Obama attracted white voters with his multiracial background and cosmopolitan upbringing. He attracted black voters by denying his true heritage and pretending to be one of them.
Obama routs Democratic foes; Ryan tops crowded GOP field
By David Mendell
Tribune staff reporter
March 17, 2004
Barack Obama, an African-American state senator and former civil-rights lawyer from Hyde Park, won a landslide victory over six competitors Tuesday to assume the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, setting the stage for a crucial contest in November that could tip the balance of power in Congress.
Obama, 42, whose initial campaign strategy was to build a coalition of blacks and liberal whites, instead surprised even his strategists by amassing broad support from throughout the party.
He won over not only urban black voters, but also many suburban whites. With 89 percent of precincts reporting around the state, Obama led his next closest rival, Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, by 54 percent of the vote to 23 percent, as expected strong support for Hynes from Chicago’s Democratic machine failed to materialize.
Actually, you are quite wrong about Obama denying his true heritage. In all of his major interviews, Obama has talked about his biracial background, mentioning that his mother was a caucasian woman from Kansas and his father was Nigerian. At no time has he ever denied his heritage. Mr. Obama has spoken lovingly about both of his parents.
Moreover, Obama won the primary because he was the best candidate with a strong background as a progressive with backing from Senator Paul Simon’s family amongst others. Election results revealed that Obama won strongly across ALL racial lines in Illinois where he established himself after decades of hard work as community activist, civil rights attorney, law professor, and state senator.
Too often, Ms. Powell, you toss out your grenades without looking at the true facts. Furthermore, who are you to tell anyone how he or she should view him- or herself? Have you walked in Mr. Obama’s shoes?
Ms. Powell, shame on you for your bigotry!
MORE IDIOCY FROM “ERING”
I would also like to ask you why you continue to value white European ancestry over all others?
THE PROBLEM IS YOUR RACIAL INFERIORITY COMPLEX.
You write frequently about terrible, evil “black” one-droppers. (I’ve also read how you felt that a Chinese writer was jealous of Anatole Broyard’s Caucasian ancestry. Why would an Asian who lives and grew up in a predominately Asian country want to be European? Have you ever read anything about Asian history or sociology?!)
THE WRITER IN QUESTION WAS CHINESE-AMERICAN. THERE IS NO “NON-BLACK” ETHNIC GROUP IN THE U.S. THAT HAS NOT TRIED TO BE “WHITE” AND WAS WILLING TO PUT DOWN THE “RACE” YOU CLAIM TO DEFEND. OF COURSE, YOU PEOPLE HAVE NEVER CRITICIZED THEM FOR THAT.
More importantly, why do you continue to deny that most American “blacks” are mixed-race, with African plus Caucasian and/or Native American ancestry? Your obsession with phenotype is repugnant and ignorant.
EVERYONE IN THE WORLD IS “MIXED RACE” TO VARIOUS EXTENTS. WHEN AMERICAN “BLACKS” CLAIM TO BE “MIXED RACE,” HOWEVER, THAT CLAIM IS PRESENTED AS AN AFFIRMATION OF THE RACIST MYTH THAT “WHITES” ARE “PURE.” THE MOST “MIXED RACE” GROUP IN THE NATION ARE THE “HISPANICS.” WHY DON’T YOU “BLACKS” CLAIM THEM AS “BLACK”? BECAUSE YOU DON’T WANT TO OFFEND THEM, RIGHT? IF YOU “BLACKS” WERE 1/10 AS “MIXED RACE” AS YOU LIKE TO CLAIM, YOU WOULD LOOK LIKE THE HISPANICS. YOU ARE NO MORE “MIXED” THAN MOST WHITES AND LESS “MIXED” THAN THE HISPANICS YOU FEAR.
You would have anyone with one-drop of Caucasian ancestry call him/herself “white”? Why? Because it’s more societally beneficial? Why shouldn’t some equally want to call him/herself “black”?
I NEVER SAID THAT SOMEONE WITH ONLY A “DROP” OF CAUCASIAN ANCESTRY SHOULD CALL HIMSELF “WHITE.” YOU ARE CREATING A STRAWMAN ARGUMENT BECAUSE YOU CAN’T ANSWER THE REAL ONE.
