A question for all you math whizzes out there
My question is this: what race or racial mix will the next first black President of the United States be? I mean, OK, the first first black President was 100% white. (Yes, you are reading these sentences correctly.) Then the second first black President, Barack Obama, is actually not black but bi-racial, we are reminded.
So is the next first black President going to be 100% black or three quarters black? Or maybe some other mix entirely? Or maybe Indian? I'm of the mind that he or she will be 3/4 black, then we'll go 7/8, then 15/16, etc. and we will never get a 100% pure black man or woman as the President. What is this opinion based on? That's a good question, and I'll see if I can maybe come up with something, or maybe I'll ask some guy wearing a white sheet over his head.
Some people might be depressed when they realize that we might never get a prezzie with a perfect soul brother pedigree. But it's not really a big deal because no one is 100% white either. All us white folk have been mixed in with the descendants of Adam and Eve who were black. And that's a good thing, since the alternative is to be the evil creation of a crazy black Frankenstein named Yakub by using selective breeding and magnets.
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I think Fauxcahontas set the bar for how much minority blood is required in order to call oneself a member of the oppressed so as to gain favor. Namely as low as necessary.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for me to see another black or semi-black candidate becoming President before (at least on the liberal side) a woman, an Hispanic, or even a gay gets their turn; a female Hispanic, for example, would have talismanic potency for liberals.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, the worst thing conservatives could possibly do would be to nominate Dr. Ben Carson for President. He's already succumbed to the flattery and formed an exploratory if not nominating committee.
Not because he's black, but because he's a techno-wonk: in what universe does pediatric neurosurgery qualify one to be Chief Executive of the United States? Answer: the same universe that elected Barack Obama to the presidency twice. A putative executive who has governed only nurses and ill babies previously simply does not bring the skill set needed, no matter how much we might like the words coming out of his black face.
Black Republican governor? Absolutely. In fact, Republicans could do worse than to make being a governor a tacit prerequisite for nomination.
We are still far from through with the hellish experience of having an inexperienced nobody being utilized as the sock puppet President for staff policy wonks like Valerie Jarrett. We're going to need multiple terms of previously politically executive-experienced CEO material to get out of this trench.
the worst thing conservatives could possibly do would be to nominate Dr. Ben Carson for President. He's already succumbed to the flattery and formed an exploratory if not nominating committee.
DeleteI agree. He should be trying to get a TV show in which he would set himself up as the anti-Sharpton. He is brilliant, but he hasn't even held any public office, and jumping into a presidential campaign is a recipe for disaster.
The difficulty you might have generating a black president (as in someone who actually grew up in and among other blacks, not a phenotypic mulatto who grew up in Honolulu's haolie subculture) is that black politicians tend to be legislators or mayors who have a predominantly black clientele and subscribe to (or give one the impression they subscribe to) the politics of resentment which is motivating in that population. Others who do not (e.g. David Dinkins) still face the challenges mayors do and are often unsuccessful (as he was). The most accomplished black mayor in this generation was Robert Bowers of East Orange, N.J. Accomplishment often does not sell in populations which are mobilized by appeals to identity; Mr. Bowers was voted out of office that year.
ReplyDeleteYou cannot sell rent-seeking demagogues to a broader public. There are more salable candidates (recall Douglass Wilder), but they face the hurdles any ordinary candidate does (few of whom succeed) and have no particular rapport with the black rank-and-file. As for your black Republicans, they are not very numerous and face the same problem Douglass Wilder did or the same impediments that demonstration candidates like Alan Keyes have.
Alan Keyes is insane. Really. I hope that Ben Carson doesn't go 'round the bend.
DeleteNot that it doesn't happen to white guys in politics. I heard Jesse Ventura on the radio the other day... whoa.