for minorities.
With Hussein Obama as President, that is a lead pipe cinch. THAT’S why Americans may be against a racial minority represented in the WH. There, I said it. It has to do with race and it doesn't have to do with race. Both.
Does Mr. Cain believe the overwhelming support for Obama by blacks is NOT "racially inspired"?
The years and years of reverse racism in this country by many, (celebrities and politicians for example), again is overlooked.
Perhaps Mr. Cain agrees with this.
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