Black Enough?

Column originally published February 15, 2007

Why are we asking if Obama is black enough?

By Kelvin Wade

From Time Magazine to the New York Times to pundits all over the Web, the question is being asked: Is Barack Obama black enough for black voters? Does his Kenyan father and white mother distance him from the black community? Is he culturally black and does that even matter?

Critics like Stanley Crouch argue that since Barack Obama is not descended from slaves, that he isn't "black like me." Such pundits point out that since he was raised in a white family and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, Obama has not lived the life of a typical black American.

But it could easily be argued that George W. Bush hasn't lived the life of a typical white American. A typical white American of Bush's vintage would've gone to Vietnam. They would've had to work for a living and not be bailed out by their father and their father's wealthy friends. They wouldn't have been able to trade on their name for a political career.

Black candidates shouldn't be made to jump through hoops that white candidates are not.

Some of the "black enough" questions were driven by a recent CBS news poll that shows Hillary Clinton getting 52 percent of the black vote with Obama picking up 28 percent.

Why is this surprising? Number one, it's early in the process. Second, who wouldn't expect the wife of the most popular politician among blacks in America to get strong black support? Third, it's insulting to think blacks vote solely for skin color. Al Sharpton ran for president in 2004 and both John Kerry and John Edwards doubled his vote totals among blacks in the South Carolina primary.

Debra Dickerson wrote a thought-provoking article on Obama's non-blackness for Salon.com. She argues Obama isn't black like we use the term. She writes that "it can't be assumed that a Nigerian cabdriver and a third generation Harlemite have more in common than the fact that a cop won't bother to make the distinction." The Harlemite would be culturally and politically "black."

But it's insulting to think that Barack Obama, who has lived 41 of his 45 years in America, has worked for a civil rights law firm, represented a heavily African-American district in Illinois, married into a middle-class black family and lives on the South Side of Chicago, somehow can't grasp the black experience because of his racial makeup.

We have to remind ourselves that Barack Obama has announced he's running for the presidency of the United States, not the presidency of Black America. We can't ding Obama for not having slave ancestors or ancestors who felt the sting of Jim Crow. After all, Bill Clinton doesn't either and we embrace him.

Once again I ask why should Obama have to jump through hoops that others don't have to?

Barack Obama is asking to be judged on his vision and his ideas and that's what we should judge him on. His run, whether he wins or not, further advances the goal of a level political playing field. One day it won't even be worth mentioning whether a candidate is a minority or female. Barack helps us get there.

I would hate to think a black man can't be elected in America because of black bigotry.