# He's Black. Accept It.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [November 7, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708 "2008-11-07T20:16:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/1 "2008-11-07T20:16:08Z")
Inspired by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=491786), but really, this is aimed at the flood of comments I have been seeing all over these boards lately.
Barack Obama is the first black president. Accept it.
He has. When he was living, learning and loving on the hard streets of Chicago as a very young man, struggling to come to terms with his identity, no one was posting on boards that he was half black. He was just black. Period.
Not black because he wasn’t descended from slaves?? This is a new twist on some craziness for real. A black man born and raised in the U.S. has to be descended from slaves to be black enough? That makes me have to say this
Get the fuck outta here. I have to say it straight out. I call bullshit on every one on this board that is acting all wide eyed talking about, “Why is Obama being called black”. I call bullshit. Accept that he is black.
And not O.J Simpson black. Nope. Cool, swagger, real, respected by the black community at large, black radical background, coming to age over the pages of a Malcom X autobiography, embracing his beautiful blackness unforgivably\* black.
He is going to put his beautiful black wife, (descended from slaves, no less!) into the white house and she will be First Lady of this nation.
Join us in celebrating. And stop cele - hating. (ha! I just made that up.)
And now, with all that emotion and rage out of my system, I will admit to something here.
It feels good to have a black man not playing down his blackness. The truth is, it hurts my feelings sometimes when someone is ‘mistaken’ for black, or whatever and they are all, “I am _not_ black!” Black people have been trodden upon, told we are not beautiful, looked down upon and treated like a bottom of the barrel. Barack not saying he is ‘cablanasion’ or some such, even though he could on a technicality say he is ‘half black’, he doesn’t say it. Having read “Dreams From My Father”, it gave me a good feeling deep inside to see a man I recognized. He didn’t seem like a creation through the ‘acceptable black man machine’. He seems a lot like lots of black men I know. So that makes me feel good.
\*Thanks to David Alan Greir for the term ‘unforgivable black’.
---
### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/2 "2008-11-07T20:20:18Z")
Please, for the love of God, tell me that you’re not going to be giving the eulogy at his grandmother’s funeral.
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#):
>
> coming to age over the pages of a Malcom X autobiography
His wife loved the book so much she wore an X on[coming to age over the pages of a Malcom X autobiography
[/QUOTE]
"] her dress]([QUOTE=Nzinga, Seated;10418621). (I can’t believe that Limbaugh, Coulter, Hannity, etc., passed up the opportunity to start that rumor; they really disappoint me sometimes.)
---
### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/3 "2008-11-07T20:20:39Z")
I think it is regretable than, unlike many Americans of African descent, he has not been blessed with a portion of Cherokee heritage. He does appear to have done rather well, nonetheless.
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### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/4 "2008-11-07T20:25:20Z")
I’m not an American, and I have a question: is the “one drop rule” accepted as definitive by Black as well as White Americans in determining identity?
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### Author:  [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/5 "2008-11-07T20:26:53Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#):
>
> \*Thanks to David Alan Greir for the term ‘unforgivable black’.
Was that from David Alan Grier? I thought it was from the book and movie about boxer Jack Johnson, “Unforgivable Blackness.”
---
### Author:  [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/6 "2008-11-07T20:27:49Z")
> [@pravnik](#):
>
> Was that from David Alan Grier? I thought it was from the book and movie about boxer Jack Johnson, “Unforgivable Blackness.”
Ha! Ok. I wasn’t aware of that book. Thanks. I love the term.
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/7 "2008-11-07T20:28:04Z")
Try this again:
“His wife loved [The Autobiography of Malcolm X] so much she wore an X on [her dress](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/11/05/michelle_obama_k9v9kznc_450.jpg). (I can’t believe that Limbaugh, Coulter, Hannity, etc., passed up the opportunity to start that rumor; they really disappoint me sometimes.)”
Now that the link is fixed it makes a bit more sense.
