Reporter labels Obama ‘much more white than black’

June 24, 2008

In 2004, in his keynote address to the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama briefly touched on the scourge of racial stereotypes: “The people I meet in small towns and big cities, in diners and office parks, they don’t expect government to solve all their problems…. They know that parents have to parent, that children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white.”

Nevertheless, not only do the stereotypes persist, but Obama’s detractors are applying the same standard to him personally. Right-wing loudmouth Glenn Beck recently said Obama “might as well be white.” Rush Limbaugh said Obama has “disowned his white half…. [H]e’s decided he’s got to go all in on the black side.”

And yesterday, Washington Post political reporter Jonathan Weisman (who’s not a columnist or pundit) participated in an online discussion with readers during which he went to the same place.

Alexandria, Va.: Obama’s new ad (which plays a lot in Alexandria) shows pictures of his mother and grandparents, playing up his white family. Until now he’s been “African American”; now suddenly he’s a white Midwesterner? During the primary Hillary was criticized for changing her image too many times. Won’t Obama be criticized for doing the same thing?

Jonathan Weisman: I haven’t heard that criticism, but it is striking. Not a single picture of his father. Now, that really is consistent with his upbringing. He really did not become immersed in black American culture until he left college and went to Chicago. The great irony is that he is much more white than black, beyond skin color. [emphasis added]

The analysis is itself flawed. The ad talks about Obama’s background, and it’s likely he didn’t feature a picture of his father because he wasn’t a part of Obama’s childhood. But more importantly, the notion that — other than his “skin color” — Obama is “much more white than black” is utterly ridiculous.

What is a comment like this even based on? Black people are only really black if white Washington Post reporters perceive them as “immersed in black American culture”? Black people are whiter if they’re raised by white relatives? Who comes up with these rules?

And what does “beyond skin color” even mean? It’s like saying I’m much more short than tall, beyond my 6’1″ height.

I’d just add that Jonathan Weisman consistently seems to run into trouble when doing these online discussions. In general, I think it’s great that the Washington Post hosts these forums, and I appreciate the fact that so many journalists are generous with their time and participate in exchanges with readers.

But Weisman seems to really let his guard down during these chats, and reveals a little too much.

About a year ago, for example, in the midst of a congressional investigation into voter suppression allegations against Karl Rove-protege U.S. attorney Tim Griffin, a reader asked Weisman about Monica Goodling’s testimony on caging. Weisman responded, “So what is this caging thing?”

Last month, Weisman participated in a chat, and when five of the first 11 questions focused on John McCain, Weisman complained about readers’ interests. Asked about senior McCain adviser Charlie Black’s lobbying for Ahmed Chalabi, Weisman responded, “Oy, what’s with all the McCain questions?” Shortly thereafter, asked about a Democratic lawmaker, Weisman was relieved: “Ah, thank goodness someone in chatting land is a Republican.”

Around the same time, Weisman defended McCain’s “maverick” reputation, telling readers, “McCain has cultivated an image that has branded him as an independent maverick now for more than a decade. He fought the GOP over tobacco in 1998.” (Weisman either neglected to mention, or didn’t know, that McCain has abandoned his previous position on tobacco, and now agrees with the policy he used to fight against.)

And now, the same reporter wants readers to know that other than the color of Obama’s skin, the African-American senator is “much more white than black.” Why? Because the reporter says so.

The mind reels.

It’s comments like this that really begin to get at the foundations of racism – the notion that a particular set of human behaviors belongs to a particular racial group, and is misplaced if found in any other. I’m equally wary of the terms ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ to define qualities and behaviors spread amongst all humans.

  • Mr Benen, you follow politics and the media very closely. Surely you must see that there exists two separate sets of rules, one for Democrats, and one for Republicans. Thanks to media being just another big business, coverage of politics in this country is severely & unfairly skewed to the right. It has been for some time.

  • Off-topic: James Dobson, today:

    “Obama is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter.”

    As Yoda would say, “Scared, Dobson is.”

  • I think we need to give Wiseman a list of 100 people of mixed heritage & let him play “more white or black…AND WHY.” i suspect the findings will speak volumes.

