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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Obama's grandma problem |
| 2008-03-18 |
| Kathleen Parker, National Review What may be most telling about Obama's predicament may be found in his reference to his white grandmother — her fear of black men on the streets and her stereotypical remarks about blacks. He said he cringed, but I'm betting he did more than that. Those remarks had to cut deep. A young boy who looks different from his immediate family is going to have identity issues of much greater magnitude than your run-of-the-mill "Who Am I?" questions all adolescents usually ask. His narrative of self-discovery and self-identification as an African American in Chicago begins there and the subtext is that his own source of emotional nourishment was polluted by a prejudice that was aimed indirectly at him. His grandmother — his surrogate mother at that point — rejected the black man he was becoming. The anger Obama heard in Rev. Wright's church may not have felt so alien after all. I think this may explain a lot. Please note, I said "explain," not "excuse." There's no excuse for judging people by the color of their skin. There's also no excuse for race-baiting, conspiracy theories, and just generally setting out to make a living off racial tension. Consider what sorts of rejections and prejudice the guys in the 332nd Fighter Group experienced. I'd wager it was much worse, on a daily basis, than anything Barak and Michele Obama ever see. Those guys had more genuine cause to damn America than Jeremiah Wright is capable of imagining. It is to their credit that they took a higher road. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #4 On a separate note, my family suppos has links to international royalty and other elites, but thats another long and complicated story(s). E.G. PARIS HILTON AND ANNA NICOLE ARE RELATIONS TO ME, BUT DO THEY THEMSELVES KNOW OF THEIR "TAIWAN/ASIA-PACIFIC CONNECTION"??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-03-18 21:09 |
| #3 See also FREEREPUBLIC > OBAMA'S BROTHER IN CHINA, + OBAMA SAYS US CANNOT IGNORE RACE. Wel-l-l, for one, according to my late father and other relatives, a famous overseas Chinese actress whom recently passed on was the half-sister of my paternal grandfather. She was also suppos the [adopted?]daughter of a high-ranking TAIWANESE KMT OFFICIAL whom fled mainland China when the Commies took over. She visited Guam when I was lot younger, to visit my father and his relations, and was only introduced to me as my grandfather's half-sister, etc. CHALK IT UP TO FAMILY-CLAN SECRETS = FAMILY SKELETONS. * ANCESTRY.com > EIGHT PERSONS OF LAST NAME "MENDIOLA" SERVED IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY DURING THE AMER CIVIL WAR - WHOM KNEW THAT GUAM FIRED ON FORT SUMTER??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-03-18 20:43 |
| #2 Went to Harvard, Law Degree, Blue Chip Law Firm job, millionaire, Representative, Senator, presidential hopefull. Yeah, he's had it rough. |
| Posted by: Rupert Thraitch1378 2008-03-18 19:24 |
| #1 His maternal grandmother was there. His maternal grandfather was there. Neither his paternal grandparents nor his father were. This is worse than any discrimination he could have faced from society at large, IMHO. |
| Posted by: Abdominal Snowman 2008-03-18 13:18 |