RUSH LIMBAUGH SETS THE WORLD STRAIGHT ON BLACKNESS AND OBAMA
Posted by Lisa Richardson
Los Angeles Times
Sep 23, 2008
CA
September 23, 2008 in Barack Obama , Bizarre Theories , Campaign 2008
, Doubletalk , John McCain , Politicians , Pop Culture , Propaganda ,
Race , Radio | Permalink
Soul Brotha #1, better known as Rush Limbaugh, has clarified who is
black and who is not. Seriously. He may not look like it, but Rush
apparently has deep knowledge legitimate blackness. Taking issue
with polls that say some white blue collar workers are leery of
Barack Obama because he is black, Limbaugh choked and gargled and
spluttered, and gave a quick lesson in blackology: "He’s not black,"
he said of Obama. Not a "shred of African-American blood" in him,
Limbaugh ranted. "He’s Arab." Arab, Arab, Arab, Arab.
Honestly, where to start here?
Rush’s point, apparently, is that bigotry and prejudice are fine (he’s
Arab! Arab, Arab, Arab, Arab), but it’s important to be bigoted for
the right reasons. So anti-Arab bias seems OK. Being anti-black? Well,
in the snippet he doesn’t say. But Obama has a white mother from
Kansas and a black father from Kenya. He was born in the U.S. and
spent all but four years of his childhood in Hawaii. He’s a long-time
practicing Christian.
But Rush, let’s address some of your points:
A: You say Obama is not black. He’s disqualified from blackness as
you define it because his father is from "Arab" parts of Africa. You
mean, the Arab parts like Kenya? That’s sub-Saharan Africa, Rush, and
there are lots of black folks there. Besides, you’ve got ethnicity
and religion all twisted up. A person doesn’t have to be Black or
Arab. There are Black Arabs; there are white Arabs, Arab Christians (a
big population in Israel) as well as Arab Muslims etc. But of course,
that’s not really what you mean. You’re using code language for
"Muslim" and your listeners shouldn’t need more than that be scared
of him. Clever. Ignorant, bigoted, fear-mongering and underhanded,
but definitely clever.
B. Now for your assertion that Obama isn’t African American. Who could
be more so? He is literally of African and American descent. What’s
so funny about this is when the term African-American came into vogue,
people like you, Rush, railed that it was ridiculous because the link
to Africa for many black Americans is distant. Now you have a man whose
link is recent and he doesn’t qualify either. Oh please. But many
people who call themselves African Americans, like Irish Americans
or Italian Americans or Armenian Americans, are acknowledging not
only ancestral connection, but the unique experience of being from
somewhere else, or having parents or forebears from somewhere else,
and assimilating here in the U.S. Like Obama.