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Is Barack Obama black? Analyze this statement.

The election of Barack Obama to the White House in November 2008 meant that,

for the first time in American history, a non-white man was elected to the most

powerful job in the country, if not the world. Obama has become somewhat of a

modern day pop culture icon, as throughout the United States and the internet

world, multi-coloured posters of the president with “HOPE” as a tagline is a

common scene and slogans like “change” and “yes we can” have become

synonymous with Barack Obama - this man has certainly been portrayed as a

leading new-age figure as the world marches on in the 21st century. Yet

inevitably, Obama’s colour has been an area of debate – and not for the

connotations we would think. It is not just his literal skin colour that is the source

of debate; it is about what his colour represents regarding his beliefs, his past,

and most of all his identity. We are going to challenge the concept of blackness;

what it means to be black and how one qualifies to be black. It is very likely that

we will not be able to provide a concrete answer, because unfortunately, there is

no marble slab out there that states the qualifications required to be black,

white, yellow, red, and so on. Thus, it will boil down to three main issues. First,

our assessment of two competing arguments about Obama’s race; second, how

well we interpret black history throughout America (in particular looking at

figures such as Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King and other civil rights

activists), and third, how close or distant Obama’s own beliefs and ideology fits

in with his country’s past. As we examine the arguments, facts and recollections,

we will see that there is no real answer to such a complex question. If anything it

would be better to label Obama as simply “American” as a result of his own

pragmatic thinking and emphasis on universal initiatives rather than distinctly

identifying himself and his politics as “black”.

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In 2007, an American author named Debra Dickerson stirred up controversy

when she made her case that Obama is not black. Black people, according to

Dickerson, are “those descended from West African slaves”.1 On the contrary,

she argues that “he is an American of African immigrant extraction”2 as a result

of his mixed-race parents, his father also being an immigrant from Kenya.

Dickerson’s argument is simple: not only is Obama not black because of his

parents’ origins, but his ancestors’ absences from American history during the

dark times of slavery and Jim Crow demonstrates that they did not go through

the hardships experienced by American blacks, and thus, “since he had no part

in our racial history, he is free of it”.3 Yet, others argue that Obama may have a

right to consider himself black based on his own upbringing. While discussing

Dickerson’s argument, Kimberly McLain DaCosta (associate professor of African

and African-American Studies at Harvard University), made her point that mixed-

race Americans have forged their own black identities. Herself being a child to

mixed-race parents, DaCosta speaks of how her family’s black identity “arose out

of our experiences as mixed people...For us, being black and mixed-race are not

mutually exclusive. We have learned to live with the contradictions”.4 Thus, on

one side we have the argument that Obama is not black as a result of ancestral

roles and parental origin, and on the other hand, we have the argument that

being a mixed-race can be a part of one’s black identity and can be shaped by

the person’s own experiences. At times, Obama does show glimpses of raw

emotion associated with the passionate speeches of Martin Luther King and the

resentment held by many blacks, which can give people like DaCosta a case that

Obama can be both black and mixed-race since he can relate to black Americans

1 Debra J Dickerson, “Colorblind”, January 22nd 2007. Available at:

<http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2007/01/22/obama/>
2 Ibid
3 Ibid
4 Kimberly McClain DaCosta, “Viewpoint: Is Barack Obama Black?”, November 18th 2008.
Available at:
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/us_elections_2008/7735503.stm>
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of the past. Yet, as one can see through his maturity into a pragmatic, level-

headed politician, Obama does not appear to consider his race much of a talking

point, let alone speak of being exclusively black. On the contrary, his diverse

family roots and political rhetoric indicates that he considers his race

meaningless – this is further emphasised in his own speech at the 2004

Democratic party convention when he said: “There’s not a black America and

white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States

of America.”5 Instead, there is a case to be made that Obama is not black, not

mixed-race, but simply American. We are now reaching an age where identifying

a person based on his or her race is meaningless: coloured figures like Obama

are trying to lead Americans forward together as a melting pot rather than

individually like a salad bowl.

