From: joanna bujes
At the risk of having my head taken off, I'll go further than this to say that of the folks of black hue that I have met in the U.S., I would distinguish three groups: 1) those who have recently immigrated 2) those who have grown up in mostly segregated communities in the U.S. and fashioned their sense of self in terms that were made in the black community 3) those who have grown up in the U.S. in integrated regions. I would say, again anecdotally, that the likelihood of a black man/woman believing themselves to be fully human is strongest in 1 and weakest in 3.
^^^^ CB: Oh no, we must leave that good head on that body with a good heart, Joanna :>).
My experience is anecdotal too, but this seems a reasonable hypothesis; "fully human" might be a bit strong - more like second class citizens, less than fully American, rather than less than fully human.
W.E.B. Dubois' double consciousness theory gets at some of what you are talking about. In a way, Black people are doubly human. They have to be Black and white, both. White people only have to be white. It's all very contradictory. Double consciousness is a double edged whatever. Black people are more internally conflicted by this,yet they have more "soul" from this internal ( and external) struggle. The latter tends to be _more_ human, and Black people are aware of that as well as the downside.
Skin color itself is an issue (as you allude to, I think). Doug mentions the economic reflection of this in _After the New Economy_
^^^^^
Perhaps what Obama presents is a man who is absolutely convinced of his dignity and humanity. A very rare thing in the U.S. in a black man.
Joanna