For centuries, Jews have been persecuted but as a people, proud of their ancestry, they continued to fight to proudly call themselves Jewish. Why should someone with African ancestry not fiercely defend or embrace this heritage?
JEWS HAVE ALSO “PASSED” FOR OTHER ETHNICITIES THROUGHOUT HISTORY. COUNTLESS EUROPEANS HAVE SECRET JEWISH ACESTRY. HOLLYWOOD ALONE IS FAMOUS FOR IT. HOW DO YOU DEFINE “JEWISH”? THE NUREMBERG STANDARD?
Like the one-droppers from the Jim Crow era, you have created your own racist doctrine as to how mixed-race people must view and identify themselves. Shame on you!
YOU ARE EQUATING A RACIST GOVERNMENT THAT USED THE TERROR OF POLICE, LAW AND COURTS TO ENFORCE A CASTE SYSTEM (NOT ALL STATES HAD A “ONE DROP” LAW, BY THE WAY; YOU WOULD BE “WHITE” BY LAW IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND “COLORED” IN VIRGINIA) WITH ONE INDIVIDUAL WHO IS PRESENTING PREVIOUSLY TABOO QUESTIONS TO THE PUBLIC SO SOME PEOPLE WILL START TO QUESTION THE ILLOGIC THAT PASSES FOR “RACE” IN THIS COUNTRY. NOT VERY SMART OF YOU. YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY VERY AFRAID OF THE TRUTH.
3/26/2004 8:45:44 PM
Ms. Powell,
I’m sure looking at model/actor Tyson Beckford you would call him “black” sneeringly because of his phenotype. Of course, you’re ignorance would have blinded you to his genotype:
http://imdb.com/name/nm0004734/
Beckford’s father is half Jamaican and half Chinese and his mother has Panamanian ancestry, which makes Beckford also Hispanic, culturally speaking.
Ms. Powell,
Shame on you for deleting my response to your posting. I am embarrassed for your lack of intellectual honesty and integrity!
As someone who has constantly written scathing critiques of others, it beyond sad, if not pathetic, that you are too cowardly to accept similar criticism of yourself. Moreover, this only further shows that you are indeed a bigot incapable of seeing past your own racist views.
Point after point, I provided web links and/or cases to counter your arguments. For instance, your false claims that Richard Lim, a Singaporean Chinese, was a Chinese American who wrote about Anatole Broyard’s African Ancestry because Lim was jealous of Broyard’s Caucasian ancestry. A simple Google search found his article on Broyard.
I could go on and duplicate my previous posting, but I can only believe that you will just delete it.
You can’t expect to sling mud at others and not expect to have it slung back at you. You also shouldn’t expect that your critics won’t respond to your racism.
Shame on you!!!
I am not the webmaster, so I don’t delete anything.
My comments are clear to rational people and I don’t waste time and energy debating with the irrational.
3/29/2004 5:31:49 PM
Irrational, raving Negroes such as the anonymous “Ering” are beneath my contempt.
Rational people understand the comments I made and do not need to twist them or go off on tangents.
3/29/2004 5:57:00 PM
Dear e ring:
You said: “Shame on you for deleting my response to your posting. I am embarrassed for your lack of intellectual honesty and integrity!”
First off, A.D. didn’t delete your posting – she doesn’t have access to do so. Most likely I did – by accident as I was deleting the several dozen propecia, viagra and porn spammer comments that came in over the weekend.
Take a breather and stop slinging accusations. Also, you need to read this posting before making further posts: https://www.multiracial.com/archives/000550.html
3/30/2004 12:04:31 AM
I am not quite sure I understand the statement “He attracted black voters by denying his true heritage and pretending to be one of them.”
Whenever, I have read about Obama or heard him speak, he has always mentioned both his parents, and their ethnic and “racial” backgrounds.
As in the NY Times on July 26th “Asked how he defined his own racial identity, Mr. Obama said he considered himself African-American.
“The reason that I’ve always been comfortable with that description is not a denial of my mother’s side of the family,” Mr. Obama said. ‘Rather, it’s just a belief that the term African-American is by definition a hybrid term. African-Americans are a hybrid people. We’re mingled with African culture and Native American culture and European culture.’ ”
7/29/2004 23:12