AmeriJamCan....The link doesn't work...However just going by the question itself I think it is highly offensive to even question this mans blackness!!

Kunjufu wrote: Sorry about that. Here is the actual story:

Stanley Crouch: Why Obama isn't black like me
By Stanley Crouch -
Published 12:00 am PST Saturday, November 4, 2006
Story appeared in EDITORIALS section, Page B7

Print | E-Mail | Comments (6)


If Barack Obama makes it all the way to becoming the Democratic candidate for president in 2008, a feat he says he might attempt, a much more complex understanding of the difference between color and ethnic identity will be upon us for the very first time.

Back in 2004, Alan Keyes made this point quite often. Keyes was the black Republican carpetbagger chosen by the elephants to run against Obama in Illinois for a U.S. Senate seat. The choice of Keyes was either a Republican version of affirmative action or an example of just how dumb the party believes black voters to be, since it was very obvious that Keyes came from the Southeast, not the Midwest.

Keyes lost to Obama by a wide margin. Perhaps one of the reasons was that Keyes might get so hopped up and hysterical about religious issues that he could appall even a conservative audience with his self-righteousness until he was savagely booed away from the microphone.






Keyes was not able to make a distinction between himself as a black American and Obama as an African American. After all, Obama's mother is of white U.S. stock, and his father is a black Kenyan. Other than color, Obama did not share a heritage with the majority of black Americans, who are descendants of plantation slaves.

Of course, black Americans were obviously involved in bringing slavery to an end, but the peculiar institution initially came under fire from white Christians -- the first of whom to officially stand tall and separate themselves from slavery were Quakers. The majority of the Union troops were white, and so were those who have brought about the most important civil-rights legislation.

So why, with slavery having ended for good in 1865 with the loss of the redneck South to the Union Army, do we still have such a simple-minded conception of black and white? It seems to me that the naive ideas coming out of Pan-Africanism are at the root of the confusion.

Quite clearly -- and understandably -- when Pan-African ideas began to form in the 19th century, they were based in serious complaint. All black people suffered and shared a common body of injustices, regardless of where they lived in the world. Europe had colonized much of the black world in order to get control of its natural resources, and the United States had enslaved people of African descent for nearly 250 years. After American slavery ended, there was the time of long-suffering under segregation and bigotry, appearing in either hard or soft form.

So when black Americans refer to Obama as "one of us," I do not know what they are talking about. In his new book, "The Audacity of Hope," Obama makes it much clearer than he did when running against Keyes that he has experienced some light versions of the many negative assumptions based on his color, but he cannot claim those problems as his own, nor has he lived the life of a black American. That should not actually matter.

I doubt Obama will crash and burn as Colin Powell did when he seemed ready to knock Bill Clinton out of the Oval Office. But if Obama throws his hat in the ring, he will be running as the son of a white woman who married an African immigrant. So, if we end up with him as our first black president, he will have come into the White House through a side door, which might be the only one available at this point.

About the writer:

• Stanley Crouch is a columnist for the New York Daily News. His column routinely appears on Saturday in The Bee and occasionally on other days. Reach him at scrouch@edit.nydailynews.com. Distributed by King Features Syndicate Inc.

Is Obama "black" enough??? LOL. I am unsure whether I would ever vote for him. He is just asafe Negro for Whites. I have yet to see anything prolific, inspiring, or even admirable from the man that would focus on the real issues facing Africans in America, and those of us on the continent in which America plays a part in the economic subjugation of African people abroad.

He is just a step-in-fetch-it half breed coon. As Dr. Carter G. Woodson would say, given he totally embraces the education of ideology of Whites, he will serve African people no better than a White person. In fact, he may be a worse public servant than a White person.

Shemsi en Tehuti wrote: He's the elected senator from Illinois not the senator for Black America.

Black officials are in a can't win situation from us.We expect them to be all things for all people.How is he to "serve" black people?



