Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Dingdell]

Interesting post, I am concerned about it too. From the media coverage I saw it appeared that some people voted for colour not ability. I have great hope that he will do a great job, he seems very capable but it does concern me a little that so much is being made of colour.

On reflection I suppose that in living memory there are people who in the US can remember racial opression and they have a lineage that comes from slavery. The same could be said of Barbados where the majority of residents have one of only a few surnames as they were named after their British master. It doesn't seem such an issue there.

Having never experienced arpartheid or segregation I think we wil never appreciate how much of a step forward this must be in the US.

Good luck to him, I hope he does well.

[Laxie]

The reason for the 'African American' thing is because some group decided ages ago in America that calling people black was offensive and African American was considered to be more PC.  These days, 'black' doesn't seem to be as much of an issue, but the old 'PC' in people is all confused.  They have no idea which is more acceptable, so they swap and change at will in hopes that they occasionally get it right.

As for Obama.  As sad as it sounds, this truly is huge.  Thing is, they have no idea how pathetic they look by patting themselves on the back for something that should never have been an issue in the first place.  Americans can be so narrow minded.  I truly hope he does well or it will be at least another 20 years before they give a chance to anyone other than big corporate white man. 

[byronkincaid]

http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com/

[Karabiner]

The term "African American" does bug me a little too as I find it a rather pretentious euphemism.

It seems to be used in the same way that people use the word perspiration instead of sweat.

[AndrewT]

The term "African American" does bug me a little too as I find it a rather pretentious euphemism.

It seems to be used in the same way that people use the word perspiration instead of sweat.

This may be apocryphal, but after he won in Canada, Lewis Hamilton was described in one paper as the first African-American to ever win an F1 race, which was odd as it's wrong on two counts.

[Rod Paradise]

The term "African American" does bug me a little too as I find it a rather pretentious euphemism.

It seems to be used in the same way that people use the word perspiration instead of sweat.

To be fair it is used by others to include their origins, Irish American, Italian American being 2. I kind of prefer it to the "cricket test" type expectation we have here that imigrants and their descendants beome British.

[MANTIS01]

The term "African American" does bug me a little too as I find it a rather pretentious euphemism.It seems to be used in the same way that people use the word perspiration instead of sweat.

To be fair it is used by others to include their origins, Irish American, Italian American being 2. I kind of prefer it to the "cricket test" type expectation we have here that immigrants and their descendants become British.

Yeah dude, I don't mind that either. But when you're talking about the most powerful man in the world then I like complete neutrality. To put him into the subset of Americans that have African origins is just an obstacle to impartiality imo. He should just be American for the purposes of his job.

[Rod Paradise]

The term "African American" does bug me a little too as I find it a rather pretentious euphemism.It seems to be used in the same way that people use the word perspiration instead of sweat.

To be fair it is used by others to include their origins, Irish American, Italian American being 2. I kind of prefer it to the "cricket test" type expectation we have here that immigrants and their descendants become British.

Yeah dude, I don't mind that either. But when you're talking about the most powerful man in the world then I like complete neutrality. To put him into the subset of Americans that have African origins is just an obstacle to impartiality imo. He should just be American for the purposes of his job.

How can you expect neutrality out of the leader of a country? They put JFK in the subset of Catholic americans, he was still pretty popular. I find a president from a minority to be a refreshing change & while it's overdue, I've got to applaud the americans for it.

[MANTIS01]

The term "African American" does bug me a little too as I find it a rather pretentious euphemism.It seems to be used in the same way that people use the word perspiration instead of sweat.

To be fair it is used by others to include their origins, Irish American, Italian American being 2. I kind of prefer it to the "cricket test" type expectation we have here that immigrants and their descendants become British.

Yeah dude, I don't mind that either. But when you're talking about the most powerful man in the world then I like complete neutrality. To put him into the subset of Americans that have African origins is just an obstacle to impartiality imo. He should just be American for the purposes of his job.

How can you expect neutrality out of the leader of a country? They put JFK in the subset of Catholic americans, he was still pretty popular. I find a president from a minority to be a refreshing change & while it's overdue, I've got to applaud the americans for it.

You're missing my point. I also think it's refreshing and good. But I can arrive at the fact he is black under my own steam, so can you, so can everyone. So why keep telling us he's the black president if colour isn't an issue?

[Wardonkey]

The term African-American refers to race or ethnicity not nationality.

You can't just ignore the fact the fact that America has elected a black president. It is massive, and if you don't see why then you don't understand the obstacles faced by black people collectively and individually, both historically and in the present.

[Laxie]

It is massive.  And that in itself is a very sad fact of life.  I'm just not so sure they should be patting themselves on the back for something they took so long to get right.

[AndrewT]

Let's not forget he's half-white as well.

If he does well, I'm not going to let black people take all the credit.

[MANTIS01]

The term African-American refers to race or ethnicity not nationality.

You can't just ignore the fact the fact that America has elected a black president. It is massive, and if you don't see why then you don't understand the obstacles faced by black people collectively and individually, both historically and in the present.

If he does bad and we say "the black president fecked up" would that be ok? Can you see the irony?

How does a black man in power address the obstacles faced by black people...when you keep calling him a black man all the time?

[Laxie]

Let's not forget he's half-white as well.

If he does well, I'm not going to let black people take all the credit.

   That's my giggle for the day sorted.  Cheers! 

[Wardonkey]

The term African-American refers to race or ethnicity not nationality.

You can't just ignore the fact the fact that America has elected a black president. It is massive, and if you don't see why then you don't understand the obstacles faced by black people collectively and individually, both historically and in the present.

If he does bad and we say "the black president fecked up" would that be ok? Can you see the irony?

How does a black man in power address the obstacles faced by black people...when you keep calling him a black man all the time?

I don't see how celebrating the moment a black man is entrusted with the US presidency hinders his ability to deal race issues.

He won't be referred to as 'The first black president' forever. In a few weeks he will simply become President Obama.