    Apparently, Barack should talk, act & dress like Busta Rhymes in order for the “very important” Wiseman to think he’s more black than white. Yeah. THAT’LL help the campaign.

    But then, in the interest of fairness, MCCain will need to talk, act & dress like Larry the Cable Guy…

    Well, I guess McCain just needs to dress like Larry the Cable Guy. Sorry for the redundancy.

  • The prejudice theme in America has a lot to do with urban vs rural thinking. A couple days ago a bus driver said he (I think it was a man) supported Obama despite his prejudice against African Americans. However, if you read the details, he took into consideration not only color, but ethnicity, age, gender, clothing, and speech. On the other extreme, here in WV there are very few blacks, asians, or hispanics. The prejudices are far more simplistic. Skin color is enough to evoke absurd images. An Appalachian might well look at Obama and think he doesn’t look or sound scary, but he is still probably closely associated with those people that the bus driver is talking about.

    What is truly insulting about Limbaugh, Weisman and others like them, is that they are not in the Appalachian or rural category. And yet that is the audience they’re reaching out to. The message, while it seems contradictory, is that Obama may sound normal, but he’s just pretending.

    In a year where Republicans can’t generate enthusiasm, their strategy is primarily to turn Obama into a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

  • “Obama is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter.”

    Is this the same Dobson that advocated adult men showering with young boys? Beating dogs?

    Why doesn’t Dobson speak about Ted Haggard dragging biblical understanding, the bible, religion, all pastors and his family through the gutter?

  • Weisman et al. cling to the construct of race as if it is of some intrinsic value. It seems he, and they, don’t realize humanity will only perservere when humane care becames the defining construct among us humans.

    I think this is the magic of Obama’s narrative, and his genuine voice in expressing his American experience has put a charge into a multitude of otherwise disenfranchised or disinterested people who are awakening to the prospect of real, positive change.

    In moving into the final months of this presidential election season it would do all pundits well to realize we Americans have now experienced extremely negative change under the current president, and no matter what “race” Obama happens to be in their or anyone’s mind, it is his narrative that is beginning to define this moment. -Kevo

  • I think Obama was brought up “a lot more white than black.”

    There was a bunch of articles recently about the pregnant father. A woman became a man but decided to have a child and quit taking hormones and then became pregnant.

    The NY Times article pointed out there is a lot more to being a man or a woman than sex organs.

    Using the same logic, shouldn’t there be a lot more to being black than skin color?

  • In a way, the whole idea of ‘whiteness’ or ‘blackness’ independent of skin color is the essence of the persistence of racism in America. While Hon. Sen. Obama is being judged in this way based on his ancestry, it is more likely the fact that he was raised in places (Hawaii, Indonesia) where he wasn’t exposed to the idea that his coloration was of any real importance, and certainly not a reason to doubt his own abilities. If one reads Mr. Sidney Poitier’s autobiography “The Measure of a Man,” he talks about his first experience with people treating him shabbily, not having ever met him before, and slowly discovering that it was because of the color of his skin, and this was in the relatively integrated milieu of New York City . While this was a trial for him, since he had already devolped a sense of self which was confident that this was utter nonsense, it did not really effect his belief in his potential. For African Americans growing up in this country, this advantage is much rarer.

    While many Americans obsess over the “race” (I deny the existence of any meaningful difference between white and black, q.v. RACE –- The Power of an Illusion) of Senator Obama’s ancestors, we might be better served questioning why it is that we think that this is at all important.

  • So acording to the Republicans, Obama’s white half is not black enough, and his black half is way too black and scary? Did I get that right? It’s getting hard to follow Republican complaints without a score card.

  • The interesting question is, why do some people have so much trouble reconciling blackness and excellence in a single person? What petty comfort does Weisman get from telling himself that Obama isn’t really black, and therefore his accomplishments aren’t representative of black potential?

  • I’m confused now. Is he too white or too black? It seems to me that only certain white people are really hung up on this. Its almost as though they dislike him because he’s black and offended because he’s white. Like the hillaryis44 wackjobs, I fear the media is stoking the embers of a fairly small fire. I feel as though this racial element is being forced. There once again seems to be a detrmined effort to focus the election on the most divisive and least important issues.

