Sunday, March 23, 2008

Hawaiian Native: Obama's Big Con

A Hawaiian native who’s a friend of mine wrote the following piece about Barack Obama. Like so many people in Hawaii, Obama was a mixed-race individual. His identification of himself as a “Black man” appears to be mainly for political purposes – frankly, to help him gain 85% to 95% of the Black vote. He grew up in a white family (the Dunhams) and attended schools that have relatively few Blacks (Punahou Prep School, Columbia, and Harvard). The best way to determine Obama’s attitudes on race is not to listen to his campaign speeches but rather to read his books, especially the first one, Dreams From My Father. I believe most people who do read the books will find that the sentiments expressed are dramatically different from his speeches and his campaign commercials. The following appeared on Sanity 102’s blog at: http://sanity102.ipenglish.com/

Hawaiian Native: Obama’s Big Con


First let’s get this straight: Obama has about as much knowledge of racism and poverty as Mitt Romney.


I live in Hawaii and Obama’s little anecdote about his racist grandmother would play anywhere but where his grandmother raised him. The 50th state is a place of mixed races. Believe me when I tell you that his White mother/grandmother would be far more likely to experience some type of racial negativity than his Black father. Hawaii’s people are mostly brown skinned and a Black person would fit in far easier than a White person.


And while it is true that Whites have a long history in Hawaii of being the more elitist race, I even question the idea that Whites experience any particular racial tension. The 2nd generation Japanese immigrants who fought and won tons of medals in American’s most decorated battalion sent their children to college to become doctors, lawyers, and teachers–and they spent the next two generation matching and exceeding Whites in wealth and power.


As Obama himself had written in his autobiography, Hawaii is a land of racial tolerance–and I am betting that Wright did more than just turn Obama on to Christianity…I believe the Black bigot taught Obama to hate and blame Whites and America.


Another reason for Obama’s “black history” not quite playing right is that the prep school Obama went to is the best school in the state with a tuition that rivals colleges. No one goes to Punahou (with the exception of a soon to be NFL football star) without the funds and the connection of the most elite and wealthiest families in the state; there is just too much competition to attend.


And ah no, there is no affirmative action in the top prep school.


Jeremiah Wright may have all kinds of reasons to be angry with America, but for the Black kid that went to an exclusive private school, attended two Ivy League colleges, owns a million dollar-plus house, has a well educated wife and beautiful children, such anger should be as foreign as his golden life is to the vast majority of White Americans who just make it from pay check to pay check.

Note: In Hawaii, the racial breakdown is as follows:

White 23%
Asian 41%
Hawaiian 10%
Two+ races 18%
Hispanic 07%
Black 02%

Note: I wrote the following comment today on Sanity 102's blog:

I've been having a good debate (and it is that) with some of the Black conservatives, most of whom (all?) support McCain but are ready to give Obama a pass on what he says about race. Since I even deny (mixed-race) Obama is "Black," there's a lot of room for disagreement. Both he and Michelle were children of privilege -- she went to Princeton and Harvard Law and made (I believe) in excess of 200K annually. Barack went briefly to a college in California and then to Columbia and Harvard Law. It's hard to pin down his net worth, but if you include the house it appears to be in excess of $5 million. Of course, it's not to his political advantage to present his life as it is and has been, because that would raise the "Black enough?" issue (mostly a phony, media spin) again. In one of my posts I called Obama "The Invisible Man," the title of a book by black author Ralph Ellison. As long as nobody knows exactly who he is, he can run as "Everyman." In Black voting areas, they already know what Obama calls the "okie doke," where a wink and a nod indicate that the post-racial message is mainly to put whites at ease. I don't believe I'm being cynical about him. He's a certain type found in all racial groups: the highly skilled con man. I had NEVER heard about the exclusive prep school -- so much for the national media, which prefers to live in a world of illusion.

4 comments:

Average American said...

Hi Steve:

You won't hear the media grill Obama. They seem to be afraid to ask any hard questions for some reason. The man has eloquence but NOTHING else. I will not put a dime in his pocket, but I would like a chance to read his first book completely. I've seen snippets, in fact put some on my blog, but I'd like to read more. Maybe I'll try the library.

Did your grandfather used to be a maintenence boss in the Burgess plant at Brown Company? If so, my father-in-law knew him. Small world!

Happy Easter.

Joe

Sanity102 said...

Clarification:

"Native Hawaiians" are 50% plus Hawaiian...since my grandmother on my mother's side was 3/4s Hawaiian and my paternal great grandmother was 3/4s Hawaiian, I think that makes me less than a 1/4th...not "native" at all. I do know what you are trying to say...as in "native Californian" but some people will get picky.

Most people in Hawaii ARE mixed...I'd say at least 80%, but the census questionnaires give you options of "White", "Black", "Hispanic", "Asian", "Polynesian", and "Other" and ask you to pick the one you most align yourself with. As someone with 6 races, I pick "other".

Malia

Stephen R. Maloney said...

Malia, thanks for the clarification. As I suggested, most "Black" people are mixed race. The designation as Black seems to be mostly cultural and political, especially in Obama's case. In a number of the states he won Blacks make up half (or more) of the group voting in the Dem primaries. Obama is mixed race, "half" Black and half White (on his mother's side).

Joe, the media refuses to do comparison and contrast with what Obama says in his speeches and commercial and what he says in his books. That leads perpetually to the lagging question: "Who exactly is Barack Obama." The national media, with some exceptions, is a lazy group. Their reports therefore are always superficial. They don't look at the candidate in any depth, perhaps because they're afraid what they might find. FOX and Sean Hannity unearthed the "Rev. Wright problem," but it was there for anyone to find.

Steve Maloney

Stephen R. Maloney said...

Joe, my grandfather, Stephen Joseph Maloney, was born in Island Pond Vermont. He worked (as a master plumber) from Brown Paper Co. in La Tuque and Berlin, where my father was born. In their later lives, they lived at 88 Church St. in Berlin. When I was a child, I visited La Tuque, and I believe the temperature was 40 below! I like the North Country a lot, and my wife and I stayed for a couple of days at the Balsams Lodge. Great food, great atmosphere. I lived for four years in Conn. and two years in VT (N. Springfield). I'm a big fan of New England, although some states have a "nasty habit" of voting Democratic.

steve