BlogHer - So Obama's a House Negro? Heck, I've Been Called Worse - Comments

I think his threat about

battledress — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 06:04:04 -0600

I think his threat about feeding American soldiers to his dogs were more offensive, or at least it was a challenge and an open invitation to blow him to smithereens.

Kat of Tough Girl 101 I am physically and mentally tough.

Thanks for putting this out there!

Blue State Cowgirl — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:30:05 -0600

Critics, Black and White, need to stop criticizing successful AFrican-Americans as "not Black enough", "House Negros" and other ridiculous labels. I'm not forgetting that Black Repubican Alan Keyes led the charge on that "not Black enough" label for Obama. Then there was Sarah Palin with her thinly disguised neo-Klan rhetoric ("He's not like us, he doesn't think like us, he's not a 'real' American.")

Time for some people to learn that Americans come in all shapes, sizes, colors and levels of accomplishment.

Blue State Cowgirl

Agree

terrasears2 — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:27:25 -0600

I agree we have to look at who said it, and really it implies that they might be loosing some support.

Well if you gotta be one....

Lovebabz — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:09:44 -0600

I don't think African-Americans are not daunted by name calling. I mean if you gotta be one...House Negro, then White House ain't a bad place to be...even if he was the Butler...doesn't take away from his grace, dignity and commitment to service.

We are not going to get riled up by this. We VOTED! All this is just NOISE! Divisive NOISE!

Be loving & Be in LOVE

Thanks very much

Jill Miller Zimon — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:07:02 -0600

Laina thanks for writing about this. All the name-calling has really run amok, it feels like, and it makes me retreat to quotes like, "It's not what someone calls you, it's what you answer to" and that what people call you/me is more about them than it is about you and so on.

I appreciate the context you give the specific phrase used - it's really helpful. But you are so on point re: let's look at who was saying it in the first place and what's his goal. Haven't we had enough divisiness within our population without someone outside our country trying to get us all riled up? If there's a time for unity or a being together on something, putting this insult in context, as you've done, is really important.

JillWrites Like She Talks

So Obama's a House Negro? Heck, I've Been Called Worse

lainad — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:01:53 -0600

Yesterday the blogosphere was abuzz with the news that Al-Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al Zawahri called President-elect Barak Obama a House Negro:

Osama bin Laden's second-in-command Ayman al Zawahri attacked Obama as a "house Negro," a racially-charged term used by 1960s black American Muslim leader Malcolm X to describe black slaves loyal to white masters.

"You represent the direct opposite of honorable black Americans like ... Malcolm X," Zawahri said in an 11-minute recording publicized on the Internet on Wednesday. It was al Qaeda's first high-level commentary on Obama's election on November 4. Bin Laden could also release a message on Obama within the next two weeks or so, one analyst said.

As you can see from my title that my first impression was, yeah, and? From (conservative) Victoria Swift:

Help me out here. The media are appalled when the people responsible for plotting against western civilization and responsible for killing thousands of Americans at work and on the battlefield called the President Elect a "House Negro," but NOT when the fringe Liberatti do it? Huh? Why wasn't this a 'racial epithet' when the DEMOCRAT CRAZIES called Secretary of State Colin Powell a "house negro" or when they called Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a "house negro" and "Aunt Jemima?"
Just asking. (Umm, what about all the race-baiting coming from the Right?)

Plus,al Zawahri's insult didn't make any sense. On the surface, if Obama was more like Malcom X, whom I greatly admired, do you think he'd be President? I think not. Sure, America has progressed a great deal in terms of race relations but not that much.

Second, while being called a house negro - which from my understanding was a slave that had a favoured position working in the house of their slave owners doing what was considered 'easier' domestic work while his / her fellow slaves - usally darker skinned - worked in the fields. But as my fave, Field Negro says, Obama aint working in the house, he livin' in the house!

The O man is not a house Negro. In fact, the closest he has ever been was to the patio. Yes he will be living in the (really big) house, but he is not a house slave; he runs that shit. He answers to no one. He is massa. To call him a house Negro would be missing the entire point of just who a house Negro is, and what he represents. And another thing: we field Negroes helped to elect him and put him in the house, so we have no problem with him being there. In fact, we wanted him there. So when you call him a house Negro you are calling all the Negroes who put him there house Negroes as well. That is not cool.

So what should people make of al Zawahri's pronouncement? Yes, he is insulting the next American president, which isn't that great, but is this a thinly veiled terrorist threat? Some say that it will actually do the opposite - rallying Americans around Obama even more than the many that do right now.

But let's remember something - first, that there were many people who called Obama a House Negro waay before this, those who felt that he avoided talking about race until it was absoloutely necessary to do so. Plus, Obama campgained among many people and had to portray himself in a certain way to get their support, including those who for the life of 'em weren't sure if Obama was a (god forbid) Muslim or was that scary black man who was waiting in a dark corner to rape or mug them. What saddened me was watching CNN a week before the election and people still asking, "do we really know Obama? Who is he?" like he should suddenly throw on some ripped overalls, barefoot, stick a piece of hay in his teeth and do a little jig to quell the fears of all the frightened folks. Geez.

So before we get all outraged, let's remember this: Don't you want him to be a bit of a House Negro - or that passive unthreatening brotha who will willing work with the white man and won't talk back? Doesn't it make you feel a bit more relaxed that he is far from the scary, overtly sexist black man that many of you thought he was? Yes, al-Queda is a very real threat but I think people have to look at themselves a bit more before they get outraged over this.