What Is African American?

Funny thing happened to me on the way to work this morning. I was listening to my favorite radio show, the Tom Joyner Morning Show, and it just so happened that there was a discussion about how Barack Obama had to "Defend His Blackness" in South Carolina.

Seems there were some comments made about whether Senator Obama should be considered African American. Someone made a statement, as ignorant as this may sound, that only people who are descendant from West African Slaves can be considered African American.

Ok, my question is this; just how stupid is stupid? Barack Obama's mother is white, but his father is from Kenya Africa. His father is also an American Citizen, so to me that would qualify Senator Obama to be African American. In fact, there are several white people in America who are considered to be African American simply because their ancestry is from South Africa. I recall as a Navy Recruiter, I enlisted a young man was I thought was definitely Anglican. We had a quota for African American Recruits at the time, and I advised the young man that he would have to wait to join the Navy. It was at that time the young lad corrected my ignorance by advising me that his father and grand father were both born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. That qualified the young lad as African American, no matter how white his features were.

Coming back to Senator Obama, his father is from Kenya, and Kenya is a part of Africa. He may not have been a slave, but he is definitely African American. I guess being an author does not make a person intelligent. It is a crying shame that even after more than 400 years, America is still stuck in the muck and the mire of racism. It really blows me away to think that the only thing this author had to throw at Obama is a childish attack on his racial background. It is amazing that the most blessed nation in the world is the most uneducated nation as well.