We still, however, have a problem: how does one qualify as “black”? To avoid a

long drawn-out analysis, we shall simply define a black American as someone

who experienced (or is descended from a person who did) racial hardship in

American history –it is a definition based on cultural and historical connotations

rather than racial stereotype. Indeed, according to Peter Kivisto, blacks were

“the only group of involuntary migrants to America”. 6 Hardship and adversity go

hand in hand with black Americans ever since they arrived in the continent in

shackles; it is something that is synonymous with their culture and in turn gave

rise to prominent figures that people identify as being black. For instance, when

one speaks of slavery we automatically think of black Americans toiling on a

plantation, slaves like John Thompson who recalls his distressed mother “begging

to see her imprisoned daughter, who was soon to be dragged away from her

5 Barack Obama, “Keynote Address 2004 Democratic National Convention”, July 27th
2004. Available from: < http://obamaspeeches.com/002-Keynote-Address-at-the-2004-
Democratic-National-Convention-Obama-Speech.htm>
6 Peter Kivisto, Americans All: Race and Ethnic Relations in Historical, Structural, and
Comparative Perspectives (California, 1995), p. 89
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embrace”7 since she had been sold to another plantation. He also recalls how

one of his masters, although lenient with the whip, “fed his slaves most

miserably, giving them meat only once a month”.8 If being black by Dickerson’s

standard is to experience slavery and hardship, then John Thompson has passed

the unenviable test. Obama, let alone his ancestors, have not. As American

dissent towards slavery increased during the mid-19th century, culminating into

the Civil War of 1860-1865, we see the emergence of influential black

Americans, blacks who voiced the hopes, dreams, pains and anguish of their

brethren. Frederick Douglass, who himself experienced and escaped from

slavery9, became a fervent abolitionist which culminated in an emotionally-

charged address to the Emancipation League in 1862, halfway through the Civil

War. In it, Douglass said: “my mission is to stand up for the down-trodden, to

open my mouth for the dumb, to remember those in bonds as bound with

them”.10 We see here the words of a man committed to helping his fellow blacks

achieve freedom from slavery. Yet his rhetoric gives connotations of friendship

and equality, for he finishes his address by saying: “in the very extreme

difference of color and features of the Negro and the Anglo-Saxon shall be

learned the highest ideas of the sacredness of man and perfection of human

brotherhood”.11 Douglass is significant here for he presents interesting

similarities and differences when compared with Obama. For instance, one could

make the case that Douglass’ life experiences of slavery and fighting for black

rights makes him “blacker” than Obama, who in contrast had a relatively quaint

upbringing in Indonesia and Hawaii. Yet, his closing line in his address insinuates

that Douglass, like Obama, sees race as an irrelevance when one looks at the

7 Sterling L Bland, Jr (ed) African American Slave Narratives: An Anthology Vol III
(Connecticut, 2001), p. 623
8 Ibid p654
9 William S. McFeely, Frederick Douglass (New York, 1991) p. 5
10 Frederick Douglass, “The Future of the Negro People of the Slave States”, Douglass’
Monthly (March, 1862)
11 Ibid
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bigger picture of humankind. Thus, two arguments can be made here: first,

Obama is in theory just “as black” as Douglass since they both appear to

consider total unity and equality the most important things to aspire to, and two,

Douglass was simply an American who, like many others regardless of their skin

colour, fought against bigotry which at the time was based on race. Obama

cannot help the fact that he does not live in a period where he could earn his

“black stripes” by abolishing slavery, thus, for people like Dickerson to claim that

Obama cannot be considered black because of contrasting pasts is unfair to say

the least.

By the 20th century, America had entered its Jim Crow period. Blacks were now

subjected to laws aimed at systematically denying them of their rights to vote,

learn at established schools and even use the same facilities as whites. Their

image was not helped by cinema either, as D.W Griffith’s 1915 film The Birth of a

Nation portrayed black and mix-raced Americans as savage, sexually-rampant

and politically-corrupt villains. Indeed, John Hope Franklin refers to the film as

“the one document most responsible for the distorted view of the role of blacks

during the era of Reconstruction”.12 Thus, blacks had another fight on their hands

to establish access to the same rights and facilities as whites. Such a fighter

came in the form of Fannie Lou Hamer, black women’s rights activist who despite

losing her job and suffering beatings as a result of her colour, 13 stood up against

white inequality and said in a 1971 NAACP speech in reference to white women:

