There is a deep contradiction. See W.E.B. Dubois on the double consciousness of the souls of Black folk in America - one Black and one white. Black Americans have an inherent, internal , soulful contradiction. "Blackness" consists in being both Black and white.
Obama has it perhaps more explictly than others because his parents were white and Black. By this, as an individual, this might push him to escape the stigma, and seek the ML King dream speech world ( where little White kids and Black kids play together) of integration more than most. Or at least escaping the stigma might seem more possible to him, since in a way he embodies escaping the stigma. Or in a way, what has he got to lose ? He _is_ an outlier, a Black Swan (See Nassim Taleb).
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I've read "The Souls of Black Folks" many times: first as a student, forced to complete an assignment and later, on my own, to gain a better understanding without coercion.
It's still very valuable but, I have to say, seems less relevant to me with each passing year. And, the central idea can be (and often is) taken too far.
Take me as an example. My biological father is Cuban, my great grandfather was Irish and of course, I'm coded as black. Does this mean I have a Cuban/Irish/Black "soul"? My wife is from S. Korea. Much of our household practices are Korean. Our child will be culturally mixed. Will the kid have a Cuban/Irish/Korean...you get the idea.
I'm much more interested in sub-atomic particles than, say, gospel music. Does this mean I have a Cuban/Irish/Black/Physicist soul?
I don't feel that I'm "acting white" when, at the office, I say "I'm running a secure tunnel via port 443 to a Linux desktop in Amsterdam. I'm importing an X11 session from that desktop using NXClient". And, I don't feel that I'm "being black" when I say 'shut up muthafucka!' to someone who's a.) a demonstrated muthafucka and b.) in need of shutting up.
Listen, I get the point about straddling worlds and assuming different masks and all that. The thing is, I no longer believe the black mask (no pun intended, DC comics fans) is as authentic as many suppose. I mean, one of my cousins is convinced that the way to be 'authentic' is via emulation of Tupac, with a little cholo tossed in. We all agree he's a jackass. But how is his presentation any less constructed and conditional than the ones we celebrate and write poems about?
.d.
-- "Your mistletoe is no match for my TOW missile!"
Robot Santa ...................... http://monroelab.net/blog/