Blacks eye that John Kerry guy

Clarence Page, writing for the Chicago Tribune, on “Blacks eye that John Kerry guy“:

“John Kerry is not a black man,” she said, according to the Associated Press. “He is a privileged white man who has no idea what it is in this country to be a poor white in this country, let alone a black man.”

Maybe. But if Kerry wins the presidency, at least his wife would be our first African-American first lady. Theresa Heinz Kerry, whose ancestry is white Portuguese, was born and raised in Mozambique, and then joined the anti-apartheid movement as a college student in nearby South Africa. She may not be black, but she’s a lot more African than most Americans.

It’s interesting that no one suggests that either Clinton or Kerry should search his geneology in order to become “black.”