Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize?!?!

[redass]

I'm still trying to get my head around the "first black President" thing. Two people I work with, one who is black (who is also a very good personal friend to me) and one who is half black and half white, do not think of him as a "black" man.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a social expert on race. But if your half of one thing and half another, how can you be just one of those things? He's black, but isn't he also white? There's a part of me that takes offense to his dismissal of his white half (for lack of a better way to put it.) much like I think how a black person would feel if he referred to himself as white - which I guess he could do just as easily. Is it based which parent? The race listed in the census is based on your mother's race if I'm not mistaken. So it there a social vs official difference. I don't know and I want to understand.

In the grand scheme of things, I really don't care if he or anyone else is white or black or some % of either, but I don't understand what makes you one or the other or why you choose to call yourself one or the other ignoring your equal other race. The person I work with is also 50/50 refers to herself as mulatto, not white, not black, when we discuss race based issues or talk of Obama. I'm not close with her nor do I know her well enough to probe for an understanding. My friend who actually is an African American from Africa, doesn't think of him as black and doesn't like American blacks calling themselves African American.

Race is very complicated and it's difficut to even discuss because despite how careful you are or how sincere your points are, you will likely offend someone in a very serious way. I wish it wasn't like that, but it is, I can understand that to a great degree.

What makes you black, or white, for that matter. If you 25% black, would/could you still calll yourself a black person? If you're just 25% white, would/could you still call yourself white?

It's a question I've thought about now and then since Obama came to the limelight and he and everyone else referred to him as black. Personally, race doesn't matter much to me, but I do have a sincere desire to have a better understanding of thoughts, feelings, and motivations behind it. As a white male, I realize that my views can tend to be somewhat myopic on some things, but before I can expand my view, I need to first understand.

what are you rambling about? you don't honestly think a racist jackass would consider obama only half-black

 

[JerryLove]

The MVP analogy is a bit unfair since, at least to my knowledge, it's rarely handed to players who have not really did anything. I think you can debate maybe whether or not one person should have got it or another, but there usually is some defensable premise.

And the Nobel committee has justified this award with a debateable but defensable premise. I don't think I agree with them, but it was their decision to make and I think Obama has responded appropriately.

With the exception of his most ardent supporters, most are pretty much of the same opinion that this was clearly an award he should not have gotten, insofar as histroical standards go. But as I said, even Yassar Arafat received it so draw your own conclusion.

Or Woodrow Wilson.

Granted I have contempt for his politics, his methodology, and his justification for what few things he has done so far and what he yet wants to do with health care and any other policy that's designed to penalize success and growth. My dislike for him personally has nothing to do with politics, but his character, his behavior, his deameanor. I don't like it. I can't say much more.

Perhaps some other thread.

 

[Wafflesomd]

I was under the impression that you have to do something to win a Nobel prize.

 

[JerryLove]

I was under the impression that you have to do something to win a Nobel prize.

Read one of the hundreds of articles citing the Nobel Prize Committie on what he did that made them vote to give him the prize.

 

[itschris]

what are you rambling about? you don't honestly think a racist jackass would consider obama only half-black

I'm not talking about what a racist would think. I think I know that. Either you didn't read my post or simply aren't able to understand it's question.

 

[highfigh]

itschris, I think the first black president thing is very simple. He looks black in such a way that he would have faced serious discrimination in our country going back some years. I think we are all aware of how folks who looked black were treated, are we not? I don't think his white half would have been allowed to vote or ride in the front of the bus or play major league baseball, just to state a few examples.

I know more than a few black people who share this opinion.

On a lighter note, Wanda Sykes has a new HBO special. She sort of addresses this issue. But she says that if Obama screws up badly she will be the first person complaining about that "half white president".

Wait a minute- are you saying that he had to deal with being the victim of Americans treating him as second-class due to being black or half-black? That's a crock. He didn't live in the US for more than his first two years of life and that was in Hawaii, which is hardly the Deep South. Then, they moved to Indonesia after his mother remarried and he didn't go back to Hawaii until he was 10, staying there until he wen to California in '79, where he went to Occidental College for two years.

The guy never even lived "The Black American Experience" until he came to the mainland and unless he went into East LA, Long Beach, Watts or Compton on a regular basis (highly unlikely), he may not have learned what really goes on in the American Black community until then and in LA, possibly not as much as when he went to New York. By that time, being Black was hardly what it had been in the '60s and before. He never marched for civil rights- that had already been done for him.

