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Peta’s muse
By Asiri | November 12, 2008
My beautiful wife has been wondering what this fuss about a “first black American President” is all about. She wrote a blurb in her facebook which seemed to generate quite some interest. So I thought I’d copy it here (with her express permission of course).
“I have to get this off my chest - it has been bugging me for a few weeks now. WHEN are people going to stop looking at skin colour?!!! They keep going on about Obama being the first black president and while I agree that it is a remarkable point in history, it is not such a big deal really. It is just skin colour. and Obama is NOT BLACK! His mother was lily white, he was raised by his mother and his white grandparents. His father was from Kenya, not from american slaves, which in my eyes makes his story vastly different from Alex Haley’s. Yes he is mixed race but just because the darker genes are stronger than the lighter ones does not put him into a category. He is a person, first and foremost. His history is more influential to his story than his skin colour.
My kids are mixed race, half Sri Lankan, half Australian. Yes, their colouring is darker than mine, but not as dark as their dad’s. They are neither black nor white, but perhaps both. They are Aussie citizens, purely for the convenience and opportunities that it affords. But they can choose to be either. Which makes me wonder if the ‘first black president’ angle is being majorly exploited.
What would happen if the candidate was half Chinese. The combination of the genes between caucasians and Asians is often more even resulting in more mixed features and skin colour. They look not vastly different from either of the heritages. Would the candidate then be exploited as being the ‘first asian president’ or would that take a backseat in the campaign strategy?
I guess to really understand I would have to live in the US to experience the level of racism that they have there. It is definitely improving but the remnants of the bygone era still have a major influence. In Australia I think we are more open in our views as to race, we categorise less and we are a lot more inter-racial, basically we are a bunch of mongrels. But that is our heritage and something to be proud of I feel.
Perhaps I will see things differently when we get our ‘first aboriginal prime minister’.”
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