Our heads are so far up our collective asses we can't see straight.

AmeriJamCan wrote:
I hope he doesn't get elected. The only extra influance he'll ever have would be to basically excuse silent consent amongst Africans to guideus further into the dirt. And we'll probably celebrate and defend him for it.

AmeriJamCan, may I ask what reasons youwe vote for him? Other than your love for him.

.....The oldest trick in the book.....

In that case, this forum shouldn't exist. We are all from different "cultural" backgrounds. But I would hope the reason why we come here is because of a bond to one another.

I say Barack Obama is"one of us", because he came to Chicago'sSouthside. He visited our churches, our communities, and organizations and he said that he was "one of us".

TheDogon wrote:

AmeriJamCan wrote:
To both of you (AJC & BS), if that is the case, then what the hell is the thread about? Why do we even care that a Black person runs for elected office if they are not expected to particularly serve the African-American community where nearly all other politicians fail (both Dem & Repub)? That's what's wrong with too many African folks. We bend so easily by tokenship when it doesn't mean a damn thing unless the persons elected to office are truly serving us. Does anyone say, "so and so Congressman isn't running for Jewish America, or Hispanic America"??? No. But I wonder why their concerns (especially Jews) are addressed before ours, if ours are addressed at all. So do I really have a "blacker than thou" mentality, or am I just expecting progressive results in our community as opposed to falling for tokenship...and then even with a "Black" elected official...nothing will ever change...but you have your token though, so I guess you can be happy.

We're not even 15% of the US population.

No Dogon, I think the real piont is that you want to except every tom, dick and harry as one of us (which I suppose is your right to want)!!!!!!!!!

However these same people who would claim Osama because he has African blood, cry about other people claiming NOT to be "African" because they have White and Indian blood.

You'll have to make up your mind soon or later.

I suppose since its ok to make yourself whom ever you "hang out with" there will be tons more identity politics ahead for ALL black people.

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And as far as my identity you got that right, I don't only consider myself Black American/African American I AM one. A better question would be are YOU a real one?

I also believe we are what ourparents are! We areNOT nessesarilywhat our great-great-great-great parents were though! Hell Mariah Carey has some African nationality or nationalitiesin her family tree too- is she an "African". That black ass thing Wesley Snipes more than likely has someCherokee or any other "Indian" blood in his family tree, will you be just as openminded when he starts going on and on about HIS Indian ancestry and being part of the Cherokee community???

(you're opening a big can of worms here)

girlfromthenc wrote:

_________________________

WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW COULD FILL MANY WAREHOUSES!confused3confused3confused3

Burning Spear wrote:
blkwonder...the same can be said for Hispanics/Latinos, and even more so for other ethnic groups (Jews, Asians, etc.). Are they faced with the same problems? I wonder why.

Shemsi en Tehuti wrote: I agree with u. On the one hand, we're supposed to be happy and automatically throw our support to Black candidates BECAUSE they're Black, yet not expect them to serve OUR interests as Black people,apparently.If they are just like any other candidates, why should we get hyped up about them? I'll start having the same level of excitement about one of them, as I do about John Edwards, or John Kerry;just let me know.

I don't have anything against Obama, time will tell. I think other groups don't apologize for demanding that people they support serve THEIR interests, be it Jews, or evangelical Christians(even when their numbers are small). Black folks, continue to have a "hat in hand" "we shouldn't ask for too much", "we should just be happy to be here" "we have no power"vibe and demeanor, and other people,(Black politicians included), can smell it on us....They treat us accordingly. Politicians of ANY color, will only do what they are MADE to do. Accountability is the key,rewards and consequences, just like training rats or dogs. Everyone else seems to understand that, except us.

BTW, Stanley Crouch is very intelligent, but he says a lot of asinine shit(along with some on point stuff), on myriad topics. I also think he has a bias against non Black Americans. I've heard him say some other suspect ish, on occasion, so his stance on Obama, doesn't suprise me.