I'd like to hear from blacks on Obama

[Fury]

Perceptions do not equate to fact. 

Fact:  Barak Obama is half-white, half-black.  His father was from Kenya, his mother is a white woman from Kansas.

Fact:  Heterosexual whites are not the only group capable of racism, nor are they the sole perpetrators of it.

Fact:  Ethnicity should not be a great consideration when it comes to politics and voting.

Perception:  Barak Obama is black.  He has dark skin, so that makes him black.  He is called black, and is known to be black.  Therefore, he is a black candidate in the same mold as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Alan Keyes.

Perception:  Only heterosexual whites are capable of racism and is perpetrated by this group the vast majority of the time.

Perception:  Someone's ethnicity can be a sole determining factor in which one gets elected or not.

Good post. To me, he's black. Then again, it should only matter to those that are simple-minded.

[Al Doggity]

The book is good itself. One allusion off the top of my head is the Muslim school controversy. In public he fends off all talk of Islam, and him being taught in a Muslim school as a outright lie, as one of his advisor's told the media. In the book while in Indonesia he spent 2 years in a Muslim school, the book stated later on that it was because of money issues, and only because of money issues that he attended. Later on though during the end it reverses and now Obama as a child reflects on how he adourned Muslim life and heritage, embarking on a journey as a adult to study the life of Islam. In real life some have said he is not really a Christian, but only converted to win support for votes, I really got the exact feeling myself in reading his actual life story, the same goes for the newly elected Louisiana gov. who converted from Hinduism. The book only went so far as to describe his grandparents, his grandfather being the colorful...who would take Obama to red light districts and to bar...anyways I would like to have heard more lineage into his middle name Hussein, he stated his father was a atheist, but what caused such a stir in religion and his questioning of faith and disdain for Catholicism choosing Islam, then Christianity?

I haven't read hls first book, but I did read "Audacity of hope" and the school thing was addressed and it's been verified by independent sources.
Most people in Indonesia are muslim, which is why the school he attended was known as Muslim. From what I recall, it was actually a public school. He also attended two years of Catholic school.

He was never a practicing muslim and he converted to Christianity at least a decade before running for any political office.

[youandme]

Most mainstream religions are collectivistic by definition.  And way to miss the point.

Here is the website of an Armenian church I used to pass on my way to work:
http://www.armenianprelacy.org/index.htm


Here is the mission statement:

 Today, with the existence of an independent Republic of Armenia, the focus of the Church should, and is, changing, although the basic mission remains unchanged. It still embraces the religious, the educational, the cultural, and the social in its continuing dedication to the betterment of its people


Here is

That was not m point. MY point had to deal with "The Race Question". China a nation, Armenia a nation. "Black people" a ethnic group, non nation, proping itself in a individualistic culture, claiming cultivistic needs. Your parralled a race to a nation, Tre was right in his assumption, basing it on ethnicity and NATION, black and white.

[Al Doggity]

That was not m point. MY point had to deal with "The Race Question". China a nation, Armenia a nation. "Black people" a ethnic group, non nation, proping itself in a individualistic culture, claiming cultivistic needs. Your parralled a race to a nation, Tre was right in his assumption, basing it on ethnicity and NATION, black and white.

It is undeniable that blacks-on the whole - have had a markedly different American experience than any other ethnic group. In terms of personal history, skin color/ethnicity is one of the most revealing traits someone can posess. From a purely statistical perspective, it can be either extremely unifying or dividing. In this instance, the parellels were appropriate.

[danielson]

He looks like a colored guy to me. He gave a great speech last night imo. I think America could do a lot worse.

[youandme]

It is undeniable that blacks-on the whole - have had a markedly different American experience than any other ethnic group. In terms of personal history, skin color/ethnicity is one of the most revealing traits someone can posess. From a purely statistical perspective, it can be either extremely unifying or dividing. In this instance, the parellels were appropriate.

If you switch to quantitive measures, than yeah can't deny that.

I haven't read "Audacity of Hope" but I don't see how in the book I read, he describes it as having to go because of lack of financial resources, in the second I hear it's because his mother was more or less not even concerned with religion and just wanted him to concentrate on schooling, why not say that in the first book

He described himself as a barefoot boy, playing in the dirt street with local workers children.

I'll have to pick the book up, but I don't see how traveling back to Indonesia with the second husband, they would be so poor?  


Most people in Indonesia are muslim, which is why the school he attended was known as Muslim. From what I recall, it was actually a public school. He also attended two years of Catholic school.

He was never a practicing muslim and he converted to Christianity at least a decade before running for any political office.

[beatmaster]

he does look like a black guy, his wife's black!

i'm curious, do you think the government will let a black guy or look like one be the president?
will it happen one day?
for that matter half white and half indian or chinese...

[24KT]

I see neither a Black man, nor a White man, I see a political candidate.
The only time I see his 'race' is when others point it out. If you ask me his race, ...I'd say it's human.
Ask me if I had to classify him into a specific racial ethnic group, ...I'd say he's a Black man.