Obama Wins Is This The TIme For Change

missmatty · 05-11-2008 05:02PM

Dudess wrote: »

And many who'd hope for that one big similarity...

:eek: oh noes i hope not...

Degsy · 05-11-2008 05:12PM

Firstly,geneticaly he's as much white as he is black.
secondly why does everybody think its so great to have a "black" president in charge of a predominantly "white" country?
if it was a white president in a black country,the liberals,hippies and assorted **** would declare it a disgrace and an excercise in colonial facism.

MOH · 05-11-2008 05:13PM

Dudess wrote: »

Some obvious parallels between him and Kennedy all right. And many who'd hope for that one big similarity...

Fox news forums. Amusing, but a bit scary:
Why did McCain lose?
Why did Obama win?

Basically, the answer to both seems to be:
He's black; he bought his way in with money provided my America's enemies; he's a socalist/communist; people not following the bible (quite a few mentions of Revelations/the end times); he stole the election through fraud (uh, Florida anyone?); the biased media; blah blah blah

buynow · 05-11-2008 05:15PM

Degsy wrote: »

Firstly,geneticaly he's as much white as he is black.
secondly why does everybody think its so great to have a "black" president in charge of a predominantly "white" country?
if it was a white president in a black country,the liberals,hippies and assorted **** would declare it a disgrace and an excercise in colonial facism.

There is not a white America or a black America, but a United States of America.... sorry, couldn't resist.

tallaght01 · 05-11-2008 05:18PM

There's a very important issue here that keeps getting missed.

A few years ago Will Smith said he wanted one day to be the first black president.

Hopefully, today's events will put a stop to any ideas he had of running.

If that's all Obama's presidency has achieved, then that's enough for me :P

Dudess · 05-11-2008 05:18PM

Degsy wrote: »

Firstly,geneticaly he's as much white as he is black.
secondly why does everybody think its so great to have a "black" president in charge of a predominantly "white" country?
if it was a white president in a black country,the liberals,hippies and assorted **** would declare it a disgrace and an excercise in colonial facism.

Cuz blacks were mistreated in America for centuries? Blacks were forced there rather than migrating by choice?

Yes, when there was a white president in South Africa for example, it was considered a disgrace... because whites weren't forced there, they barged in and took over the place themselves.

Sonderval · 05-11-2008 05:26PM

On a serious note, it does show one of the benefits of the US system - the primaries. Anyone can run for the big office.

Over here you need to work your way up through the hierarchy in order to get a chance to govern. Which means your ideals and morality will have been utterly sapped by the time your in a position to affect change.

Case in point, the current crop in power

Degsy · 05-11-2008 05:27PM

Dudess wrote: »

Cuz blacks were mistreated in America for centuries? Blacks were forced there rather than migrating by choice?

Yes, when there was a white president in South Africa for example, it was considered a disgrace... because whites weren't forced there, they barged in and took over the place themselves.

The slave trade was started by blacks,if they're going to use that as an example of mistreatment they're looking in the wrong place.
Ah yes,South Africa..under a white president it was prosperous and modern.
Now its one of the most dangerous places on earth.
Good analogy.
PS
As i said,he's as much white as he is black yet people consider the black part of him to be the good part.I cant think of a country on earth that has ever been prosperous under a black president.

seamus · 05-11-2008 05:34PM

Degsy wrote: »

As i said,he's as much white as he is black yet people consider the black part of him to be the good part.I cant think of a country on earth that has ever been prosperous under a black president.

Can you think of one that ever had a chance? South Africa's been dangerous for a long time.

eden_my_ass · 05-11-2008 05:39PM

missmatty wrote: »

:eek: oh noes i hope not...

One job that I would not like for the next 4 years is personal security attache to the new President. Its a perfectly fair assumption to say that the attention JFK got for even being sympathetic to african-americans will be magnified infinitely by Obamas actual heritage. Things don't change that much in 35 years, if I was Obama I'd have a mirror fitted on both shoulders!

The level of lashback is astounding, especially visible now on networking sites, comments about race, his middle name (Hussein) etc....theres no undercurrents anymore with the internet, every opinion sees the light of day!

tallaght01 · 05-11-2008 05:39PM

Degsy wrote: »

Ah yes,South Africa..under a white president it was prosperous and modern.
Now its one of the most dangerous places on earth.
Good analogy.
PS
As i said,he's as much white as he is black yet people consider the black part of him to be the good part.I cant think of a country on earth that has ever been prosperous under a black president.

South Africa is dangerous now. Fair enough. I remember having an armed guard bringing me from work to my residential compound when I was on the job over there.

But that was because of poverty. The poverty in the black community is the result of apartheid.

Most of the blacks were no big fans of apartheid.

mike65 · 05-11-2008 05:39PM

Did someone above me say anyone can have a chance? Hmmm.

Anyway the only thing I will predict and be right about is that Obama will dissapoint. All politics ends in failure to almost quote Enoch Powell. The followers of the president elect are going to be let down in the way Green voters have been here. Lots of promise and promises, little real change.

Mike

Dudess · 05-11-2008 05:42PM

Degsy wrote: »

Ah yes,South Africa..under a white president it was prosperous and modern.
Now its one of the most dangerous places on earth.

Yeah, thanks to apartheid. Repression breeds repression.

