posted July 03, 2008 09:14 AM            

I admit that I thought maybe I was being a little nonsensical and even
irrational to feel conflicted about my ethnic identity because of the
presidential race,but after reading this article,I now feel that what
I have experienced is something that is shared by other mixed
people. I feel that what I have expressed are valid concerns and viewpoint
s about the mixed "Black" person.

I do wonder how many inter-ethnic relationships have been affected by
the presidential race. I know that mine has.

Interestingly, I found this with transiting Mars-Saturn conjunction in
Virgo currently in grand cross to my t-square of Moon in Pisces in
6th,Jupiter-Neptune in Sagittarius in 3rd,and retrograde Saturn in
Gemini in 9th.

By ELIZABETH DAVIDZ, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 3, 3:14 AM ET

WASHINGTON - This presidential election is about more than checking a
box for either a Democrat or a Republican. For me, it's also about
choosing a box that identifies my race.
ADVERTISEMENT

Because I am biracial, I always dreaded those forms that asked you to
check one box only. Are you black? Are you white? Are you Hispanic?
Are you Asian?

For anyone who is like me or Barack Obama, racially mixed, the choice
has always been clear. We would choose the minority box because that
is how the world sees you. To choose the white box was to try to pass
as white, to be ashamed of that drop of blood that makes you dark. To
choose "other" was to have your race not counted at all.

Those forms are gone. But when it comes to race in America, we still
tend to talk about it in terms of black versus white or some race
versus another. In this election, Obama's diverse family has come up
again and again, but in the end we tend to define him one way.

Yes, Obama is black. But he is also white.

Increasingly, families are bridging these divides. People in my
generation who grew up in the '80s, and those younger, may hardly see
interracial families as revolutionary, since the numbers have grown.

But interracial families have been an American taboo since colonial times.

Interracial marriage was once banned in 41 states.

In 1961, when Obama was born to a white woman and a black man from
Kenya, 22 states did not allow interracial marriage. Those
prohibitions fell when the Supreme Court, in 1967, overturned a
Virginia law banning whites from marrying nonwhites.

A year later, when my parents were married in Ohio, it was legal but
not easy.

My mother is white and my father is a dark-skinned man from Indonesia.
My mom's father refused to come to the wedding. A family member told
my mother no one would marry her children because they would be "mutts."

My dad's family, in Indonesia, didn't attend.

I never experienced the tensions in my family surrounding my parents'
marriage. By the time my brother, my sister and I were born, the
family's initial doubts had been put to rest — my grandfather's
included. They showed us nothing but love and acceptance.

Still, it was hard to grow up biracial.

In our small Midwestern community, we never really fit in. Other than
a spattering of Confederate flags and a few KKK's scratched in school
desks, racism was never really the issue. The daily frustration was
ignorance. My siblings and I continually faced the questions.

"Where are you from?"

"Here. Ohio."

"No, where are you from really?"

My brother, my sister and I would exchange stories about what people
thought we were: Hispanic, Jewish, Native American, Mediterranean,
Middle Eastern.

The guesses never got it right. It was clear that even though we were
half white, and culturally white, to be part white was to be not white
at all.

We may have been sheltered in our small town, but what we knew of the
outside world in the '80s through TV, movies and news was that America
was still divided into black and white. The only interracial couples
we knew were the neighbors on the sitcom "The Jeffersons" and the
tragic couples in the musicals "Show Boat" and "West Side Story."

Things got better in the '90s. Biracial celebrities were taking the
stage in sports, TV and in music. Interracial couples started to grace
the screen in happier circumstances. For the first time, I saw
biracial-multiracial boxes and marked them with joy.

In 2000, the U.S. census allowed Americans for the first time to
identify themselves by more than one racial category. Nearly 7 million
did.

And the last state ban on interracial marriage finally fell, an
unenforceable law that had lingered on the books in Alabama.

In that year's presidential election, John McCain faced false rumors
spread during the South Carolina primary that he'd fathered a black
child out of wedlock. In fact, he and his wife, Cindy, had adopted
their daughter Bridget from an orphanage in Bangladesh.

