I think you would have to ask him what he feels his cultural heritage is. Take Tiger Woods. In early interviews, if I remember correctly, he said he identified with black culture (his father) and with Thai culture (his mother), and his own experience includes mainstream American culture as well. Would I suggest that Tiger is culturally not African-American because he grew up with a comfortable life? Not at all.
Remember when Tiger won the Masters the year after Fuzzy Zoeller, and Fuzzy made some idiotic remarks about Tiger serving watermelon and fried chicken at the victory celebration? Those are the sorts of experiences that inform African-Americans of their cultural heritage, regardless of where they grew up or how well or poorly they lived. Notice, though, that Tiger didn't dwell on Fuzzy's statement, because he saw it for what it was- a legacy of the past that should be left in the dustbin of history. Ironically, it was Bill Clinton's jibe about Obama being "another Jesse Jackson" that provided Obama with the first very public reminder of his cultural blackness in this campaign. Jackson, for all his power in the Democratic Party in the 80's, was forever linked to the Civil Rights movement, and those ties made him a "black politician" in the eyes of much of the public. Obama has been an activist, but in a far less divisive era, so he isn't tied specifically to the Civil Rights movement. Not to denigrate the sacrifices made during that era, because without them, there is no Barack Obama in national politics. He is standing on the shoulders of giants, political leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., sports heroes like Jackie Robinson, and entertainment figures like Sammy Davis, Jr., and their battles and sacrifices have made it possible for a man like Obama to move the conversation beyond race to a shared vision for all Americans. On Wed, Mar 12, 2008 at 1:40 PM, Larry L wrote: > Culturally Obama may not be African American, a good portion of his > formative years were spent outside the US. Then when he returned to the US, > it was to Hawaii, not an African American cultural hotbed. By and large I'd > say he's American much more than African American. > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:256271 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
