Letter to Bill
Dear Mr. Clinton,
The only reason we called you the First Black President was because we didn't see a real one on the horizon. But now that balance has been restored, you're just a white guy with a saxophone. Please relinquish the title immediately.
Sincerely,
Me
PS. Let this be a lesson to you Mr. Obama. If someone with two black parents from a black community gets elected, your title might change to First Mixed President.
Labels: politicking, race
posted by Saboteur at
11:00 AM
2 Comments:
Oh come on Ty. In the United States if you're 1/8th black then you're black. Or you're as black as you look to a cab driver at 1:00am in the morning.
I am definitely aware of the prevailing wisdom re: octaroons etc. But honestly, if I was just elected instead of Barack do you think they would call me the First Black President? What about Alicia Keys? Mariah Carey? That funny looking kid on High School Musical? I don't think so.
How you look has a lot to do with it. And then mash up class and culture together and its not as simple as the 1/8th rule...When Barack walks around the street, people react to him like a black man - irregardless of the fact that he didn't meet a grown up black person until he went to college.
I think the fact that people are so willing to label him the First Black President and not push any deeper is because he is the first person to have brown skin in that position. He's an anomaly. Once it becomes more familiar, we can stop oogling at what is exotic and then maybe start having real conversations about what it means to be black in America.
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