Increasingly, couples like the McCains are adopting internationally.
Since 1990, the number of international adoptions has more than
doubled, to more than 20,000 in 2006.

I have rarely pondered my race in recent years. It wasn't until this
year, with my parent's 40th wedding anniversary and the presidential
election, that I've once again faced the old frustrations, confusions
and emotions.

Looking through my parent's wedding photos and hearing the old
stories, I think about how hard it must have been for them and Obama's
parents. Hearing Obama talk about his white mother and grandparents, I
think about my own.

Reading about his black father and his Indonesian stepfather, I think
of my dad. When I see Bridget McCain's photo, a dark-skinned girl in a
sea of white faces, I think of my own childhood insecurities.

When people file Obama under black and only black, I feel like I am
once again facing those old forms, that chasm between the races. Check
only one box — never mind one parent, half my family, one part of who
I am.

This historic election is about more than black versus white; it is
also about families that fill the in-betweens.

Regardless of who wins this election, if it is McCain or Obama, a
racial milestone will be met. America will have its first interracial
first family in the White House.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — Elizabeth Davidz is a multimedia producer for The
Associated Press' bureau in Washington. On Deadline is a weekly
political column.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_campaignplus/20080703/ap_ca/on_deadline_biracial;_ylt\
=AojKZAWSdLZQN1MlLw03mIVsnwcF

Raymond

posted July 04, 2008 06:33 PM            

She wasn't accepted among many in the black community or the Korean American community. She was abused at home and ostracized in school (at least until she got good in sports, which gave her a place), and one of her nicknames growing up had been "mutt." And, natch, white people have given her a hard time, too. As she told me once, "My home is nowhere."

She also hates those forms that demand you mark race. She's refused to mark any, sometimes writing in, "If it does not matter, then it doesn't matter" or some such. It may have cost her a few job interviews, but she hasn't really suffered from having done so.

And the writer thinks our society is still divided into black and white? There are far more divisions than that, even if they don't affect her personally. Heck, not only do biracial black/whites have trouble in the black & white communities, but one of my GF's best friend was another girl who was ostracized for being TOO dark, and yet due to her academic interests seen as "trying to be white" (and thus ironically treated similar as biracial). (Btw, I'm ignoring here for simplicity sake all the divisions within any single arbitrarily-defined race.)

But anyway, in no case is Obama forcing my GF to "redefine" or "reaffirm" her background.

In any case, the election isn't anything so utterly shallow to her as marking her race. She doesn't like Obama for many reasons, but the fact that Obama is both black and white, 1 of which is a race she shares and both races having had given her a hard time growing up, has nothing to do with it.

Just one reason is that she's gay and Obama doesn't care for that. While Obama may be the least evil allowed the gay community by those in power, he's still bigoted against gays. It hasn't helped that he recently catered to evangelicals in other ways, too. She's biracial (USA)/multiracial (Asian), but she feels no kin with Obama, and she's gay, and Obama's religious beliefs & values (which neither of us share) are hostile toward us and our lifestyle. The fact that he's willing to throw a bone or two doesn't change that fact. It might make him a "lesser evil than McCain," but he's still an evil toward us.

There are other reasons, too. Obama is no friend to us in any case, nor will his getting elected be of any help to us or "change" to the nation, nor ease the pain my GF has felt. I expect Tiger Woods and Ne-Yo has done more to ease the pain of being biracial the way she's been in the USA than Obama has ever done or will (and btw, if Tiger Woods or Ne-Yo ever ran, she'd base her vote based on his policies, not by his race).

posted July 05, 2008 02:59 AM            

quote:

---

Btw, on a tangential note, that article reminded me of a biracial kid I went to school with for awhile, half-white, half-Vietnamese I think with her Asian features strongly visible raised in the East Texas Bible Belt had an East Texas accent, it was enough to get her shunted with the other outcasts (us) as she freaked some locals out for some reason. It was just "sick and wrong" to them for someone with strong Asian features to speak with a strong Texas twang.

---

posted July 05, 2008 05:44 PM            

How do you know that he's bigoted against gays?

Do you have proof?