Degsy, I know you're not a fan of bleeding heart-ism (you may be surprised to learn that I'm not either) but ignoring a horrific system like apartheid, dismissing the forced migration and brutalisation of thousands of Africans as something Africans started themselves, calling Mandela a racist (put yourself in his shoes - wouldn't you be the same?), sneering at the coverage of Stephen Lawrence and Rodney King (these are posts of yours I remember)... well why be so hardline? Surely it's possible to examine extreme PC-ness without trivialising stuff which it's fair enough to be that bit more sensitive about...?

dsmythy · 05-11-2008 05:46PM

Perhaps black South Africans could put the past behind them and elect a white leader of a party. Not for a long time yet.

What the election did show is that black people when presented with a black candidate for President of the United States won't vote for the white guy.

Dudess · 05-11-2008 05:49PM

Degsy wrote: »

As i said,he's as much white as he is black yet people consider the black part of him to be the good part.

He may be mixed race but what does he look like to you? White or black? He's gonna be seen as a black man, despite his Caucasian heritage.

mike65 · 05-11-2008 05:50PM

I think it was 94% blacks for Obama.

Mike

seamus · 05-11-2008 05:50PM

dsmythy wrote: »

What the election did show is that black people when presented with a black candidate for President of the United States won't vote for the white guy.

Are you privvy to some inside information that the rest of us haven't? Did you poll millions of black Americans to find out who they voted for?

The fact that non-white people overwhelmingly vote Democrat, and always have, even back in the good old days when the candidates were white, means that your theory is just complete bull.

05-11-2008 05:54PM

Is it technically inaccurate to call a black man an African-American if they originated from Jamaica.

Dudess · 05-11-2008 05:58PM

Wouldn't Jamaicans have originated from Africa too though?

05-11-2008 05:59PM

Dudess wrote: »

Wouldn't Jamaicans have originated from Africa too though?

Dunno.

I remember some documentary ages ago saying that we all originated from Africa. So I'm African-Irish?

ScumLord · 05-11-2008 06:00PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Is it technically inaccurate to call a black man an African-American if they originated from Jamaica.

Americans call all Black people African American, they even call black Africans living in Africa, African Americans. They've just got so used to calling black people African American.

Degsy wrote:

As i said,he's as much white as he is black yet people consider the black part of him to be the good part.

That's just because the white part is Irish.

Dudess · 05-11-2008 06:02PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Dunno.

I remember some documentary ages ago saying that we all originated from Africa. So I'm African-Irish?

Didn't black people end up in Jamaica and the rest of the West Indies via slavery?

dsmythy · 05-11-2008 06:04PM

seamus wrote: »

Are you privvy to some inside information that the rest of us haven't? Did you poll millions of black Americans to find out who they voted for?

The fact that non-white people overwhelmingly vote Democrat, and always have, even back in the good old days when the candidates were white, means that your theory is just complete bull.

The percentage increased this year to the just under 95% of black voters. We may never know if they would turn to the Republicans if they ran a black candidate because... well lets face it, it aint going to happen any time soon.

dsmythy · 05-11-2008 06:07PM

Dudess wrote: »

Didn't black people end up in Jamaica and the rest of the West Indies via slavery?

Well using that if i moved to America i guess i'm an African-American too. It's hard to find the line where a black person, or indeed any person, no longer has enough recent roots in Africa to call themselves African-Whatever.

tallaght01 · 05-11-2008 06:08PM

dsmythy wrote: »

Perhaps black South Africans could put the past behind them and elect a white leader of a party. Not for a long time yet.

What the election did show is that black people when presented with a black candidate for President of the United States won't vote for the white guy.

I wouldn't have voted for the white guy either!!!!!!!

dsmythy · 05-11-2008 06:14PM

tallaght01 wrote: »

I wouldn't have voted for the white guy either!!!!!!!

Nor did 40-odd per cent of white Americans, 94% of Black Americans and 60-odd percent of people calling themselves Hispanic. Poor Asian Americans don't get much mention. Havn't seen the figures for them much.

FruitLover · 05-11-2008 06:14PM

obl wrote: »

Would anyone else say, and I am in no way denying him his heritage, that although this is a breakthrough, he's not really the first "Black" black president?

Well, he's blacker than any of the others.

obl wrote: »

I mean, he's not descended of cotton picking slaves, he doesn't share that history with the vast majority of African Americans.

So? Noone is alive now that was alive back when black people were kept as slaves. An African-American waffling about slavery in 2008 is even more irrelevant than an Irish person going on about the ol' 800 years of British oppression.

Degsy wrote: »

secondly why does everybody think its so great to have a "black" president in charge of a predominantly "white" country?

Because it's a watershed in the progress of black-white relations in that country. Even as little as 20 years ago, there's no way you'd have seen a black (well, half-black) US president, purely due to the colour of his skin.

seamus · 05-11-2008 06:15PM

dsmythy wrote: »

Well using that if i moved to America i guess i'm an African-American too. It's hard to find the line where a black person, or indeed any person, no longer has enough recent roots in Africa to call themselves African-Whatever.

I imagine it's the white media who are mainly in love with the word.

The fact is that calling someone an african-american or whatever-american, is just another way of segregating them from the white population and it unconsciously causes you to regard them as being less American than a white American. "Sure they're only a blow-in".

I've heard of people living in rural Ireland who've moved from Dublin 50 years ago but are still considered a "blow-in" by the locals. This is exactly the same effect - it's just a different form of discrimination; with a politically correct tag.

Dudess · 05-11-2008 06:21PM

Yep. How come whites aren't referred to as European Americans?

On the other hand though, there are the phrases "Irish American" and "Italian American".

Varkov · 05-11-2008 06:25PM

What about my white mate, south african greg?

He was born in america, his parents weren't.

Obama Wins Is This The TIme For Change

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