Despite being raised by a white mother and white grandparents, despite have spent most of his childhood in the rainbow state of Hawaii, despite clearly being comfortable in almost any type of crowd (though I suppose Tea Partyers might give him pause), the president apparently considers himself only black. "I self-identify as an African American. That's how I am treated and that's how I am viewed. And I'm proud of it," he has said. But he also argued in his famous speech about race that he could no more disown the Reverend Jeremiah Wright "than I can my white grandmother." With his census choice, he has done precisely that.
No, Elizabeth. (And please learn to spell Tea-Partiers correctly).
Granted, your racial worldview is limited. And I say this because despite all the other racial problems this country has had, it has primarily divided itself on the black-white axis. You have no experience in this world, by your own admission, yet you continue to flap your gums.
For years, my people have been regarded as second-class citizens or deserving of the back of the bus. We are citizens looked down by our fellow citizens. And now that the first African-American President has chosen to assert his own (dare I say) blackness, this is somehow inappropriate.
For years, my people have been regarded as second-class citizens or deserving of the back of the bus. We are citizens looked down by our fellow citizens. And now that the first African-American President has chosen to assert his own (dare I say) blackness, this is somehow inappropriate.
I would like to say that Elizabeth isn't a racist, but I can't say that. Somehow for a lot of Americans (not all), identifying as Black when you are biracial is just wrong. It is the desire of the dominant majority for people like the President to push aside his African-American heritage in favor of the other. Any other choice is wrong. Tiger Woods ceded to your wishes, Mrs. Chang...and you see how well it's worked out.
"I self-identify as an African American. That's how I am treated and that's how I am viewed. And I'm proud of it."
So am I.
Go to hell, Mrs. Chang.
