Why President Obama is the First Black President and NOT the First Biracial President

As promised, this installment is going to talk about who is actually black, and why President Obama is referred to as the first “African American president,” rather than the first “biracial president.” This might be a little bit confusing for some, but I’ll do my best to make it as clear and painless as possible.
So, regarding the president:

• His mother was white
• He was raised by his white grandmother
• He is Ivy League educated
• He can properly conjugate verbs
• He is the leader of the free world
• He is a black man

Okay, so some of you are scratching your heads and trying to figure out how I arrived at that conclusion. There are actually a couple of reasons, the first one being this: If Barack Obama was simply “Barack Obama, electrical engineer,” “Barack Obama, attorney at law” or “Barack Obama, unemployed convicted felon with nine children by seven different women who owes $78,982.11 in back child support”—he would most definitely be considered black. Were he not an internationally known politician, would you pass President Obama on the street and upon seeing him say: “Hey, you’re half white, aren’t you?” No. You wouldn’t. If you are a fellow African American, you might nod and greet him with, “Wassup Bro?” If you’re white, you might say “Hello” or possibly clutch your purse or wallet tightly while trying not to make eye contact as you walk a bit faster in any direction away from where he is (it’s just sarcasm, folks). But he would be treated in the same manner as any other black man.

To be honest with you, aside from being the president and being raised by his white grandmother, Obama sounds quite a bit like my oldest brother. My brother is a black man, he is quite adept at the English language, he also holds a law degree from an Ivy League school and according to my mother’s birth certificate (much to the state’s chagrin) our mother is white. Upon seeing our half-Irish (but still ‘colored’ as they said in her day) grandmother with her milky porcelain skin and fine, straight hair that flowed past her knees holding a baby of the same hue, the registrar classified them both as white. So the only real difference between my brother and Barack Obama is that our grandmother—while a big part of our lives—did not raise him. Oh, and the whole presidential thing too.

It’s also kind of funny to me that people feel that since Obama was raised by a white woman he should be considered white or at least half white. After all, scores and scores of Southern (and some Northern) white children in America were raised by black women—even breast-fed by them. Are those people to be considered black or mulatto? And let me address the word “mulatto.” It is derived from a Spanish word for a little mule. We know that mules are the product of the mating of a donkey and a horse, and that generally, mules cannot reproduce. They are considered a hybrid species and are generally bred to do labor. It is said of mules that they are “more patient, sure-footed, hardy and long-lived than horses (white people), and they are considered less obstinate, faster, and more intelligent than donkeys (black people).” I assure you that neither I nor any of my friends or relatives is a hybrid creature or descendant of beasts, so please—DO NOT refer to us as mulattoes.

You see, this classification as “biracial or interracial” and the like is a pretty new thing. Most Americans went by something known as “The One Drop Rule.” It is absolutely real—it was signed into law in eleven states in the early 1900s, with eight more states using the “blood fraction” rule to achieve the same result. It remained law in the United States until the Supreme Court deemed it illegal in 1967. Even in 1985, a Louisiana woman, Susie Phipps, was denied having her case challenging her racial classification as “colored” heard by the federal Office for Dispute Resolution. Phipps was white in appearance, all of her friends and known relatives were white. She had been married twice to white men and she had lived her entire life believing she was white. Upon applying for a passport, she checked “White” on the application and was later told that her birth certificate had been filed as “colored” because the midwife who delivered her said one of her parents was “colored.” I guess my mother should stay out of Louisiana or they might revoke her Negro card!

The purpose of “The One Drop Rule” was to protect slavery and plantation owners. Prior to that, the rule was that if a person had any discernible European (white) blood said person was considered white and free. Later, classification as white was changed to include only those with matrilineal (from the mother’s side) white blood because too many slave masters were producing mixed-race children with their female slaves and those children were considered white and free, thus affecting the financial bottom line. An example would then be this: if a white man and a black woman produce a child who looks white, that child is black. That white-looking child could effectively marry a white person and their children would be black. It could go on for generations and although those ancestors might have no apparent black features or even identify as black, according to U.S. law, if slavery were reinstated tomorrow, they’d be slaves.

So there it is. In all of its shame and glory, that is why President Barrack Obama is America’s first black president. Some might say that times have changed and that he should be considered biracial. I, on the other hand, see him as a black man, and as he explained to David Letterman, “I was black before the election.” Therefore, if the president sees himself as a black man and U.S. law bears that out, why can’t everyone else?