If so, let me see it

posted July 05, 2008 07:53 PM            

#
Gay Rights
# Being gay or lesbian is not a choice. (Nov 2007)
# Decisions about marriage should be left to the states. (Oct 2007)
# Homosexuality no more immoral than heterosexuality. (Oct 2007)
# Ok to expose 6-year-olds to gay couples; they know already. (Sep 2007)
# Has any marriage broken up because two gays hold hands? (Aug 2007)
# We need strong civil unions, not just weak civil unions. (Aug 2007)
# Legal rights for gays are conferred by state, not by church. (Aug 2007)
# Disentangle gay rights from the word "marriage". (Aug 2007)
# Gay marriage is less important that equal gay rights. (Aug 2007)
# Gay rights movement is somewhat like civil rights movement. (Aug 2007)
# Let each denominations decide on recognizing gay marriage. (Jul 2007)
# Supports health benefits for gay civil partners. (Oct 2006)
# Opposes gay marriage; supports civil union & gay equality. (Oct 2006)
# Marriage not a human right; non-discrimination is. (Oct 2004)
# Include sexual orientation in anti-discrimination laws. (Jul 1998)

Favors topic 3:
Same-sex domestic partnership benefits
(+2 points on Social scale) Gays should not face discrimination but should not marry: Opposes topic 3
Decisions about marriage should be left to the states: Opposes topic 3
Homosexuality no more immoral than heterosexuality: Favors topic 3
We need strong civil unions, not just weak civil unions: Favors topic 3
Opposes gay marriage; supports civil union & gay equality: Favors topic 3
Marriage not a human right; non-discrimination is: Favors topic 3
Include sexual orientation in anti-discrimination laws: Favors topic 3
Increase funding for AIDS treatment & prevention: Favors topic 3
Rated 89% by the HRC, indicating a pro-gay-rights stance: Strongly Favors topic 3
Provide benefits to domestic partners of Federal employees: Strongly Favors topic 3
NO on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage: Strongly Favors topic 3

Give me a break......c'mon now
he's rated 89 percent by the HRC,and that indicates pro-gay-rights stance

bigoted against gays......my ass!

http://www.ontheissues.org/Barack_Obama.htm

posted July 06, 2008 07:28 AM              

you know this whole racism thing has me hooked..
fact is we are one of the most racist countires in the world..i m fair enough to pass for a latin white...my brother looks dark enough to be a native
we have like 10 different races...originating here..every major reliigon u can guess, 5000 languages and dialects, communiities bsed on religious offshoots...circus it is.

THAT is the whole agenda behind arranged marriage..keep the blood real
although in recent times arranged marriage is
has more or less died in cities..now its small towns and villages who are stuck with it.
BUT the generation preceding us has had a hardtime keeping up. my parents freaked bigtime when i declared i was going to have a love mrraige..and no i wouldnt date someone specificlly from our community, religion, language etc....

now that the dust has settled and more and more frinds and acquaintances have gone the love way...mixing culture and race..its getting hilarious.
i just complied a list of reactions , my parents to a interracial match..

white - " welcome to the family "

black - no words will be spoken....my parents will look like a witnesses to a car running over a puppy.

chinese,korean,japnese..etc - "have you lost ur mind ????"

muslim - any race, country - " you are dead or us...we dont have a daughter..."

posted July 08, 2008 05:23 AM            

Racism hasn't completely diminished here but we have more freedom now.

posted July 11, 2008 10:25 PM            

Speaking of which, another reason to dislike him:

On Passage of the Bill (H.R. 6304 )

Yeah, the great Hope & Change has just thrown in, once again, with Homeland Security and the changes Bush has brought us despite his claiming to turn us from all that. (In case you don't keep up with the issues, including on how your candidate votes, then click on this: H.R. 6304, THE FISA AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2008)

Want to justify it, though many Democrats don't? Feel free. However, here is what Obama SAID;
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9845595-7.html?hhTest=1

quote:

---

For one thing, under an Obama presidency, Americans will be able to leave behind the era of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and "wiretaps without warrants," he said. (He was referring to the lingering legal fallout over reports that the National Security Agency scooped up Americans' phone and Internet activities without court orders, ostensibly to monitor terrorist plots, in the years after the September 11 attacks.)

