Ever since the results of the election came out i have been defending the right to be happy about having an African American president. I think i celebrated for maybe an hour before i had to start jumping down people's throats about why the African American community is so overjoyed by Obama's becoming President-elect. 
People don't understand what it means for this country and not just for Black people. The man is a MINORITY and that is the first thing that everyone notices about him. He is THE ONLY "brown" man to ever live in the White House. That is HUGE! I've also had to defend the fact that yes, i am capable of voting for someone by looking at their platform, doing research, and really looking inside myself and deciding if this person truly has my best interest at heart. it is so insulting to hear people say "you only voted for him because he's Black." Excuse yourself?! Give me and other African Americans more credit than that. Yes, there were some people who voted for Obama because he's black but there are many who said "hey a black man...let me see what he's about." I saw that he was about many of the same things that i was about and i voted for him because i felt like he had me and my future in mind. Do you think there weren't people who voted for McCain because he was White? Of course there were!
The next thing i found myself arguing about is his ethnicity. Yes, Obama's father supposedly has Arabic blood (you can't believe everything you read on the internet) but the man was born and raised in Africa, making him AFRICAN. Having said that, if Obama Jr. was born in America, that makes him African American. Not only that but i feel like race is a social construct. Yes, there are different ethnicities but society goes by the way you look to decide what racial category they want you to be in. This was especially true during the Civil Rights movement. Back then there were only 2 races: black and white. If you were brown...you were black...end of story. Arabian blood or not, had Obama lived during the Civil Rights Movement he would have been hosed down and had dogs attacking him just like everyone else. No one would have stopped to ask what his racial background was. With that in mind, Obama's victory is not one for just Blacks. It is a victory for ALL minorities and ALL Americans. NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT AWAY! The End.
It's funny how politics shows you a whole different side to people.
People don't understand what it means for this country and not just for Black people. The man is a MINORITY and that is the first thing that everyone notices about him. He is THE ONLY "brown" man to ever live in the White House. That is HUGE! I've also had to defend the fact that yes, i am capable of voting for someone by looking at their platform, doing research, and really looking inside myself and deciding if this person truly has my best interest at heart. it is so insulting to hear people say "you only voted for him because he's Black." Excuse yourself?! Give me and other African Americans more credit than that. Yes, there were some people who voted for Obama because he's black but there are many who said "hey a black man...let me see what he's about." I saw that he was about many of the same things that i was about and i voted for him because i felt like he had me and my future in mind. Do you think there weren't people who voted for McCain because he was White? Of course there were!The next thing i found myself arguing about is his ethnicity. Yes, Obama's father supposedly has Arabic blood (you can't believe everything you read on the internet) but the man was born and raised in Africa, making him AFRICAN. Having said that, if Obama Jr. was born in America, that makes him African American. Not only that but i feel like race is a social construct. Yes, there are different ethnicities but society goes by the way you look to decide what racial category they want you to be in. This was especially true during the Civil Rights movement. Back then there were only 2 races: black and white. If you were brown...you were black...end of story. Arabian blood or not, had Obama lived during the Civil Rights Movement he would have been hosed down and had dogs attacking him just like everyone else. No one would have stopped to ask what his racial background was. With that in mind, Obama's victory is not one for just Blacks. It is a victory for ALL minorities and ALL Americans. NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT AWAY! The End.
It's funny how politics shows you a whole different side to people.
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