Does race really matter?Either genetically or culturally - does race really determine one's level of success or accomplishment?
I've never felt limited by the limitations put forth by one racial group or another. Maybe it's my racial background. Or maybe it's my lack of one socially accepted racial background. I've always gotten to do what ever I liked.
Does Obama's success reflect his rejection of the perceived social norms? Does his apparent acceptance of all of his racial background and influences make him more open to more resources and opportunities?
Are mixed race people more apt to think of themselves as all cultures (Obama) or as rejecting the perceived inferior culture (Tiger Woods)?
Are mixed race people more apt to create a new culture of their own?
4 comments:
Well you see UBJ, that's one of the continuing failures in American society that I've always took notice of. Mixed race persons may want to entitle themselves mixed race or otherwise, but let us never forget the "one drop rule" here in America.
The fact that Obama has a White mother and a Black father is well talked about, but when it all boils down, he is considered Black.
He is not the first mixed race president, he is the first BLACK president. He doesn't have the option of claiming himself White, not that he'd want to. But he's as much White as he is Black.
Let's NEVER forget that no matter how evolved some of us get, the laws of this land still exist.
The comfort zone in an office might be a bit warmer to a mixed race person who looks more like the White majority, but you can rest assured, he/she is very much Black for all other considerations.
I believe you may be overthinking it UBJ. I've never felt limited or restricted in any way concerning what I do - however - like Obama, my discretionary cultural preference is Black.
There's not going to be any new cultural creation on the basis of race, however, there may well be new cultural synthesis on the basis of lifestyle and way of life.
Sheila and cnulan - I've always thought of myself as Black (not mixed).
When I moved to Texas, all I heard was how the lighter or mixed Blacks had it easier.
I just watched The Tyra Banks Show today dealing with peoples' insecurities based on skin tone and race. One girl kept repeating all of the excuses that I hear here in this small town.
To answer the questions you pose as they relate to Obama, I think you have to consider that he is 1/2 African and how that influences him. Case in point, when Sidney Poitier won the Oscar he was asked, how does it feel to be the first Negro to win the Oscar? It is reported that his answer was "I don't know". Why? Because he is was not a "Negro" but rather a Bahamian. Just a thought to ponder and for conversation.
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