Well the old blackness question has raised its head once again on the Obama campaign. Pops is having a conniption, as is the stand-in for Hugh Hewitt today. The only thing vaguely interesting about this matter is that a white writer at the LA Times is the person who is first in the big media to use the term.
Any question about Obama's blackness begs other questions about how he perceives his racial identity and how he will act according to that perception. Most blackfolks will very likely make harsh judgment calls on his character if he appears to use his racial identity in a way that approaches some traditional pitfalls. So while this is a discussion that is several weeks old on black blogs, a lot of people seem surprised that a white writer picked up on the well-known term.
I am continuing to urge that black punditry and political commentary be 'open source' in the blogosphere. Regular Cobb readers know that I have no compunctions against speaking up plainly, although I may use certain terms of art some of y'all need a dictionary for. So I'm not particularly piqued one way or another. As I'm also saying with regard to the prominence of Al Sharpton, I think there needs to be more public support by blacks of other pundits. Specifically, when new black voices are discovered in the new and in broadcast media, people need to jump up and down and make a big deal out of it. That includes a shameless plug of myself and my existential partners:
Bottom line? I don't think Obama is playing that role, but it is a legitimate question. It's a question the black electorate always asks. I believe that there are Americans out there who want Obama to play that role, but that should be no surprise; it's what I think of a lot of white liberals. I'm not alone. Here is Ehrenstein:
He's there to assuage white "guilt" (i.e., the minimal discomfort they feel) over the role of slavery and racial segregation in American history, while replacing stereotypes of a dangerous, highly sexualized black man with a benign figure for whom interracial sexual congress holds no interest.
Everybody whose opinion it was that Harold Ford was destroyed by bigotry by the 'Call Me' ad is checking for evidence of this kind of prejudice. I disagreed that this was the signal point that cost him his election, but it cannot be denied that it was a talking point.
Ahh but look who's talking today.
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