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### Author:  [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/8 "2008-11-07T20:31:26Z")
> [@Malthus](#):
>
> I’m not an American, and I have a question: is the “one drop rule” accepted as definitive by Black as well as White Americans in determining identity?
The way this is phrased makes it sound like the “one drop rule” is widely accepted by White Americans. It’s not. To me (and to virtually everybody I know), you’re Black, White, Asian, whatever you want to be and say you are. To argue with a person’s self-declared racial identity is foolish, and insulting.
For comments like “he’s not black enough,” I always wonder: For what?
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### Author:  [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/9 "2008-11-07T20:31:38Z")
There was a comedian who said something similar about Tiger Woods. Papers reported him as black, then half-black, then quarter-black, etc. The more he won, the whiter he got.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/10 "2008-11-07T20:33:42Z")
I think the story of Malcolm X is an inspiration, a man who turned from bitterness and hatred to embrace our common humanity with dignity and humility.
But that dress is a fashion statement, not a political statement. If I understood fashon statements, I might have a viewpoint worthy of attention. But I buy my socks by the bag at K-Mart, so no, I don’t.
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### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/11 "2008-11-07T20:36:51Z")
> [@Jodi](#):
>
> The way this is phrased makes it sound like the “one drop rule” is widely accepted by White Americans. It’s not. To me (and to virtually everybody I know), you’re Black, White, Asian, whatever you want to be and say you are. To argue with a person’s self-declared racial identity is foolish, and insulting.
>
> For comments like “he’s not black enough,” I always wonder: For what?
I apologize for the phrasing, then. Such was not my intention. I had heard that, as a general rule, any amount of Black ancestry made one “Black” in America for purposes of identity, but I’m quite willing to believe it isn’t true.
Does this then mean that a person with one White parent and one Black parent could be eithier Black or White, their choice? Will they be generally regarded by others as “Black” or “White” depending on which choice they make?
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### Author:  [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/12 "2008-11-07T20:40:30Z")
Viewed from certain angles, he does look sort of black.
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### Author:  [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/13 "2008-11-07T20:44:37Z")
I just watched his first press conference, and he had this to say when asked by a reporter what kind of dog they are getting, “With regard to the puppy, Malia is allergic, so we’ll have to get a hypo-allergenic dog. We would love to adopt, but a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me, so…”
:D:D:D I love this guy. So real.
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### Author:  [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/14 "2008-11-07T20:44:39Z")
> [@Bosstone](#):
>
> The more he won, the whiter he got.
Kind of like Michael Jackson.
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### Author:  [@Hogwash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogwash)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/15 "2008-11-07T20:46:23Z")
> [@Bosstone](#):
>
> There was a comedian who said something similar about Tiger Woods. Papers reported him as black, then half-black, then quarter-black, etc. The more he won, the whiter he got.
Reminds me of that old joke - you know something’s wrong when the world’s best golfer is black and the world’s best rapper is white (Woods and Eminem respectively). Perhaps ‘wrong’ isn’t the best word, but you get me. Perhaps you can bring that joke up to date - the president is black, now we just need someone white who’s successful in a predominantly black field (Eminem is kinda old hat now).
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/16 "2008-11-07T20:46:29Z")
> [@Bosstone](#):
>
> There was a comedian who said something similar about Tiger Woods. Papers reported him as black, then half-black, then quarter-black, etc. The more he won, the whiter he got.
There were also Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer)'s observations in BARBERSHOP 2. (+ just means somebody other than Eddie is talking.)
> [@](#):
>
> CUSTOMER Eddie, you can’t talk about people just 'cause they biracial.
>
> EDDIE Why not?
>
> +'Cause that’s silly.
>
> EDDIE They can take it like anybody else. All I’m saying, Calvin,
> is black folk love to take credit for their half-black brothers and sisters till somethin’ goes sour. You know, like Tiger Woods…we claim him. Jennifer Beals. What the boy mama used to be on The Jeffersorhs?