“you had been put in something like an ivory castle…we have busted the castle

open and whacking like hell for the pedestal”. 14 Despite her race being a liability

to her life, Hamer continued to fight for those in her same predicament – this

speaks volumes about how she considers race an irrelevance to her people’s

rights. We see other fighters in the form of James Meredith who, renowned for

12 John H Franklin, Racial Equality in America (Chicago, 1976) p. 69

13 Jack E Davis (ed), The Civil Rights Movement (Oxford, 2001) p. 145
14 Ibid p. 146
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being the first black man to enter the University of Mississippi in 1962, walked

from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi to make a point that blacks had

nothing to fear from violence – only to be shot 28 miles in.15 Regardless of

whether one considers such an act brave or foolish, one cannot help but feel that

we have a man here who genuinely felt black and wanted to do something to

demonstrate that his race was not an impediment to his freedom. Of course, a

final figure that needs to be mentioned is Martin Luther King, a man synonymous

with the Civil Rights Movement and a man many consider to be black. In his

famous 1963 speech at the Lincoln memorial, he said that he dreamt of a day

when his children would “live in a nation where they will not be judged by the

colour of skin but by the content of their character”. 16 King’s fight for freedom

cost him his life – he was gunned down five years later in 1968 – thus giving him

martyr status of a man proud of his black routes and fought for his people.

The issue here is how we compare Obama to these civil rights activists to assess

whether he is “as black” as them or not. To start with, there is a case to be made

that Obama shares a “black brotherhood” with blacks of the past. For instance,

both Obama and King are renowned for their powerful, stirring speeches, and we

see in Dreams from my Father Obama share this passion when, after delivering a

brief speech in a student rally about inequality in South Africa, he felt that he

“really wanted to stay up there...I had so much left to say”.17 It is possible that

during this moment, Obama felt raw emotion; he felt like he had a responsibility

to help those in South Africa and, like King, used words to catch people’s

attention. We see further evidence of racial sentiments when he criticises a black

student, Tim, for acting and thinking “white”: “his white girlfriend was probably

15 Thomas R Frazier (ed), Afro-American History: Primary Sources Shorter Edition (New
York, 1971) p. 200
16 Martin Luther King Jr, “I have a Dream”, August 28th 1963. Available at:
<http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm>
17 Barack Obama, Dreams from my Father, (Edinburgh, 2008) p. 107
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waiting for him up in his room, listening to country music”. 18 Indeed, Obama

himself is being racist here, arguably influenced by the resentment he feels

towards Tim for “selling out” people like Hamer and Meredith who made his

higher education a possibility. Thus, one can argue here that Obama considers

himself black and shares mannerisms consistent with civil rights activists of the

past – even though he has not gone through Jim Crow laws or beatings from

whites. However, that is not enough to sway us from our argument that race is

irrelevant to describing Obama. The best source to gather information is straight

from the horse’s mouth – and when one analyses his own thoughts on race and

his political philosophy, it begs the question as to the relevance of race when

Obama has no ideological leanings in favour of black politics. For instance, we

see Obama criticise Black Nationalist ideology when he questions the practicality

of a toothpaste company selling a brand specifically for shops where blacks were

their main customers19. When we subsequently examine Obama’s own politics,

we see the same equal rights-based rhetoric used by Douglass and King – in fact

– throughout Change We Can Believe In, a book published by Obama’s campaign

team near the end of the 2008 presidential election. Whereas emphasis is placed

on his policy proposals to handle the economy, health care and foreign affairs,

he does mention two policy promises in which he would “vigorously enforce our

civil rights laws”20 and place a ban on racial profiling used for traffic-based

offences.21 Thus, whereas some criticise the president for ignoring “his” people,

Obama has (in his pre-election promises at least) made it clear that he has plans

to further make race an irrelevance in 21st century American life.

To conclude, both Dickerson and DaCosta have points behind their arguments.

