Black Walnut, Racial Identity and Me

I wonder if I’m black? This might seem like a weird question to ask given my obvious abundance of melanin in my skin. But I guess that this may not enough to make one black according to one “conservative” commentator. Now when I say conservative, I don’t mean my Republican friends who differ with my political beliefs, I mean those who believe our president is a Kenyan national with hopes of planting anchor babies, I don’t really listen to them. Victor Davis Hanson wrote a piece for the National review which states why Herman Cain is a real black guy and Obama is not.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have known what constitutes authentic blackness. But thanks to people like Mr. Hanson and of course my favorite buddy in the world black walnut himself Herman Cain, the debate that seemed to be everywhere during the ’08 election is revving back up. Unfortunately people of Mr. Hanson’s ilk confuse me. You see way back in 2008 and shortly after the election of BHO the same people who are claiming that the current heat Cain is feeling is because he is black and the Democratic Party and their liberal agenda are racist wanted us to believe that because a black man was in office racism was no longer a problem. So if I understand their logic our President was black enough to end racism except for when our candidate has gotten himself into trouble?

The problem with this is as I have said on numerous occasions is it portrays being Black as one set list of things. If you don’t fit in somehow your blackness isn’t as authentic as someone else’s. Mr. Cain is a republican businessman who made his wealth peddling bad pizza, I am a democrat who like hip-hop. Am I blacker than Herman Cain? No, because it’s not something that can be measured. In his book, “Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness” writer Toure states: "If there are forty million Black Americans then there are forty million ways to be black. There are billions of cultural artifacts of blackness... Not one of these things is more authentic than the other." And this is true. I listen to all forms of music (minus country) , love documentaries, and have no interest in becoming a rapper. Do these things mean I am not as black as Herman Cain?

I think what angers me most about these people is that while they argue over who’s blacker, they are missing the beauty and complexities of Black culture. It has infinite possibilities and a chance to learn from them all. When you box yourself into one narrow preconception of what Black is you’re still Black, but you become something else as well.

An idiot.

Herman Cain... really dude?

The following post is probably going to be seen as a political post since it is about GOP hopeful Herman Cain. I would have to disagree with you; this is at the heart of it a common sense post. Sure I have disagreements with Mr. Cain, from his stance on abortion and belief that Planned Parenthood is just your one stop shop for abortions to his belief that homosexuality is a choice this is not about that. This is about two of the most asinine statements I have ever heard spouted by someone who is running for president.



When asked about the controversy in Murfreesboro, Tennessee regarding the building of a proposed mosque the esteemed and fair Mr. Cain stated: "I don't agree with what's happening because this isn't an innocent mosque." Think about that. Here we are almost a full decade after this anti-Muslim sentiment began sprouting up and it still angers me. Not only does it imply that all Muslims are responsible for every act of terrorism, it overlooks one of the fundamental reasons for the founding of our nation, the right to be free from religious persecution. What someone needs to tell Mr. Cain is that guess what, we were not attacked by Islam, we were attacked by Al-Qaeda. Oh and Sharia law that he keeps talking about as if he was an expert? Sharia Law is defined as a code of conduct or religious law of Islam. Hmmm, a code of conduct as deemed by religion? That sounds a lot like the Ten Commandments.

What really bugs me though about Cain was this statement regarding how liberals will be “doubly scared that a real black man might run against Barack Obama." Ugh. Really? And what makes a real black man? When pressed on the topic he ran away saying “If he wants to call himself black, fine. If he wants to call himself African American, fine. I'm not going down this color road." No Mr. Cain, not only are going down the color road you put us on this path. If you disagree with the President that is more than fine, this is not an attack on your policies, but to just say I am really black, he is not, makes you out to be a clown.

This line of thinking is also dangerous. This thinking of someone being blacker than another implies that there is a template for blackness. That unlike other people we are confined to a list and not allowed to be anything but that. Using his logic I could say I am blacker than he is. For instance, I am a black democrat, he is a black conservative. Not too many of those. Now I obviously am not saying I am blacker than Mr. Cain, but you see my point. I suggest that if Mr. Cain wants to be taken seriously he stops playing the race card himself. It won’t matter how black he says he is come election time. If all you have is this, I doubt the American people will be buying.