jcole’s weblog

The other night, the guest on The Colbert Report was Debra Dickerson, the author of the book The End of Blackness. Colbert questioned her about Barack Obama—whether or not he is “black”. She argued that in the “American political context” Barack Obama is not “black”. I can kind of buy that, but what really made me chuckle was her insistence in referring to him as “African African American”, as though the term “African American” is reserved for the “real” blacks in America.

Get over yourself, Debra: “Black” is a reference to the color of his skin, not to his upbringing; and “African American” is a reference to his lineage in Africa—he is only 2^nd generation after all—his father was born in Kenya. He is a hell of a lot more African American than most people in the US that give themselves that designation. American politics is such a joke these days.