>
> - Lenny Kravitz.
>
> EDDIE - Lenny Kravitz… count him. As soon as they go freak out just a little bit, go a little crazy, get a little glitter like Mariah Carey, then all of a sudden it’s the other half that went looney tunes.
I completely accept that Obama identifies as black and to the degree I can empathize with any demographic I’m not a part of I understand how symbolic a victory it is to black Americans. The year BO was born a man his shade regardless of his ancestry couldn’t have voted in many states, now he’s the president. OTOH, he’s also going back to Hawaii to bury his white grandmother, who he loved very much and who was as instrumental in his raising than his mother and far moreso than his father. His heritage is mixed= black, white, immigrant, old-settlers, farmers, bankers, etc., which _I_ think is symbolically the great part about him. His unique background- ancestrally and life experience- gives him a far wider spectrum of sight and relationships than anyone who’s ever held the office.
Though the reason I voted for him is because I think he’s the most brilliant man to run for the office in many years, I think he’s a visionary and has extremely keen judgment. And he isn’t Republican.
> [@elucidator](#):
>
> I think the story of Malcolm X is an inspiration, a man who turned from bitterness and hatred to embrace our common humanity with dignity and humility.
I agree. It’s one of my favorite books, also a great memoir of a time and place in addition to its social adn historical importance. I was furious though when the Spike Lee film came out and there was merchandising everywhere with pictures of Malcolm (or of Denzel as Malcolm) holding a rifle and the slogan “By any means necessary” underneath- it made me want to scream at the wearers “Did you see that movie? Did you read his book? Do you know anything about him?” Though discretion won out.
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### Author:  [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/17 "2008-11-07T20:48:08Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#):
>
> \
> And not O.J Simpson black. Nope. \
Sister, you had me before this sentence. It is not necessary to celebrate someone’s blackness by disparaging someone else’s.
I despise O.J. Simpson, but he is still black.
I live in a mostly white community, and I’m married to a white man. I’m sure in many ways I do not live up your ideals, but I am still black.
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### Author:  [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/18 "2008-11-07T20:49:02Z")
> [@Malthus](#):
>
> Does this then mean that a person with one White parent and one Black parent could be eithier Black or White, their choice? Will they be generally regarded by others as “Black” or “White” depending on which choice they make?
According to my constitutional law professor in college, the standard under federal affirmative action statutes is that you can claim to be black if you have at least one black grandparent.
My primary academic focus was on logic and philosophy of mathematics at the time, so my immediate reaction was to wonder how to tell if one of your grandparents was black. You can’t have a recursive definition without a base clause, right? 😕
I ended up with a ‘D’ in that class …
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/19 "2008-11-07T20:56:49Z")
[Billy Paul]
[Am I black enough for ya?](http://www.mtv.com/lyrics/paul_billy/am_i_black_enough_for_you/1570246/lyrics.jhtml)
[/Billy Paul]
Am I black enough for ya?
Am I black enough for ya?
Am I black enough for ya?
Am I black enough for ya?
We gonna move on up, one by one
We ain’t gonna stop til the work is done
Black, black, black enough for ya?
Am I Black, black, black enough for ya?
We gonna move on up, two by two
Til this whole world gonna be brand new,
Black, black, black enough for ya?
Am I Black, black, black enough for ya?
Get in line,
Start marking the time,
You better make up your mind,
We gonna leave you behind.
Am I black enough for ya?
Am I black enough for ya?
Am I black enough for ya?
Am I black enough for ya?
---
### Author:  [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-black-accept-it/471708/20 "2008-11-07T20:58:42Z")
> [@SCSimmons](#):
>
> According to my constitutional law professor in college, the standard under federal affirmative action statutes is that you can claim to be black if you have at least one black grandparent.
Even if you look like Johnny Winter and your one black grandparent only had one black grandparent? And what about that grandparent’s grandparents? Shit, by that rationale, we’re all black.
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