  • This only goes to show the almost impossibility of overcoming racism without the ability to see one’s self and one’s belief system clearly and honestly.

    Most people are deluded to believe they are not racist or harbor any type of prejudices or stereotypic thinking. Most people really don’t see themselves and don’t understand the total ramifications of how they choose to go about on this planet.

    Take this prevalent mindset and institutionalize it and the result is the obscenities that we all live under yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

    The only way this will ever change is for a dawning of a new awareness, a willingness to allow our imagination to flower into areas only imagined by a few, and a widespread generosity and forgiveness to enter into our collective consciousness (individually, nationally, corporately, and every other imaginable way) and rule our thoughts, intentions and actions.

    In the meantime we will continue to struggle with the absurd notions of the dangerously ignorant and unaware people of this earth – whether they be in positions of authority, responsibility, and power, or not.

  • i’ve been following jonathan weisman ever since he had the wapo’s economics beat and aroused the ire of prof delong through a series of totally ill-informed pieces of work.

    when the wapo moved him over to the political beat, they praised him as a rising star.

    which pretty much says it all: the man demonstrates no command of one beat and he’s promoted, presumably because the editors like his sentence construction. that he turns out to be an idiot with racist undertones comes as no surprise.

  • Isn’t ironic that a candidate who wants to be a uniter is both black and white. Obama merely shows his upbringing and these idiots want to make it different than it was. These racist stereotypes are in reality meaningless beyond just being stereotypes. Obama is a man running for office who happens to be black, not a “not black enough blackman” but a man…an individual and a citizen who transcends racial stereotyping but these bigots can’t understand that because they so desperately want to make him fit a racial category so they can better frame him.

    It really bothers them when he acts and talks outside of their racial profile…not black enough…not white enough…geez louise.

  • These people long for the time of mulatto, quadroon and other such racial nonsense. Racisim seems a word too weak, its white supremecy pure and simple.

  • This may seem unimportant to the ‘snobbier’ of you, but one very important group who will find this absurd is also very large — baseball fans. Yankee fans in particular, but even Yankee-haters find it hard not to accept Derek Jeter as a ‘class act’ And — not sure if this is still true, but for years on almost every Yankee game broadcast there would be a shot of his parents, a black male and a white female. I really believe that, just as Jackie Robinson was extremely important for civil rights as a whole, those shots of the Jeter family were the final ‘stake in the heart’ to the old cry “…But would you want your sister to marry one?”

  • Obama’s whiteness is the new black. Or maybe his blackness is the new black, or is it the new white?

    Anyone who was interested in an actual answer to how the senator perceives himself… well, he did write a book in which he analyzes all the mix in his genes and upbringing at some great length. Sheesh.

  • I’m confused now. Is he too white or too black?

    He’s like Mama Bear…just right.

  • The great irony is that he is much more white than black, beyond skin color.

    And here I though that Obama attending Rev. Wright’s church made him too black.

  • I am a lesbian trapped in a man’s body. And I dare anyone to refute that based on the contour of my skin.

  • “But Weisman seems to really let his guard down during these chats, and reveals a little too much.”

    Sorry, Steve, but the above sentence suggests that you don’t necessarily disagree with Weisman, just think that he didn’t play the political game.

    Guess the thing is, taken in the context of what he was saying, I know that I understand what he means, and I’m guessing so do you. My husband is half African-American, half Chinese-American, and sees himself as a black man, but it was me, the white girl, who from the age of 10 was in schools that were about 50% black, and as a result there are times when I feel culturally more black than him. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s how it is. I know that I’m still more attracted to making friends with most black women than with most white women. So, yes, there is more to black and white than genetics. Isn’t that the point liberals mean to make when black kids score less well on certain tests? That, for instance, “black English” at home tends to depress SAT scores? So it’s fair to say that Obama’s home environment appears to have been culturally white most of the time.

    So?

