Obama's Mama

Personally, I don't see what one's gender or the color of one's skin has to do with being qualified to be elected president of the United States.

Who cares?

Weeding through the wannabes to decide on the best person for the job is the task at hand, not jumping on a candidate's bandwagon because he's black or Hispanic or she's a woman. How superficial!

Nancy Pelosi became the first woman to be Speaker of the House. So what? I think it's been a disaster. I didn't see it as some giant leap for womankind.

It's trivia -- the first woman this or the first African-American that.

I know there are people in the country that are hung up on race and gender. They're backward, living in a bygone era.

I don't think the race or gender of a candidate should be an issue at all. Period.

But the media tell us it does matter.

There are ongoing discussions about Barack Obama's blackness, as well as Hillary's own blackness and cleavage.

It's stupid.

On the other side, the Republican presidential candidates are criticized for being white males. That's two strikes against each of them -- white and male.

Equally stupid, but we keep on talking about it.

Helena Andrews discusses the color factor and how Barack Obama continues to be badgered with questions about his blackness.

In this month's issue of Vibe magazine, Obama -- surprisingly still unexhausted by the endless background checks into his blackness -- said: "We as a culture are confused about race. There's this assumption that there's only one way of being black."

This is what I want to know:

Why is Obama being called black rather than biracial?

Why does he call himself black rather than biracial?

In terms of his lineage, Obama is as white as he is black. His deceased mother Ann Dunham was white -- his mother, not some great-great-great-whatever.

The "being black enough" question is a social and cultural thing. I know it's not a biological matter.

It's like gender identity. Choose your gender. Choose your race. Label yourself or let society label you or do a little bit of both. It's all up for grabs. It's a social construction, not a biological fact.

Still, I think it's odd that the race of Obama's mother and his maternal ancestors is being so completely dismissed by so many.

How many times have you heard that Obama could be the first black president?

How many times have you heard that Obama could be the first partially black president?

Doesn't his mother count? Doesn't she deserve some respect?

I'm not trying to answer the question of whether or not Obama is black enough. It's irrelevant to me.

I'm just wondering why people really seem to care.

His mom was white. His dad was black. Next question.

Nonetheless, the enlightened libs won't let the racial issue die.

It's embarrassing when you think about it. And sad.

The reasons I'm not going to vote for Obama have nothing to do with his appearance. I won't vote for him because he's a lib and I don't agree with him on the issues. Another negative -- he lacks experience.

The way I see it, Obama's biggest problem isn't whether he's black enough; it's how green he is.