Hater Or Truth-Sayer?
(Editor’s update: Aaron McGruder responded to his statements in a letter to Clutch, which can be viewed in the comments section below.)
Aaron McGruder, creator of the highly risible and acerbic Boondocks, recently stirred up some things with his flammable comments about Barack Obama’s heritage. To McGruder, Obama’s not really black because he wasn’t the descendant of slaves.
“The person who is one of us in the White House is Michelle Obama and her momma,” McGruder said.
As a Boondocks aficionado, I find his statements unsurprising. As a witness of the hysteria involving yesterday’s events, I am astounded. As a student of history and culture, I wonder what A-Mac was thinking.
Never mind the fact that Africans enslaved each other, which facilitated the American slave trade. I’ll even concede him that, because I’m sure he was referring to slaves in the United States. This is actually something that I discussed many times with my friends and associates. They were on the “It doesn’t matter where his dad was born, he’s still black” fence and I was on the “well true, but doesn’t family lineage play some part in how he is perceived and received” fence. It’s amazing how sensitive the biracial component is in this country. Derek Jeter faced similar criticisms from his former teammate Gary Sheffield, who essentially said that Jeter’s treatment from Yankees management was due to his white mother. Tiger Woods refuses to be pigeon-holed into one race and as a result, he faces reproach from the Black community.
So my questions are: Is Obama different because his mixed background put him in a different environment? Or because society saw him differently due to his mixed background? Does Michelle’s blackness legitimate Barack as “black enough” for black folks or is this just a clear and simple commercial of someone drinking the Hater Juice?
For my edification, these questions demand answers.
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Let’s say he was Barry O on the Southside of Chicago. Would the cops shoot him? He’s black
He’s been saying stuff like this since before the election happened. He has rationale behind his viewpoints (which have to do more with his jaded view toward American politics, democracy, and the bailout than with Obama directly), but you’d be hard pressed to agree with everything he says.
All people of black descent have universally suffered from European rule. colonialism, assimilation and slavery have left psychological wounds that will take centuries to heal. A lot of the wars you see sprouting in Africa come from the seeds planted by colonialists. The colonialists in Rwanda favoured the Tutsi over the Hutu becuase of their features making them m in essence the “house niggers” many years later the Rwandan genocide happened fuelled by ethnic division. It’s the old divide and rule weapon, let’s move past it. Aaron Mcgruder I hope you are reading this.
I really couldn’t have said it better than Merri Lee. Before he opens his mouth to speak, he is defined by his race and perceived as a black man in the U.S. He’s experience prejudice and faced racist situations just like every other black person in his age group and younger. I’m specifying his age group and younger because he was not born during slavery and barely missed the Jim Crow era.
This is something I’ve thought about in regards to my own identity. I’m black and born in America but my parents were born and raised outside of the states, as were my grandparents, and so on and so forth. Regardless of how I’m perceived, I know my lineage makes me different from black Americans who are descendants of Africans who were enslaved in the U.S.; but my family’s history is partly confused by slavery as well, so there is some connection with a confused past, of course not to the extent of black Americans. What makes Obama different from many first generation black Americans is that he sought out a black American community. Something compelled him to find a home within the black American community and to be an active voice for his community. I think that speaks volumes.
I think we do a disservice to the complexity of race in America by thinking it’s one of the things you’ve mentioned. I think it’s all of them. I think there is some hateration there, but I also think politically speaking McGruder has a point that makes us uncomfortable. We need, as Black people, to be honest about the fact that a Barack is more acceptable to America than a Jesse Jackson. That MEANS something. We can’t flatten blackness and equate the two men, when the truth is, there are differences and those differences MATTER. This doesn’t detract from Barack’s greatness. It puts his greatness into a broader context.
From the Office of Aaron McGruder in response to the recent article re: his comments at Earlham College in Richmond, IN:
For a long time now, I have tried to keep my opinions on the election and Barack Obama to myself. I occasionally do speaking engagements, which are not open to the press, and unfortunately some of my comments have been twisted around in a silly manner. The claim that I asserted our new President was not Black is categorically false.
I have seen an endless stream of Black pundits on TV pontificating about the significance of President Obama’s election – many of them making reference to the 3/5th’s clause in the constitution regarding slaves. The point I was making is that this is not an accurate comparison. Barack is the son of an immigrant, not the descendant of slaves. It’s like comparing a half-Japanese man to the oppressed Chinese who built the American railroads. Yes, they are both Asian, but it is not an honest or accurate comparison. We all share the common experiences of being Black in America today – we do not all share a common history. A history that in part makes us who we are – and in some cases (as with the psychological damage that still lingers from slavery) holds us back. These are not, I believe, insignificant distinctions.