If he was a "regular" Black man, I really don't think he would have been elected. No prejudice in my comment but I really don't think white people would have voted for him.

 

[droht]

I'm not saying that Obama has endured any racism. I have no idea if he has or not. What I was saying is that his physical appearance qualifies him as the first black president just as it would have qualified him for various forms of discrimination had he lived in a different era.

 

[audiohonic65]

I think it's too early for him to get this award, but I agree he's making positive moves strides for improving the U.S.'s standing in the world. It could just be an appreciation so that he keeps moving in the same direction. Peer pressure

 

[Rickster71]

The Obama's are millionaires, and lawyers.( as are most of our politicians)
I doubt that any of them care what us 'tax paying pawns' think.

 

[highfigh]

I'm not saying that Obama has endured any racism. I have no idea if he has or not. What I was saying is that his physical appearance qualifies him as the first black president just as it would have qualified him for various forms of discrimination had he lived in a different era.

OK. I thought the election was for President, not the White President or Black President. By calling it "an historic election", it was made a racial issue, even though some people said it wasn't about race. It was nothing but about race for many voters. It could hardly be about his experience in national government (he didn't have much), It was hardly about his attempts to bring black and white together and in his book (which was supposed to be about race relations but he made it into an autobiography), he said he stopped telling people about his white family members when he was 12.

If Archie Bunker was around, he would probably describe him as "Too much of both and not enough of neither". If someone wants to see him as half of something they don't like, they will. If someone doesn't have a problem with this, the only time they'll be bothered by it is when other people can't stop talking about it. Once the characteristic that made the person an unlikely winner is attached to their position, it allows one side to claim that as being responsible for that person's failures and the other side to claim it as being responsible for their successes.

He's the President, not the Black President and he shouldn't be called Black or White because he's not one or the other but he has definitely aligned himself with one side.

 

[itschris]

That was put very well. The only time I think about race is when it's pushed in my face. We all seem to be okay with equality. I think most people want to be considered equal. But at the same time you can't claim to want equality, yet categorize yourself, or allow others to do so, when it benefits you. If we're all equal, and it's what we all want, why do we have the first black president, the first woman this... the first latino that?

If you want, desire, or benefit from the recognition of your race when it benefits, awards, or acknowledges you, then you're saying I'm not equal and colorblind. To me, it's like saying, "he's the first short CEO" or "the first fat judge in the county."

I never cared for Obama's politics, but appreciated his charisma. On top of that, the Democrats will always be the party of cool, rubbing elows with high society and Hollywood. People like to associate themselves with those they admire and it seems most of America loves Oprah.

OK. I thought the election was for President, not the White President or Black President. By calling it "an historic election", it was made a racial issue, even though some people said it wasn't about race. It was nothing but about race for many voters. It could hardly be about his experience in national government (he didn't have much), It was hardly about his attempts to bring black and white together and in his book (which was supposed to be about race relations but he made it into an autobiography), he said he stopped telling people about his white family members when he was 12.

If Archie Bunker was around, he would probably describe him as "Too much of both and not enough of neither". If someone wants to see him as half of something they don't like, they will. If someone doesn't have a problem with this, the only time they'll be bothered by it is when other people can't stop talking about it. Once the characteristic that made the person an unlikely winner is attached to their position, it allows one side to claim that as being responsible for that person's failures and the other side to claim it as being responsible for their successes.

He's the President, not the Black President and he shouldn't be called Black or White because he's not one or the other but he has definitely aligned himself with one side.

 

[billy p]

Unfortunately, it always boils down to race? What does his(Obama's) or anybody's colour have to do with winning this award.

 

[gmichael]

Black, white, yellow or green. Who gives a f-k? Congrats on the award. Please get us out of the mess we're in.

 

[highfigh]

Unfortunately, it always boils down to race? What does his(Obama's) or anybody's colour have to do with winning this award.

It shouldn't, but because he's the first Black President of the US, he's going to be seen as a breakthrough. He is charismatic, if people don't look for flaws in his delivery. He makes things sound attainable even if they're not, but that's because he brought something to the Black people that they haven't had for a long time- hope.

The problem I have with his winning the NPP is that he didn't do much yet. If he had already brought us out of the depths of what we're in now, created a universally approved health care plan and brought peace to the inner cities of the US, I would have been happy for him but to give it to him because they hope he will do good things- I can't think of a single time this has happened. Prizes are for accomplishments, not incentives to do things in the future.

He received a big advance to write a book on race relations and as I posted, he turned it into an autobiography. He also delayed writing it for a long time and it appears that he just turned it into a book about himself. If he creates a monument to himself with the prize and/or money, it will be a bad indication of his motives.