An Open Letter to My Brothas & Sistas, Inspired by President Obama's Speech @ The NAACP

Remember back in the day when black was beautiful? I remember my dad wearing a dashiki and having various picks to groom his afro. I think my favorite was the folding pick that had a handle which on one side was red, the other was green and the two unfolded and came together. He also had "the rake" and the ever popular black pick with the peace sign in the middle and a fist on the end of the handle.

Being a child of the seventies, I have photos of my older brothers wearing shirts with collars as wide as their shoulders and plaid pants with belts four inches wide. Thankfully, by the time I came along, the train wreck which was the fashion of the 70's had been cleared from the tracks to make way for lace gloves, day glow colors, gummy bracelets and the like, but that is a different blog altogether.

By the time the nineties rolled around, the dashikis were replaced with kente cloth in vibrant, bright colors. Braids and locs were very popular among African-Americans and artists like Arrested Development, De La Soul, Meshell Ndegeocello, Public Enemy and A Tribe Called Quest were raising our awareness and celebrating our culture, our lives and our selves.

I remember turning on the TV and seeing images which were like us. The Cosby Show was the first show with which I truly identified. The professional parents, the family values, the children going to college, the appreciation for jazz and art - all of these things reflected my upbringing. It was followed by others like Amen, A Different World and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. So why is it that in 2009, there are no black family dramas or sitcoms in primetime on any of the major networks? Sure, there is the "CW," the result of a merger between the UPN and the WB networks and TBS has a couple of Tyler Perry shows. But why is it that the major networks are still devoid of any black sitcoms or dramas? Cosby was “must see TV” in the 80s and this is where we are more than 20 years later?

Even BET or Black Entertainment Television fails to provide us with any intelligent or socially redeeming series (think Tiny & Toya – enough said). But then again, BET is no longer black owned, just as many of the radio stations these days (a fact in which I find myself taking pride as of late). Are black people less interested in our culture now? No. Do black people watch less television or listen to less radio today? No.

It seems we have reverted to the 70s, when the only black people we saw on TV were pimps, hookers, felons and clowns. “Jive Turkey!” has been replaced as a catchphrase and the over-sexualized black woman is again in fashion. Today’s youth hear profanity and nonsense on the radio at all hours of the day and night. Undercover Brother must have been right and we must have eaten "The General’s fried chicken" because the new part of the problem is that WE are condoning it, emulating it and aggrandizing it by celebrating songs, movies and videos that glamorize it.

Surely I missed the memo that said it was time for us as a race to begin behaving like the stereotypes and abandon the ingenuity, pride, dignity and resolve that characterized the civil rights movement and our history in general. I would neither appreciate nor accept a man calling me a “hoe, trick or biatch” in real time so why would I accept it in a song, movie or video? I WOULDN’T, but according to what we see in the media, I am obviously in the minority here - a side effect of too much scantily-clad booty shaking, no doubt (insert eye roll and sarcastic tone). It must be a directly related to the fact that my black man is not rough and tough enough to beat me into my right mind. He must need to sag his pants a little lower, don a fresh doo-rag and wifebeater and complete another 5-10 year bid in the state pen to set me right .

Our president spoke at the centennial anniversary of the NAACP and implored us to do better and demand better for ourselves, our children, our ancestors and our communities. My mother didn’t march in the 60s to be disrespected by young black men who choose not to benefit from her sacrifice and her commitment to the fact that her children would not know the same hardships and inequalities she did. No, she worked to eradicate barriers and although they still exist, we as a people are creating new obstacles as we shuck and jive ourselves back into the days of Jim Crow and second-class citizenry.

Wake up, people! Demand that Hollywood and the media put some clothes on black women and allow them to say more than "Uh huh!" "No you di'nt" and "You go Girl!" Analyze the lyrics you and your children hear and repeat, and determine whether or not they are in line with your morals and values! Instill in your children a strong work ethic and the desire to educate themselves and succeed in life - rather than "get rich or die trying.!" Look up the words “class” and “dignity” in the nearest dictionary or Google them if you don’t own a dictionary (then hang your head in shame for not owning one) and begin to emulate them, rather than this ridiculousness we currently accept as African-American culture. WE ONCE WERE KINGS. If we must turn back time, let’s turn it back far enough to teach our children to be royalty rather than wannabe thugs and comic relief.

Sadly, this message will be ignored. Why? Because the people who are reading this are already doing what needs to be done. The challenge is reaching the ones who are not.