Member Comments

• Posted By:
  gibster at 08/28/2008 8:25:35 AM
  Comment:
  I see Oprah is back on the campaign trail with Obama.
  I guess she is looking to bring this thing on home.
  While I agree with the points made by the writer of the article I am shaken more so by the replies. I mean for gracious sake we were slaves/chattel in this country just a mere 143 yrs ago, so of course race matters. Especially when we are talking about the highest office in the land.
  
  I don???t see- nor do I recall anyone from the media taking special notice of the complexion of the man sworn into office at our last inaugural. Bush was not seen as the 43rd white male president- he was just seen simply as president.
  
  Obama will always be known as the first black to achieve such distinction- just as Jack Johnson will also be known as the first in his profession. His victory over Jim Jeffries can be viewed as being just as important a milestone in the dialogue on race, as is Obama???s run for the white house in this present day. If Obama were truly judged on his merits alone (by whites) he would never be referred to as the ???first black man??? to attain what 43 white men have routinely achieved for most of this nation???s history. So of course race matters.
  
  I am reminded of the article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times July 5th 1910, just a day after the fight in Reno. Entitled: "A Word to the Black Man"
  
  In it the writer cautions, ???Do not point your nose too high. Do not swell your chest too much. Do not boast too loudly. Do not be puffed up. Let not your ambition be inordinate, or take a wrong turn. Remember, you have done nothing at all. You are just the same member of society you were last week. You are on no new higher plane, deserve no new consideration, and will get none. No man will think a bit higher of you because your complexion is the same as that of the victor at Reno.???
  
  ???Johnson???s stunning defeat of Jeffries touched off race riots across America, leaving hundreds injured (mostly black), and at least 23 dead (mostly black). Though described at the time as riots, what was really going on was more like a race war declared by whites who worried that in the wake of Johnson???s victory, black people would forget their place.???
  
  In this country it does indeed matter what color the person is sitting in that white house, and for the past 200 yrs or so that color has been white. It is this undeniable fact that has shaken some white people to their core.
  Gib
• Posted By:
  gibster at 08/28/2008 8:19:05 AM
  Comment:
  I see Oprah is back on the campaign trail with Obama.
  I guess she is looking to bring this thing on home.
  While I agree with the points made by the writer of the article I am shaken more so by the replies. I mean for gracious sake we were slaves/chattel in this country just a mere 143 yrs ago, so of course race matters. Especially when we are talking about the highest office in the land.
  
  I don???t see- nor do I recall anyone from the media taking special notice of the complexion of the man sworn into office on inaugural day. Bush was not seen as the 43rd white male president- he was just seen as president.
  
  Obama will always be known as the first black to achieve such distinction- just as Jack Johnson will also be known as the first in his profession. His victory over Jim Jeffries can be viewed as being just as important a milestone in the dialogue on race, as is Obama???s run for the white house in this present day. If Obama were truly judged on his merits alone (by whites) he would never be referred to as the ???first black man??? to attain what 43 white men have routinely achieved for most of this nation???s history. So of course race matters.
  
  I am reminded of the article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times July 5th 1910, just a day after the fight in Reno. Entitled: "A Word to the Black Man"
  
  In it the writer cautions, ???Do not point your nose too high. Do not swell your chest too much. Do not boast too loudly. Do not be puffed up. Let not your ambition be inordinate, or take a wrong turn. Remember, you have done nothing at all. You are just the same member of society you were last week. You are on no new higher plane, deserve no new consideration, and will get none. No man will think a bit higher of you because your complexion is the same as that of the victor at Reno.???
  
  ???Johnson???s stunning defeat of Jeffries touched off race riots across America, leaving hundreds injured (mostly black), and at least 23 dead (mostly black). Though described at the time as riots, what was really going on was more like a race war declared by whites who worried that in the wake of Johnson???s victory, black people would forget their place.???
  
  In this country it does indeed matter what color the person is sitting in that white house, and for the past 200 yrs or so that color has been white. It is this undeniable fact that has shaken some white people to their core.
  Michael
• Posted By:
  sadapo at 07/10/2008 7:50:45 PM
  Comment:
  OMG!!!! Oprah's BLACK!!!! So what if white women didn't see it coming? Another lesson in faulty notion of "color-blind" society. Color blind negates who we are...acceptable if color does not play into the white perspective. The two O's know the truth. They have both successfully navigated the color-blind world. And, I for one ain't mad at either of them!