 

[JerryLove]

If he creates a monument to himself with the prize and/or money, it will be a bad indication of his motives.

The money was donated to charity.

 

[itschris]

The money was donated to charity.

ACORN?

Just kidding.

 

[redass]

I'm not talking about what a racist would think. I think I know that. Either you didn't read my post or simply aren't able to understand it's question.

uh... you said you were trying to wrap your head around the "first black president" thing. the only reason anyone cares about "first black president" is due to the deeply rooted racist traditions in america, so it would be ridiculous to dismiss "what a racist would think" in this discussion. he's the "first black president" because people like him are considered to be black by the racist traditions of america, thus making him the first black president. of course you're not wrapping your head around it; anybody reading your posts can see you have the "everything about obama is bad bad bad bad bad" mindset in which it is impossible to give the guy credit for anything, no matter what is may be. how ridiculous is it that you're trying to cheapen the fact that america has elected a man who would unarguably have been considered a second class citizen less than a century ago by pointing out that he is half white? or that you are attacking obama because he didn't refuse the nobel prize? you absolutely know you would give him grief for refusing it as well... "oh, who does he think he is, just flat out rejecting a nobel prize? oh, the arrogance of obama!"

 

[lsiberian]

uh... you said you were trying to wrap your head around the "first black president" thing. well, he's the first black president because people like him are considered to be black by the racist traditions of america, thus making him the first black president. of course you're not wrapping your head around it; anybody reading your posts can see you have the "everything about obama is bad bad bad bad bad" mindset in which it is impossible to give the guy credit for anything, no matter what is may be. how ridiculous is it that you're trying to cheapen the fact that america has elected a man who would unarguably have been considered a second class citizen a century ago by pointing out that he is half white? or that you are attacking obama because he didn't refuse the nobel prize? you absolutely know you would give him grief for refusing it as well... "oh, who does he think he is, just flat out rejecting a nobel prize? oh, the arrogance of obama!"

Cut him some slack. I doubt he thinks everything Obama does is bad. I think he is suspicious of him, but it's warranted considering his rise to power. We need people that ask questions and don't just stand there letting the leader do as he pleases. The best solutions come when people on both sides have input. I want folks to realize that he hasn't rammed healthcare down our throats like Bush did the reckless tax cuts.

 

[darien87]

All right, as a half-black, half-white man who considers himself "black", let me answer the questions put forth, as how they relate to me.

Why do I consider myself black? It mainly has to do with how I look. I have brown skin and brown eyes. I look more black than I do white. It also has to do with how I have been treated by people in my life. I have been the victim of racism and discriminated against by people that made it abundantly clear that I was not white. It was just a personal choice that I made. I assume that Obama and others that consider him black, feel the same way.

I am in NO way denying my white side. I was raised by my mother, who is white, and I love her to death. She and my father had nothing but problems being a mixed couple in the 60's. His family didn't like her and her family didn't like him. She told me that they even lived in their car briefly as they weren't welcome in either parents homes. Unfortunately due to their youth and the rigors of being an interracial couple, they broke up soon after I was born. I've only met my real father a couple of times.

Unfortunately, I have also felt racism on the part of blacks towards me. I was raised by my mother, so I have more white mannerisms than black ones. I HATE the whole "ghetto-fabulous" craze that makes blacks look ignorant. I love being mixed, but it did make growing up difficult. But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Obama is considered black, because he sure isn't white. As Highfigh himself said, Obama might not have won the election if he was 100% black. This statement illustrates that racism is still prevalent in this country. So whether you like it or not, race was a factor in the last election. I see Obama's election as a positive, as it seems like we are moving in the right direction. Perhaps some day race will not be an issue in politics, but we are not there yet.

 

[Davemcc]

he brought something to the Black people that they haven't had for a long time- hope.

I rarely if ever make a comment related to race but this gave me a WTF moment. If black people need a role model, how about the highest paid athlete (Tiger), highest paid entertainer (Oprah), best selling pop music artist (MJ), highest paid actor - 2008 (Will Smith), etc. There is no shortage of exceptional black role models in every career. Adding president to the list of black accomplishments is just another notch, not a game changer. I think the list above, as well as the thousands of other successful black people in politics, sports, television, movies and music clearly demonstrate that hard work and talent determine a person's success and not the color of their skin.

In terms of role models and bringing hope, I think Thomas Sowell is a better role model for young black people than Obama despite the fact he became president.