"Your Obama's So Black..."

Round 2 of "Barack Obama vs. Blackness" comes from a mighty scribe who has fallen pretty far in the last few years. Salim Muwakkil of the watery In These Times has this to say:

"Some of the same qualities that make Obama alluring to white Americans (his affability, his seeming lack of racial grievance) are troubling to many African Americans. They wonder if the senator feels as connected to the black community as he does to the educated elite with whom he spent so much of his formative time.

"This is a skeptical tradition formed by generations of African Americans who were betrayed by the slave masters’ favorite blacks. The logic seems simple: Be suspicious of those like you who are liked by those who dislike you.

"Despite these suspicions, most African Americans seem pleased with the Obama phenomena, if also perplexed by the intensity of white Americans’ affection. All of this is new ground, which is why, aside from his political stance or ideological leanings, Obama’s public prominence will spark necessary discussions on race in American culture."

Man, Salim: you sure do suck at history! Blacks distrust Obama because plotting slaves were often betrayed by the master's favorite slave? What the fuck are you SAYING?!?

Personally, I never trust dogs because my caveman ancestors were often attacked and killed by wolves. ZING!

Anyway, as the comments on the ITT website point out (in a belabored tone that suggests nothing so much as exasperation with this media hit on Obama), most black people never gave a thought to what white people think of Obama. If they did, they'd likely conclude that it's remarkable that whites like him so much and maybe they'd even get a creeping feeling that racial progress isn't dead. But mostly, I think, black people in this country are too busy working and living and dying to care much about another Tiger Woods debate over the nature of "blackness." He says he's black, fine. Why do you need anything more than that?