TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
Bahamas Blog International
Bahamas Blog International
Obama helps people of mixed race find identity
Related to country: United States

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

By: Amber Mobley:




Hundreds of years back, they were classified as "mulatto". Half black. Half white ... and usually the result of a slave master's marital indiscretions.

These days, biracial people are finding themselves with a new kind of identity, thanks to presidential nominee Barack Obama and his mixed-race heritage. Yeah, folks tend to forget that the "first black presidential nominee" has a white mother and an African father.

"We prefer the term 'Barackian' now," said Matt Murchison, 29, of Tampa, Fla. "That's a joke that I sometimes make, but the joke underscores the difficulty that biracial individuals often have establishing an identity in U.S. society."

Until the most recent Census, people of mixed race, like Obama, were classified as "other." Data from that Census shows that while a relatively small number of people identified themselves with two or more races, most of the people who did were young — between the ages of 5 and 17. Today, eight years later, many of them are old enough not only to follow Obama's campaign, but to vote in this year's presidential election.

"I know my friends who have black and white parents take pride in (Obama's) success because it's taken some of the 'other' out of their 'otherness,'" said University of Southern California visiting professor Erna Smith. The "other" label on the Census always struck Smith as ironic, she said, "because genetically-speaking probably everyone is the other."

Struggling with labels

People of mixed race are often pressured to pick a race, Murchison said. "A lot of people encourage us to identify ourselves as black, but a lot of people discourage us from identifying either way. But they often don't realize that the decision to identify with a race is not entirely ours. I can say that I'm not black, but the cops who pulled me over and handcuffed and harassed me might disagree."

"Black" even though you're bi-racial? It's the ghosts of the centuries-old "one drop rule" which classified anyone with a single drop of African blood as a black person.

Obama encounters it every day on the campaign trail.

"Barack Obama can say that he's not black, but that would do little to diminish the racism that has been opposing him throughout the election," Murchison said. "From Fox News referring to his wife of 16 years as his 'baby's momma' ... to the Latino man in Tampa who told me to my face that he 'ain't votin' for no nigger.'"

Annette Gontarski of Brighton, Mich., the black mother of a bi-racial son knows that racism can be real for bi-racial people too. "I expect (my son) to prove that person wrong who believes that because he is a black man (although not 100%) he is not going to amount to anything," she said. "My son knows that he is watching history in the making and knows that he too can make history."

Jill Gilyard's eldest son, 19, will be voting for the first time this year. "He's really excited," said Gilyard of Los Angeles, the white mother of four sons of mixed race, ages 5, 8, 11 and 19. Her 8-year-old is so enthusiastic that he wrote a letter to Obama and addressed it to the White House. He called him "President Obama."

For Murchison, the prediction that the number of people of mixed race is expected to grow makes Obama's run for the White House even more meaningful.

"His presidency will serve as one of the strongest symbols of a new era for America, shedding light on the ever-increasing intermixing that makes this country a true 'melting pot' ... and I do think that he helps biracial children find an identity: as symbols of the future."


10/16/2008
theloop21

October 26, 2008 | 12:48 PM Comments  0 comments

You must be logged in to add tags.


Dennis Dames's Profile


Latest Posts
Meatless Mondays: Do...
Regional integration...
Call for unity as the...
Slow Down: How Our...
The situation in Honduras

Monthly Archive
December 1969
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009

Change Language


Tags Archive
america american bahamas bahamians bush caribbean crime cuba development economic enfusion engagement global health ict4d individualeconomy international investment networkbuiding obama organisationalchange people personaldevelopment political president socialentrepreneurship trade war world

Links
A+ Links Int'l
Bahamas Blog
Bahamas Dames
Bahamas Hotels
Bahamas Search
Bahamian WebRing
Blog Directory
Blogadr
BlogExplosion
Cheap Int'l Calling Cards
Crooks Blog
Dating Network
Free Paid Web Directory
LS Blogs
Politics Blogs
Top 100 Women Websites
Top Web Blogs
Vote For Me


695874 views
Important Disclaimer