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Mark Cuban: "Having an elected black President will do more to energize this country than any economic or social policy ever could." ... yeah if he were black.

Mark Cuban: "Having an elected black President will do more to energize this country than any economic or social policy ever could." ... yeah if he were black. But why omit being half white? That's the gist of my comment. Or why not just say a half-cast? I personally am not phased by any which way. But, it's important that US citizens (I'm not one so I am not pursing this thread further) create their own narrative, and I say aim to include as much information as possible, especially to children, instead of downmodding anything that comes in the way of the dream.

SwellJoe 18y ago
... yeah if he were black. But why omit being half white? That's the gist of my comment. I've already answered that in a manner that I'm confident makes sense in America: Because he is black. By the definition of the people for whom it matters, the color of his skin tells them all they need to know. Whether he has "white" relatives (whatever "white" means, since a large percentage of white folks have non-white ancestry, of some sort), or not, is irrelevant to a racist. It doesn't matter to folks who don't care about race; it matters no more whether he is black, half-black, one-quarter black, mocha-latte-frappucino brown, or plain old white of the purist driven snow. To the people for whom it matters, though, "half-black" is like saying "half-virgin" or "half-pregnant". To them, a black man has been elected president. And this is what many black folks have grown up believing was impossible...because there is a real history of racism in this country. As a nation, it has dramatically improved over the past four generations. I still don't understand why you think it is some great truth that should be trumpeted from the rooftops that Obama is merely half black. It's not a secret that he has mixed race parents, and never has been. Nonetheless, his skin is brown. If racism was going to hold a black man back, it would have held him back just as well as it would hold any other brown-skinned man or woman back. And...it didn't hold him back.

SwellJoe 18y ago

... yeah if he were black. But why omit being half white? That's the gist of my comment. I've already answered that in a manner that I'm confident makes sense in America: Because he is black. By the definition of the people for whom it matters, the color of his skin tells them all they need to know. Whether he has "white" relatives (whatever "white" means, since a large percentage of white folks have non-white ancestry, of some sort), or not, is irrelevant to a racist. It doesn't matter to folks who don't care about race; it matters no more whether he is black, half-black, one-quarter black, mocha-latte-frappucino brown, or plain old white of the purist driven snow. To the people for whom it matters, though, "half-black" is like saying "half-virgin" or "half-pregnant". To them, a black man has been elected president. And this is what many black folks have grown up believing was impossible...because there is a real history of racism in this country. As a nation, it has dramatically improved over the past four generations. I still don't understand why you think it is some great truth that should be trumpeted from the rooftops that Obama is merely half black. It's not a secret that he has mixed race parents, and never has been. Nonetheless, his skin is brown. If racism was going to hold a black man back, it would have held him back just as well as it would hold any other brown-skinned man or woman back. And...it didn't hold him back.