  • Back in the movies of the 1930s, folks would sometimes say, “how white of you,” as a compliment. I guess that, times they are a-changin’…

  • It never ceases to amaze: People who live in this city manage and persist in thinking that you’re not “Really African American” unless you act like someone in a Rap video.

    No offense to people who live in less diverse areas but it takes a special kind of asshole to hold on to that attitude around here.

  • Obama’s opponents are searching for anything to use against him. He’s muslim, he’s not muslim, but his christian religion is wrong, he’s too black, he’s too white, his wife says outrageous things, his wife isn’t saying outrageous things she must be being handled. So far he’s answered each one and still keeps going. More to come.

  • “He really did not become immersed in black American culture until he left college and went to Chicago. The great irony is that he is much more white than black, beyond skin color. ”

    And what is “black American culture”? What exactly are the “do’s and don’t’s” that someone who is African-American needs to follow in order to meet the minimum requirements to black enough?

    Maybe Weisman have a “Fresh Prince” scale from which he can judge someone’s “blackness”, where you have Carlton on one side and Will on the other.

    And Is the culture of blacks in rural Alabama the same as it is for blacks in New York City? Are African-Americans really that interchangable?

    Or are African-Americans just as varied and diverse as every other racial-ethnic group in the country?

    For me, to say that Obama “isn’t black enough” is not only an insult to him, but is an insult to every African-American.

  • Jeez, people. Were you all this upset every single time Bill Clinton was referred to as the “First Black President”?

  • What Weisman said is as racist as anything Don Imus said — it assumes blacks are not smart, well-spoken, or powerful.

    I have a black friend who objects to common stuff like this. Take the phrase “white trash.” Now, what does that word “white” say? What purpose does it have in that phrase? Imagine that you’re black for a minute, if you’re not.

  • Actually, I remember an obscene racist of my acquaintance back in the 60’s or early ’70, just when blacks were beginning to appear as newscasters or the like on TV. We all thought that seeing middle-class black people who had graduated from college and so on would break down some stereotypes, but not to my old acquaintance. He’d look at the black anchorman on TV and say, “He’s not all black, he’s got brown skin, that’s the white man in him you see talking, etc. etc.”

    Weisman hasn’t come so far from this.

  • Many white people in this country are totally schizophrenic when it comes to race – especially the Black one. IT was WHITES who decided (years ago) that the definition of blackness in this country would be ONE DROP OF BLACK BLOOD MAKES YOU BLACK. Now, these same people want to be up in arms when a person says,”OK, I’m black – according to YOUR rules.” The problem is that Obama has “OUTWHITED” white people (according to the same sick definition makers who decided what Black means) – He has been better at EVERYTHING (education, picking a smart, intelligent, professional, beautiful , non-adulterous and non-addicted EQUAL partner for a wife, and has reached the top of his game in everything he has set out to accomplish)- But these, of course, are WHITE traits. So now, the rules of the game HAVE to be changed so that whites can continue the psychopathological game of using their whiteness to feel any sense of self-esteem. If they don’t, we’d have to consider John McCain BLACK. Imagine that! Ha!

    There should be a DSM-IV psychiatric diagnostic label attached to this– WHITE AMERICAN PSYCHOSIS! This is sooooo ridiculous! IS IT REALLY THAT HARD TO JUST WORK HARD, LEAD A CLEAN LIFE AND NOT LOOK DOWN ON OTHERS TO FEEL A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT?!

  • james k. sayre said:
    Back in the movies of the 1930s, folks would sometimes say, “how white of you,” as a compliment. I guess that, times they are a-changin’…

    Really James? Really, they said that phrase in movies in the 1930s? Can you name a few of these movies?

  • BTW, as a japanese-danish AMERICAN who was born and raised in the US I want to say, SHUT THE HELL UP ABOUT RACE. I don’t CARE if you are black, white green, red, or yellow. I want the BEST PERSON FOR THE JOB! If you think I owe you a living or I need to apologize for slavery or some other crap, KISS MY ASS. FORGET ABOUT RACE, LIVE BY YOUR OWN ACHIEVEMENTS, AND QUIT WHINING LIKE PUSSIES!!!!!

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