Not black enough??

The media messages that somehow find their way into the mainstream are truly amazing. Last week we were presented with the idea that Barack Obama is not black enough to win the black vote. This is one of those messages that is planted on solid rock just to see where it will erode.

I guess, in the mindset of Ivy League executives living in a black and white world, black means living hip deep in poverty, or deeper, and not having the education to help yourself, or your country. I cannot help thinking in terms of the contrast of Barack not being black enough. John McCain, even though he lives in sunny AZ, is definitely white enough, but Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney are not white enough and I am not sure if they could garner enough white support.

In fact, now that I begin thinking in this contrasting cycle there are many things that are not enough. Hillary Clinton is not woman enough; we all know she doesn't bake cookies, so she may have trouble acquiring the female vote. As I was walking outside the other day, I looked up at the sky, there were a few clouds, but the blue just did not seem blue enough; and the snow up here in New York just isn't white enough; and today, with a storm forecast, the clouds just don't look black enough; also, we haven't had enough people killed in Iraq yet, we have not had enough tax cuts for the rich and corporations, we haven't spent enough money in Iraq yet, the oil companies haven't made enough money yet.

Okay, I've had enough of my hyperbolic examples. However, it is that kind of logic that questions a persons epidermis when considering a factor of electability for a public office. Of course, by comparing my own comments here to recent past elections, maybe this is why blacks don't turn out to vote, especially in the south. The candidates just are not black enough; not like them.

Maybe we need another John Howard Griffin figure to run on the campaign premise (promise?) of "Black Like Me". I am sure then we would see the validity of a statement like, "Obama isn't black enough." We need to stop the empty rhetoric of this new presidential campaign season that is just getting under way.

Is Barack Obama suited to lead based on his knowledge, reasoning, and logicality? This is the criterion that we need to be accessing to determine his potential presidential administration, and not whether he is dermatologically correct.