Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential candidacy is going to be about race. I’m sure he doesn’t want it that way, but that is how it’s going to play out.
Already his ethnicity is being attacked from all sides. I’ve blogged previously about Black folks like Debra Dickerson of Salon.com who say Obama isn’t Black.
Now the darling of race-baiting conservatives, Rush Limbaugh, encourages the biracial Obama to renounce his Blackness and declare that he is white.
Yesterday on his radio show, right-wing host Rush Limbaugh derided Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) — who is biracial — for saying, “If you look African-American in this society, you’re treated as an African-American.â€Â
Limbaugh claimed that this statement meant Obama didn’t want to be Black and should “renounce itâ€Â: “If it’s not something you want to be, if you didn’t decide it, renounce it, become white!†He added, “If you don’t like it, you can switch. Well, that’s the way I see it. He’s got 50-50 in there. Say, ‘No, I’m white.’â€Â
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO LIMBAUGH
Read the Think Progress post HERE
American white folks created the “one drop rule” centuries ago. If you have one drop of African blood, you’re Black. If you could pass for white, you could identify yourself as such until someone found out who your people were. Then you became an outcast on both sides.
For the record: Barack Obama is Black.
For the record: Tiger Woods is Black whether he claims to be or not.
For the record: Rae Dawn-Chong is Black.
Of course, this is all a distraction. What about the issues?
I hate to be a cynic, but I don’t think the United States is ready for a Black man or a white woman to become president. It doesn’t matter whether Barack and Hilary are the best candidates or not (of course, I don’t like either of them at this point). America is still too racist and too sexist to elect them.
But let’s get the conversation out of the way now, so we can get down to the real business of presidential politics.
What do YOU think? Is America ready for a Black man or white woman to be president?