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.
Herman Cain for VP?
In modern America, only liberals notice or care about race. They are the last vestige of racism in the US.
People are people. If people are multi ethic there is ho nobility in trying to shoe horn them into alignment with one of the groups espousing the benefits of some genetic pedigree. Either for he who does it or he to whom it is done. Come to think of it there is no nobility in proudly proclaiming a pedigree under any circumstance.
Your cartoon reminded me of another question I’ve been pondering. During the Bush Administration, I’ve seen numerous cartoons depicting Bush with chimpanzee features. Will these same cartoonists have the testicular fortitude to do the same with Obama? (of course not)
I could care less what his racial makeup is. He is 100% America-hating, commie liberal.
His father was from Africa. Left him and his mother after he was born. His step father was Indonesian.
“Your cartoon reminded me of another question I’ve been pondering. During the Bush Administration, I’ve seen numerous cartoons depicting Bush with chimpanzee features. Will these same cartoonists have the testicular fortitude to do the same with Obama? (of course not)”
Good point. I’m sure calling him Chimpy Obama will drive the Liberal PC police nuts!
What about those white folks ( his words ) who raised him, put a roof over his head, clothes on his back, fed him, paid for his education...?
If not for his white grandparents who he never mentions lately, he might have grown up in a Muslim country as an orphan ?
He does visit and call his Muslims family members often.
Barack’s father sure looks black to me:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html%3Fin_article_id=431908&in_page_id=1770
Oh grow up.
Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Elaine dated this guy who dated this light skinned guy who sort of had black features but she wasn’t sure he was black. At the end, he thought she was Mexican because of the hair and the last name of Benes. They ended up going to the Gap.
He has no legitimate connection to what could be called the Black or Colored experience.
Perhaps, but in the history of this country, he would have been labled black or colored, along with those who did come from Africa as well as the American Indians.
My point is just that it simply doesn't benefit us to have this conversation. That's all.
So a guy with a black father and white mother is “black?” If his father was white and his mother was black, would Obama be “white?”
By the way, many black African tribes were actively involved in the slave trade. I’d like to know if Obama’s African ancestors ever sold slaves.
You can’t tell someone’s ancestry strictly by appearance. Often, and maybe even most of the time, but not reliably. Many former slaves deemed black in the South because of the “one drop” rule were able to migrate and integrate into white society in the North.
As I said, his Kenyan papers list his as Arab African. Obama, Sr. had African blood on his mother’s side. Great article.
How about 1/2 Honkey, All Donkey? :]
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