Barack Obama

[Hermit]

Did you see Barack Obama as the Keynote speaker at the DNC? His speech was pretty darn good, and mostly positive, not like the attack speeches both sides have been spouting so much lately. It's basically a sure thing that he'll become the first black senator since Reconstruction, and his star is definately on the rise. What do ya'll think?

[YRABNNRM]

He was great, even if I didn't agree with him on some issues. Very promising.

[elcorazon]

It was better than good.  It was as good a political speech as I've ever seen.  I'm not sure the Republicans will even field a candidate against him.

[Hermit]

It was better than good.  It was as good a political speech as I've ever seen.  I'm not sure the Republicans will even field a candidate against him.

The Republican who was running against him dropped out due to some kind of scandal, no?

[elcorazon]

yes

[Lunar]

He was losing by like 20 points in the polls anyway, Obama still would have won.

[© tweed]

If Salazar and Obama win, I think it would be the first time we had two black senators at the same time.

[muon2]

It's basically a sure thing that he'll become the first black senator since Reconstruction...

Edward Brooke (R) of MA was in the Senate in the '60s and /or '70s. He was black.

... And defeated after 2 terms by then Congressman Paul Tsongas. When Tsongas chose not to run for reelection his seat was won by then Lt. Gov. John Kerry.

[Hermit]

It's basically a sure thing that he'll become the first black senator since Reconstruction...

Edward Brooke (R) of MA was in the Senate in the '60s and /or '70s. He was black. Not to mention Carol Mosely-Braun (D) of IL who was in the Senate in the '90s. Black and female. Doesn't look like Obama blazes any new trail.

Hmm, it appears you're right. That's very odd, all I've heard is "Third black man in the Senate ever" "First in almost 150 years", etc etc.

[Keystone Phil]

If Salazar and Obama win, I think it would be the first time we had two black senators at the same time.

Salazar is Hispanic, not black.

[minionofmidas]

It's basically a sure thing that he'll become the first black senator since Reconstruction...

Edward Brooke (R) of MA was in the Senate in the '60s and /or '70s. He was black. Not to mention Carol Mosely-Braun (D) of IL who was in the Senate in the '90s. Black and female. Doesn't look like Obama blazes any new trail.

Hmm, it appears you're right. That's very odd, all I've heard is "Third black man in the Senate ever" "First in almost 150 years", etc etc.

He'd still be the first Black Democratic Man in the senate since the 1880s!

[kevinatcausa]

Some site I saw decided to word it as the first black senator from Illinois since Carol Moseley Braun.

I'm not sure if it's possible to make that sound less impressive.

[minionofmidas]

How about just saying "only the third Black Senator since Reconstruction"? Entirely true, duly impressive.

[dazzleman]

Barack Obama seems like an attractive candidate.

It's interesting that liberals have adopted the "one drop" rule by calling him black.  He actually has a black father and a white mother, which makes him just as much white as he is black.

I favor this type of intermarriage because it will eventually show us how absurd our current thinking, which requires that we put everybody into a racial and ethnic box, is.

Much of the politics of racial and ethnic (and now gender) identification pushed by the left is little more than the old apartheid politics turned on its head.  It's not a break from the past, but simply the same bad thing in a slightly different form.

[muon2]

Barack Obama seems like an attractive candidate.

It's interesting that liberals have adopted the "one drop" rule by calling him black.  He actually has a black father and a white mother, which makes him just as much white as he is black.

I favor this type of intermarriage because it will eventually show us how absurd our current thinking, which requires that we put everybody into a racial and ethnic box, is.

Much of the politics of racial and ethnic (and now gender) identification pushed by the left is little more than the old apartheid politics turned on its head.  It's not a break from the past, but simply the same bad thing in a slightly different form.

I agree, and the French have this part of human rights correct. The government has no need to ask citizens their ethnicity, let alone make policies that distinguish among the ethnicity of the residents.

[Beet]

Barack Obama seems like an attractive candidate.

It's interesting that liberals have adopted the "one drop" rule by calling him black.  He actually has a black father and a white mother, which makes him just as much white as he is black.

I favor this type of intermarriage because it will eventually show us how absurd our current thinking, which requires that we put everybody into a racial and ethnic box, is.

Much of the politics of racial and ethnic (and now gender) identification pushed by the left is little more than the old apartheid politics turned on its head.  It's not a break from the past, but simply the same bad thing in a slightly different form.

I agree, and the French have this part of human rights correct. The government has no need to ask citizens their ethnicity, let alone make policies that distinguish among the ethnicity of the residents.

And neither does the society.

[minionofmidas]

Barack Obama seems like an attractive candidate.

It's interesting that liberals have adopted the "one drop" rule by calling him black.  He actually has a black father and a white mother, which makes him just as much white as he is black.

Well, the standard definition of "Black" in the US has been, more exactly, "at least part Black" ever since the abolution of slavery.
While in Jamaica, people as white as Colin Powell, Bob Marley or Barrack Obama are, in everyday speech, referred to as "Whites".

[dazzleman]

Well, the standard definition of "Black" in the US has been, more exactly, "at least part Black" ever since the abolution of slavery.
While in Jamaica, people as white as Colin Powell, Bob Marley or Barrack Obama are, in everyday speech, referred to as "Whites".

That definition of "black" was designed by virulent racists who considered a person with any black lineage at all to be contaminated.

And yet this definition has effectively been embraced by many blacks themselves and those who claim to sympathize with them.

A big part of the problem with the current "civil rights" movement is that it is composed of very small minds, unable to really think beyond the patterns of the past.  They simply repackage the ridiculous old thinking in a slightly different form, and think that is the answer to their problems.  In reality, they have only succeeded in perpetuating the problems.

[raggage]

Barack Obama seems like an attractive candidate.

It's interesting that liberals have adopted the "one drop" rule by calling him black.  He actually has a black father and a white mother, which makes him just as much white as he is black.

Did not the GOP do that with General Powell. From memory he is part Jamaican.

[minionofmidas]

Barack Obama seems like an attractive candidate.

It's interesting that liberals have adopted the "one drop" rule by calling him black.  He actually has a black father and a white mother, which makes him just as much white as he is black.

Did not the GOP do that with General Powell. From memory he is part Jamaican.

And obviously, visibly, way more White than Black.

[minionofmidas]

Well, the standard definition of "Black" in the US has been, more exactly, "at least part Black" ever since the abolution of slavery.
While in Jamaica, people as white as Colin Powell, Bob Marley or Barrack Obama are, in everyday speech, referred to as "Whites".

That definition of "black" was designed by virulent racists who considered a person with any black lineage at all to be contaminated.

That is true, yes.

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The point, though, is that race is, in practice, a sociological concept and not a genetical one. People are "Black" or "White" because they are usually viewed as "Black" or "White" not because of where all their ancestors came from.

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I don't think this statement is borne out by a fair comparison between America now and America in 1950.

[minionofmidas]

Hey!
Nobody called me on the fact that, as the son of a White American and an African immigrant, Obama can hardly count as a standard American Black as he's not a descendant of the slaves!