Letters to the Editor
-
I'm tired of Black people
I'm an African-American, and it's articles like this one--despite a few insightful points-- that have made me absolutely weary of "my people." This generation of Blacks have neither pride in themselves nor hope for the future, so like crabs in a barrel they look for ways to pull each other down. I've reached a point where I could not care less what happens to Blacks. Hey--I've finally become "Amereican" !
-
You do as we do, Ms. Dickerson.
Ms. Dickerson has pointed out, accurately, that many white people tend to lump all dark-skinned people into a category called "black." I agree that it can improperly reduce a complicated group of people into a simple demographic, but she ignores that the same thing happens when discussing "white" people. I'm a white American Jew of mostly Hungarian and eastern European ancestry. Is it appropriate to group me with, say, a white American Jew of Israeli ancestry? How about a Mayflower descendant?
Ms. Dickerson, I don't deny that we, white America, sometimes lose sight of the distinction between a Nigerian cabbie and a third-generation Harlemite, but have you lost the distinction between me and Billy Graham?
-
Alizoom, you are my hero
You beat me to the punch about Dickerson's personal background, something she has written about very lucidly in the past, such as here:
http://www.slate.com/id/2106128/
And as a fellow Chicagoan, thank God you mentioned the utter crappiness of Bobby Rush. That definitely needed to be said.
-
Such audacity
Ms. Dickerson is, of course, entitled to any opinion she might have and is welcome to her "columnizing" on the degree of Barack Obama's blackness, but I can't imagine what Salon's justification for actually printing it – or for giving it the cover story treatment – might have been.
Barack Obama is positive, energetic, and electrifying, and he proposes real and realistic plans for the future that people are already beginning to rally around. When he speaks of being hungry for a new kind of politics, it touches the right nerve and actually sounds credible coming from his mouth. He represents the antithesis of the sour and dour politics of the likes of George W. Bush, John Kerry, and Debra J. Dickerson, and he is going to continue upstaging all of them, and many others, as a result. Obviously race will become an issue in this election cycle – doesn't it always? – and there is room for discussion on all sides on the topic, but Ms. Dickerson's broadside feels entirely misfired. Obama will certainly have a hell of a race ahead of him: Because Salon and its community of readers are so clearly hungry for the new kind of politics he proposes, it is staggering to see Salon setting up Obama's first hurdles rather than cheering him on. Obama has a different kind of "audacity" in mind, and I can't wait to see more of it, from him and from Salon.
I wonder if Ms. Dickerson is now feeling the sudden tinge of regret that comes from hitting "send" on an angry email, the kind that says exactly what was on your mind at the time but is exposed, the very second that it has become too late, as utterly inane. As therapeutic as it may be to write such thoughts down, there is much to be said for the moment's pause of reflection that might have made her question the wisdom in hitting "send" on this particular missive or prevented Salon's editors from hitting the "publish" button. Woops. We've come to expect more.
-- Colin Bane, Washington DC
-
On Age:
*Alexander the Great- "one of the most successful military commanders in history. Before his death, he conquered most of the world known to the ancient Greeks"
B. 356 BC, Became King at the age of 20, died one month short of 33 years old
*Napoléon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general during the French Revolution, the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from 11 November 1799 [age 30 ] to 18 May 1804, Emperor of the French
*Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad, commonly known as Bābur (February 14, 1483 – December 26, died December 26, 1530- aged 47
*Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus (September 18, 53–August 9, 117), Roman Emperor (98–117), commonly called Trajan, was the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Roman Empire. Under his rule, the Empire reached its greatest territorial extent. Became Emperor at age 35.
-
Tell The Truth-Shame the Devil
We can cry in letter after letter about how DD should not have written this piece. How Barak is black and we don't need this division, but to do that is to bury your head in the sand. Go to any black website out there and you will see black people speaking openly about the issues that DD raises in her article. We are a people who are simple beyond belief and complex beyond measure. Our experience in this nation is one that is unique to the entire world and that makes certain logical outcomes non-applicable to the black community. I agree with her totally and extend her a hearty pat on the back for having the balls to bring it out in Salon. She is going to catch hell but it is the truth.
-
American Blackness
Absolutely correct. Barack Obama is an outsider in so many ways, possibly taking this for granted and only now being awakened to how he is percieved. I was one of 3 whites hired to work for an agency based in Black Churches, recruiting adoptive families for kids in foster care. I was brought in for a very specific work experience and had a good solid reputation in that work. The whiteness part was initially difficult, and it was not even remotely kept from me how deeply my presence was resented. It was a learning experience in the social strata of the Black experience in America.
How different even an immigrant from Jamiaca or Haiti (and for a nation that revolted successfully against slavery, they are seen as being ignorant or unwanted by Americans strkies me as odd-maybe it's a language thing) or any of the other islands were from one another, but how they were viewed differently by Americans. They do not carry the same identity as say a family from Mississippi who has several generations of family from the same place, all descanded from slavery. The way race is viewed is different, somewhat less suspiciously by an Island immigrant. However it is the common bond of the historic slavery experience that links them.
I was truly taken aback by the view of actual Africans, people from or living there. I taught a class this summer to Black teens, and they derided the entire idea of Africa as foreign,and when a collegue asked the class if they wanted to do a project about AIDs in Africa... "why the hell should I care about them, they live in the goddamn jungle, i don't care about AIDs in Africa, they are too f-ing ignorant to know better" Backwards, ignorant, but somehow not Black...it was odd but not at all surprising in retrospect.
Obama is part of a new experience I don't know if Black or White is ready for, Beige. Yeah, he looks just like his mom, the nice white lady, and has the determination of his dad, the nice African immigrant man. He is both, and still outside, bi-racial, geeky, smart, hard working, well educated, compassionate, all stuff we would accept as being perfectly American, yet he still stands outside all of it. Rightly, maybe letting all of America in on who he is, how he is literally the face of a new America.