I don't disagree with what you're saying, but part of Ridley's comment seems to have been trying to make the point that Obama, simply by being black, experienced life differently than other non-dark people in a similar situation, all other things even. In other words, while Michael Jordan's children are better off than some "street negro" in Detroit, both of them have probably enjoyed the experience of being called a nigger at some point.
Whether that form of racism is enough to bond the two of them is debatable. I'd much rather be discriminated against while I have money in the bank.
"Obama, simply by being black, experienced life differently than other non-dark people in a similar situation, all other things even."
- ChrisV82
Ding, ding! We have a winner.
For you, Chuck Ling:
I'm actually a "Ms.," by the way.
Of course the notion of "race" is a human construct. Let's just get that out of the way first.
What you're neglecting is the fact that an individual's American experience will differ widely due to experiences based on the color of one's skin. That's the racist part. And it's silly, but it's a reality.
Of course ethnicity is a real thing; but it would be ludicrous to suggest that there is such a thing as a set of behaviors that are purely "Hispanic" or "Asian" or "Black."
Even within the ethnicities, there are extreme variances. Like any other cultural subset in this nation, all Black Americans don't think alike, speak alike, hold the same views and values. We're just as diverse as White America, although it is convenient and expedient in the media-at-large to ignore that point, which is one of the sins Mr. Weisman committed.
I listen to rock music and go alpine skiing - are those "white behaviors," "white activities?" Of course not. They are simply behavior and activities and cannot be assigned a race, the human construct of classifying groups of people. It's all about exposure to different sets of norms and embracing those differences.
Black American culture cannot be defined, as it IS every individual's all-encompassing experience of being Black, just as I said. It differs from region to region and coast to coast; the experience can be one way on one side of town and completely different on the other side. You can try to study it, I suppose, but you'll never truly understand it and what it means unless you wake up one day like the Watermelon Man.
(The same goes, by the way for any other culture. You can try to replicate the experience to gain understanding, but unless you truly ARE IT and LIVE IT, you'll never fully understand what it is to BE IT, not even one cultural iteration of IT.)
Mr. Obama was simply exposed to more cultures and norms than just the stereotypical version of Black American experience that is oft portrayed by those who aren't apart of any version of it. That is the point Mr. Weisman failed to understand.
Acknowledging these things doesn't make me a "racialist." It makes me a realist.
Commenting by HaloScan
