While I would imagine there were some general benign 'searching' discussion from the Black American community, there was plenty of hostile discussion about the legitimacy and validity of Obama's citizenship, his religion, his 'blackness' or 'whiteness'. I know quite a few mixed race persons and this is always an issue, they aren't accepted by one side and don't fit in with the other. That does not make THEIR unique experiences invalid. Not to make light, but Cher's song 'Half-breed' comes to mind, it's an old song, literally and metaphorically speaking.Cerin wrote:I remember, when Pres. Obama was running for his first term, that there was a discussion in the African American community about his blackness, and the legitimacy of his claim to a share in the African American story because of his parentage and upbringing (i.e., white mother, Kenyan father, not a descendant of American slaves). I don't recall this as a hostile discussion, but as a searching one, people sorting out their feelings about what it means to be African American. I know we have the Obama discussion available for review, but I don't have the time or energy to look for these posts. Can anyone here confirm my recollections on the existence and nature of these discussions?
I find it discouraging too but for a different reason. The discussion is not proceeding is because it didn't originate from an honest and naturally occurring conversation among the black community. It's an artificially manufactured 'outrage' campaign by someone who has done this before. Disingenuous propaganda. Founded, funded, and churned out by the same people who brought us the birther 'controversy'. Ali Akbar Alexander's purpose is to discredit Kamala not only as a person of color, but as an American. They are (also) claiming Harris is not a natural born citizen. I'm sure we'll be hearing the term 'anchor baby'.Cerin wrote:I bring this up because there's a new kerfuffle over a tweet, apparently by an African American man, who is upset over his perception that Kamala Harris (who has an Indian mother and a Jamaican father and was born in California) was attempting to associate herself with the African American story (that is to say, with those who are descendants of African slaves in America). I don't want to discuss the substance of this tweeter's remarks, but rather, the reaction to them. Apparently the tweet was picked up by a bunch of bots, became politicized, was retweeted by Pres. Trump and then deleted, and went viral. The immediate response has been to condemn the tweet as 'birtherism.' This surprised me, because of my recollections of the discussions about Pres. Obama's blackness. I thought those were healthy discussions and allowed people to examine a legitimate question.
So I am wondering why the difference. Harris' parentage, like Obama's is interestingly different from many African Americans, but rather than allow a similar discussion to proceed, the other candidates jumped in and condemned it as a racist attack on Harris. Is this because the Pres. retweeted the remarks, thus irrevocably tainting them? Because twitter is not a good platform for serious discussions? Because the original tweet was critical and accusatory in nature? Because social media is generally a very nasty environment? Because the nation is now much more partisan than it was then?
I find it extremely discouraging that we are apparently so much less capable of having a discussion in this country today than we were 12 years ago.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... ar-AADCHQc
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/cr ... itizenship
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-mete ... president/
Kamala is of mixed heritage as many Americans are. She IS a Black American. She is an Indian American. She is a natural born American female. For someone to claim she is not is absurd and says more about the person pushing that agenda than it says about her. She may not have the same history and experiences as say, Cory Booker, but he (or any other president) has never had the same experiences you or I may have had because none of them have been women. They have never been pregnant or given birth but that's not stopping men from becoming president. It also doesn't stop (any) president from having qualified people on their staff who DO have knowledge in any given area in which they are not personally familiar or expert. Kamala said she was bused. She says the neighbors wouldn't allow their children to play with her because she was black. She didn't claim her mammy picked cotton in Georgia.
