Barack mixes it up

Will the next President of the United States be an African American? Does it still matter? Until we can stop talking about “the first black man/woman to….” then sadly, yes it does.

But there’s trouble afoot. Apparently Barack Obama cannot rely on the black vote as in this New York Times article, questions are being asked about his “authenticity” as an African American. This is because as the son of a white American mother and Kenyan father, he is mixed race and not descended from American slaves.

How times have changed! it wasn’t so long ago that mixed race people were embraced by the black power movement as positive role models for African Americans, including WE Dubois, Mary Seacole and even Bob Marley. Even individuals such as Beethoven (allegedly) and Russian poet Alexander Pushkin with their distant African ancestry were seized upon as examples of black achievement.

Now it seems, the historical American “one drop of black blood” rule is out, and racial and cultural purity is in. Racial purity is an unrealistic, pernicious and downright evil concept, and the fact that it is now being touted by black Americans does not make it any less disgraceful.

For one thing, Obama would not have been drinking from the white people’s fountain in the segregated US of not so long ago. With an African father, he has as much right, if not more, to call himself an “African” American than most black Americans.

With 50% African heritage, he may actually find he has more African DNA than some of the “pure” African Americans who are racially mixed in any case. And no, it was not always because of the plantation master sneaking down to the slave house .

To his credit, Obama has talked frankly about his ancestry and his desire to win on the issues, rather than simply courting the black vote. If he wins the nomination, it will be a triumph for America. But ditto for Hillary – the first woman in the White House would also be a stunning result. But whatever happens, it’s got to be better than Bush.

Holiday Reading

Any Way The Wind Blows, by E Lynn Harris

E Lynn Harris has carved himself quite a niche as possibly the world’s only writer of the black gay, sex & shopping novel. A tawdry bitchy tale of revenge as singing diva Yancey B gets back at her ex by releasing a hit song that may reveal the bisexual truth about closeted sports agent Basil. Meanwhile, a young gay model becomes entangled with them both, and all three are flawed but sparky characters. E Lynn Harris’ writing rarely strays above Jackie Collins’ level, with clonking metaphors and nauseatingly corny love scenes, but just like Jackie, you won’t be able to put it down. A perfect by-the-pool read.

The Married Man, by Edmund White

The jacket suggests an intriguing love affair between an older American writer and a French married man. However I should have guessed that the book’s late 80s setting and jacket mention of a “cloud looming” meant that instead of its chief focus being love, the bulk of this book is supremely elegant prose about dying and death. At turns the description of AIDs-related illness is profoundly moving and then cold and clinical. A fantastic read for a depressing winter’s night, maybe, but not the shores of Ibiza.

Drag King Dreams, by Leslie Feinberg

Max, a bouncer in a New York drag club, drifts listlessly against a backdrop of hate crime and post 9/11 police brutality, until friends decide to organise and demonstrate. An intriguing and refreshing novel that renders descriptions of gender irrelevent, through the use of non-gender specific pronouns. Leaving your gender assumptions behind concentrates the mind on the characters, each having their own painful story to tell. A sometimes tragic, but ultimately hopeful view of the discrimination “gender queer” or transgendered people face. Eye-opening.