Dickerson, for instance, is right that Obama and his family tree have no direct

18 Ibid p. 102
19 Ibid p. 202
20 Obama for America, Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama’s Plan to Renew
America’s Promise (Edinburgh, 2008) p. 174
21 Ibid
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links to black Americans (prior to his marriage to his wife Michelle), so in a literal

sense she is correct. Yet we have seen that DaCosta has a point in that a mixed-

race person, which Obama at the least certainly is, can still have a black identity

based on life experience. We have seen that Obama does indeed have

experience of emotions perhaps echoing that of blacks’ in the past, but certainly

not to the same degree. However, two main issues lead us to believe that calling

anyone let alone Obama black is irrelevant. To start with, it was not African

Americans that made race an identity; whites did by labelling them “Negro”,

introducing legislation based on race and conjuring up stereotypes during the

days of early media. Thus, figures like Douglass, King and Obama campaigned

not because of their race, but because of their convictions, their belief to do what

is right for those who need them most – so how one can argue that those of the

past are more “black” than people of today is puzzling. Second, there are no

definitive criteria to become black. Because of that, stereotypes change over

time from blacks being portrayed as primitive and simple in the 19th century to

the angry and resentful image of the early to mid 20th century to the moonwalks

of Michael Jackson in the 1980s to the basketball stardom of Michael Jordan in

the 1990s and, in today’s world, the “gangsta”, hip-hop era of blackness. If you

are a black today, you are not a slave, communist or a civil rights campaigner.

Instead, you are either a “gansta” rapper, basketball player or a welfare queen.

That is what makes racial classification such an issue – stereotypes. Thus, we

believe that it is an “all or nothing” scenario; Obama has demonstrated that like

his “predecessors” of the past, he has plans to unite America as one race, one

people. To try to contrast this man to other Americans past and present based

on his race completely contradicts what he and coloured Americans of the past

have and continue to fight for: total equality and the abolition of racial barriers.
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Bibliography

Primary Sources

Bland, Sterling L (ed.), African American Slave Narratives: An Anthology Vol III

(Greenwood Press, 2001)

Douglass, Frederick, “The Future of the Negro People of the Slave States”,

Douglass’ Monthly, 1862

Frazier, Thomas R (ed.), Afro-American History: Primary Sources Shorter Edition

(Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc, 1971)

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King Jr, Martin Luther, “I have a Dream”, August 28th 1963. Available at:

<http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm> [Accessed

9th May 2010, 21.05 or 9.05pm]

Obama, Barack, “Keynote Address at the 2004 National Democratic Convention”,

July 27th 2004. Available at:

< http://obamaspeeches.com/002-Keynote-Address-at-the-2004-Democratic-

National-Convention-Obama-Speech.htm> [Accessed 7th May 2010, 19.57 or

7.57pm]

Obama, Barack, Dreams from my Father (Canongate Books Ltd, 2008)

Obama for America, Change We Can Believe in: Barack Obama’s Plan to Renew

America’s Promise (Canongate Books Ltd, 2008)

Secondary Sources

Davis, Jack E, The Civil Rights Movement (Blackwell Publishers, 2001)

Franklin, John H, Racial Equality in America (University of Chicago Press, 1976)

Kivisto, Peter, Americans All: Race and Ethnic Relations in Historical, Structural,

and Comparative Perspectives (Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1995)

McFeely, William S, Frederick Douglass (W.W. Norton and Company, 1991)

Articles

DaCosta, Kimberly McClain, “Viewpoint: Is Barack Obama Black?”, November 18th

2008. Available from:

< http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/us_elections_2008/7735503.stm>

Dickerson, Debra J, “Colorblind”, January 22nd 2007. Available from:

< http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2007/01/22/obama/>

Works Consulted

Boles, John B, Black Southerners 1619-1869 (Kentucky University Press, 1984)

Obama, Barack, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American

Dream (Canongate Books Ltd, 2008)

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Schama, Simon, The American Future: A History from the Founding Fathers to

Barack Obama (Vintage, 2009)

Smithers, Gregory D and Walker, Clarence E, The Preacher and the Politician:

Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama, and Race in America (University of Virginia

Press, 2009)

Takaki, Ronald, A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America Revised

Edition (Back Bay Books, 2008)