---

quote:

---

In our own Technology Voters' Guide, when asked whether he supports shielding telecommunications and Internet companies from lawsuits accusing them of illegal spying, Obama gave us a one-word response: "No."

---

The POINT is that what Obama SAYS and what Obama DOES are very different. IOW, he's a politician. Many of them lie, as well as promise change. (Want to know what this reminds me of? That scene in Casablanca where the official is "shocked" to find gambling going on--just before one of his men brings him his winnings.)

As for groups like the HRC, I understand they're seen as elitists by many in the gay community that tells any members to shut up, send money, do as they're told, and vote how they're told--which is Democratic even if the Democrat candidate has a lousy record of supporting gay rights, even if they support the DOMA. In addition, some have even canceled their membership (and IIRC, a board member for HRC resigned) and the like over the HRC caving in to Democrats on changing the ENDA by excluding transsexuals (and also making enough loopholes to invalidate most of it) in their "inclusive" bill, which has caused a lot of infighting and alienation. IOW, they're hardly the bastion of gay rights that they claim to be.

As for proof of his bigotry, that was in his own book. I linked above, but I'll link again more obviously this time:
http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid39485.asp

quote:

---

“I was reminded that it is my obligation not only as an elected official in a pluralistic society, but also as a Christian, to remain open to the possibility that my unwillingness to support gay marriage is misguided,” Obama wrote in his recent memoir, The Audacity of Hope.

---

quote:

---

Obama’s The Audacity of Hope is not a must-read for LGBT voters because he fails to fully comprehend or sincerely commit to the issue of social justice for all Americans. He does not tackle head-on how the religious rhetoric of this political era has played an audacious role in discrimination against LGBT people, leaving us with little to no hope, his rhetoric included

---

Your own site backs this assertion:
http://www.ontheissues.org/Barack_Obama.htm

quote:

---

gays should not face discrimination but should not marry. (Oct 2004)

---

You cannot say that you oppose discrimination against gays while being against gay marriage. Now maybe you don't understand the difference between marriage and civil unions, so I'll try to explain it short and sweet. First, this:
http://lesbianlife.about.com/cs/wedding/a/unionvmarriage.htm

quote:

---

The United States Constitution guarantees equality for all. As you can see, marriage and civil unions are not the same. Creating equal access to marriage is the only fair way to ensure equality for gay and straight couples alike.

---

And here's an example of why it matters:
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon08/02/022208fla.htm

quote:

---

Janice Langbehn and Lisa Pond had planned to take their three children on a family cruise. The Olympia, Washington couple had been together 18 years and with their children were looking forward to the holiday. But just as they were about to depart on the cruise from Miami, Florida. Pond, a healthy 39-year-old, suddenly collapsed. She was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami with Langbehn and the children following close behind.

But once Langbehn and the children arrived at the hospital the hospital refused to accept information from her about Ponds’s medical history.

Langbehn says she was informed that she was in an antigay city and state, and she could expect to receive no information or acknowledgment as family.

A doctor finally spoke with Janice telling her that there was no chance of recovery.

Other than one five minute visit, which was orchestrated by a Catholic priest at Langbehn’s request to perform last rites, and despite the doctor’s acknowledgement that no medical reason existed to prevent visitation, neither she nor her children were allowed to see Pond until nearly eight hours after their arrival.

Soon after Pond'’s death, Langbehn tried to get her death certificate in order to get life insurance and Social Security benefits for their children. She was denied both by the State of Florida and the Dade County Medical Examiner

---

IOW, by not supporting marriage for gays, Obama is supporting treating a class of people as second class citizens. That he "supports gay rights" sounds very hollow, much as "I support racial equality" would sound hollow to someone who believes black and white America should be separated with separate drinking fountains and designated places to sit on a bus.

Maybe it's too advanced for Obama to understand. If so, maybe he should consult with Jerry Sanders who understands what Obama doesn't get:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PrGNhczw9U

But then he's a Republican. Strange that, like Obama, Mayor Sanders is a Christian, yet Mayor Sanders still understands equality--especially when it comes to walking the walk along with talking the talk.