Obama Speaks with "Deep Humility" on Memorial Day (Lies about his uncle)

Washington Post ^ | May 26, 2008 | Karl Vick

[RetSignman]

So the obama’s had a crazy uncle in the attic, usually people try to hide that stuff.

[weegee]

His mom was an only child. His dad was a Kenyan arab.

Who is the Uncle?

[weegee]

It is an “uncle” he refers to.

He said his grandfather enlisted immediately following the Pearl Harbor attack.

[tanknetter]

As an intelligent man, Barry should investigate the veracity such “family stories” before he spouts them to the public. If he wants to share these tales at a family gathering, so be it. At family reunions, I - and I guess most people - have repeated family lore that could not be verified by any reputable historical methods, but I would not dream of passing these stories on to the public.

The downside to that argument is that, given the strong belief within the Black Community(tm) of the complete accuracy of oral histories, pointing out what you do above will be decried as racist and dismissed out of hand.

Recall the unpleasantness between the known descendents of Thomas Jefferson and the "known" descendents of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings. IIRC DNA evidence has shown conclusively that one of Hemmings children was fathered by either Thomas Jefferson ... or one of two nephews that were living with them at the time. Yet the Hemmings family oral history says that the patriarch of their entire clan WAS Thomas Jefferson ... and based on those oral histories they've claimed direct descent from the man.

[oswegodeee]

I thought Stanley Ann was an only child. Or is he referring to his uncle on his father’s side? Were there Kenyans in the Soviet Army?

Do they have attics in Kenya?

[quadrant]

Oral histories play an important role in the black community, but the role is modified by the habit of voice merging. That is, stories and strands of stories from many sources are merged into one narrative and the “teller” appropriates this narrative as his/her own.
MLK, Jr's most famous speech (I have a dream) was lifted from a speech given by a woman several years before. King was notoriously sloppy about citing original sources in his written work as well.
Other examples abound. Justice Marshall was famous for relating stories about his experiences in the Jim Crow South. Many of his colleagues on the SC (especially Sandra Day O'Connor) were dismayed to learn that many of Marshall's stories were not entirely accurate and some were outright fabrications. Was Marshall lying? Yes, by ordinary standards of truth but not by the habit of voice merging that is still quite common in the black community.

[quadrant]

I stand corrected.