Date: Friday, September 06, 2002 1:43 AM
From: A.D. Powell powell@danenet.wicip.org
Subject: College criticized for NOT accepting “one drop”
This reporter thinks that Loyola College was “stupid” for not considering a “very light-skinned” job applicant “black,” but the stupidity was is in the entire “racial” classification system. Olesker dutifully cites the “one drop” myth while politely leaving the “black” ancestry of Hispanics and Arabs out of it. He ignores the fact that calling this person “black” means that there is no logical definition of “black” or “African American” – unless those terms refer to someone who’s not good enough to be something else!
The supporters of Affirmative Action like to claim that it is necessary to make up for slavery. Denys Blell, the son of a Lebanese father and Africa mother, immigrated to the U.S. at age 21. He is not only “white” enough to be accepted as such by other “whites,” he is not even related to any descendants of American slaves.
Does Olesker ever think about the definition of “white”? I doubt it. Blell could easily identify as “white” without finding his identity challenged at every turn. Calling himself “black” means that he’s frequently challenged – just as he would be if he claimed to be Japanese. If Blell came from Latin America, would his dreaded “black” ancestry become null and void? Olesker and other journalists would be too polite to mention it.