One Drop of Blood

What if we considered our prez 'White' instead of the first 'Black' U.S. President? What if we considered one drop of 'white' blood as the reason to call Obama their own instead of ours? Cos every time I hear us claiming him as one of us, I can't help thinking how we're dismissing his mother and her heritage as part of the whole story, his and ours. Every time you, I and news reporters call him 'the first', aren't we actually saying the first dark-complexioned American President? Those of us who considered Bill Clinton as the first, weren't we thinking more in terms of attitude than skin complexion? The way he seemed to relate to regular 'Black' folk, unlike obama? I'm just sayin. Are we playing ourselves by waiting for something that's not gonna happen? This notion of a 'Black' President pushing for 'Black' causes. Three years in Office (so far) and he's yet to respond to the Congressional Black Caucus call to address issues that directly affect 'Black' people, about setting up that African American agenda. My guess is he doesn't want to appear as tho he favors those who share his skin tone. Plus, he wants to win another term. Can't act like you're going for reparations, even on the low, if you wanna do a second term. Now, maybe the plan is for him to win the 2012 and then get real 'Black' on folk. You know, the way New York's Gov. Patterson did when he accepted the reality of not being re-elected. He said, 'iight then. Fuk it! And his tie turned from red, white and blue to red, black and green starting with the dismantling of laws that specifically targeted NYC young poor Black males as the necessary oil to keep the penal system engine running. No doubt, pissing off NYPD heads but man, what a way to exit! Clearing your office with a legacy of nothing but love for yours. Can you see Obama doing something about gentrification, miseducation and employment incentives for young brothas, specifically, since our unemployment rate is high as a standard? But that one drop of blood keeps us in hope mode, tho this hope and change thing might just be politics as usual. Young people--young 'White' people--who helped hope come to the White House are just as disappointed. Don't get it twisted. They're just as frustrated with the System (and their parents). My fear is they won't go to the voting booths, having lost the feeling. And we won't go either, since we need them to tell us what's more important than cool.When I see obama, I don't see 'Black'. I see Hawaii, an international upbringing every child should have and a kid who must've caused fire alarms every time he and his maternal family went shopping together. I see Harvard, a professorial approach to addressing conflict which is to avoid until you're forced to. I see our preoccupation with skin color and how one drop of African continues to be perceived as a negative-- He's muslim. He's from Kenya. He's behind the Arab Revolution! So it's the realities of skin shade politics that I find irritating and how Republicans are exploiting fear and ignorance. But that's America for you. Wanna be perceived as great when we're actually very small in mindset.

I'm not gonna make this the message of the day cos it's an on-going message. Nothing new about using one drop of blood to label a man while ignoring his self altogether. Or maybe it's the fact that he married a dark-skinned sista (emphasis on sista), unlike Tiger woo who opted for the traditional safe route-- get you a blond and avoid any connection to brothalove. More doors open for you that way. Makes you less threatening, until you stop making holes.