I did say I was cautiously pessimistic about Obama’s Presidency – but this is simply acknowledging the reality of an American Empire that is out of control and on the verge of collapse. Let us not forget that on the eve of the election, we witnessed a near trillion dollar robbery of the US treasury. That robbery is still taking place. I do not blame President Obama, but I do not believe the financial and corporate interests that own and control this country will fold so easily. I do not question the integrity of the man as much as the power of his office – which I believe has greatly diminished over the years. I believe the Federal Reserve Bank, the Military Industrial Complex, and the massive corporate interests that run this country have more power than our new President. I hope I am wrong.
After 9/11, I witnessed the most of this country become obsessed with squashing dissent and silencing critics. I hope this election does not turn Black America towards this same, fascist mind state; but already I am starting to see it, and it saddens me greatly. I absolutely wish our new President and his family success and safety. But after all I have witnessed in my lifetime, and especially in the last eight years, I am not ready to lay down my skepticism or my outrage for this government. To do so would be unwise and, ironically enough, anti-American.
Aaron McGruder
January 21, 2009
My question is: who is Aaron McGruder to define what ‘black’ is anyway? Who can define what Black is? -no one. Being Black is not just one thing. Blacks are different everywhere I go. Their ancestry is different. Their morals are different. Their views of the world are different. I would like to know if Aaron McGruder is sure himself that he is the descendant of slaves. And whether he is or not, would it cause him to identify any less with what is ‘Black’ in America or what is not ‘Black’ in America? The bottom line is: History was made on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. We have a President that does not only represent Black, but he represents hope that one day race won’t matter. -And maybe, Mr. McGruder, it could start with you. Especially since a lot of young people look up to you. Maybe if you stopped highlighting the “importance” of race. Maybe those little ones will follow your lead…
“We all share the common experiences of being Black in America today – we do not all share a common history. A history that in part makes us who we are – and in some cases (as with the psychological damage that still lingers from slavery) holds us back. These are not, I believe, insignificant distinctions.”
This is a very well-reasoned response. I can see why his comments would generate such venomous responses, but I can also see exactly what he is saying here. Case in point: I have many friends of Nigerian descent; friends who are first generation Americans. And all, I repeat, all of them have a mindset that is quite different from my contemporaries whose ancestors have experienced the vicious seizure of the slave masters. This is not to say that they (Nigerians) are better or even get a pass from America (because they don’t), but this is to say that they don’t seem to be inhibited by the same boundaries that bound the descendants of slaves. This may seem like a reductive analysis, but these are just my observations.
The fact of the matter is that only a Barack Obama could have been the first black president now, for a number of reasons, but mainly because his mixture, if you will, best represents how diverse this country has become over the past 200 odd years. And there is no problem in that, because everybody and every demographic needs to be represented, not just one sect.
I happen to stand on Black is Black. Now I often mention to people that not all Black people are the same. We all come from different countries and backgrounds. We’re all a part of different cultures and sub-cultures. I will also say this at the end of the day in everyone else’s eyes Black is Black. If you have one ounce of Black blood in you then you’re Black. It doesn’t matter if you’re from Detroit, Compton, Brooklyn, Brazil, Jamaica, or Ethiopia…you’re Black.
“I do not question the integrity of the man as much as the power of his office – which I believe has greatly diminished over the years.”
One could argue that GWB took back some of that power – the two wars, highest number of vetoes of any POTUS, interrogation tactics, wiretapping and so on.
:)
Regardless of whatever cynical reservations you might have about who he is and how he got to be POTUS, he’s still your president and we should try to support him within reason.
sorry just had to come back one more time :)
“After 9/11, I witnessed the most of this country become obsessed with squashing dissent and silencing critics. I hope this election does not turn Black America towards this same, fascist mind state; but already I am starting to see it, and it saddens me greatly.”
I think most of the people that defend him do so in response to an empathy they feel towards him and his goal. I cannot count how many times I was told “you got into this program because you’re a black female”, “you’ll get a great job because you’re a black female” never minding the fact that I have had to work as hard if not harder than my other counterparts. So when people are shouting the critics down they’re also subconsciously defending themselves.
maybe i’ll be back to talk about the Jesse Jackson comparison :)
Truth-Sayer
To non blacks, black is black. Period. But I agree with McGruder’s observation that there are powers higher than the office of US President. Hillary Clinton, our new Secretary of State, is one of their agents.
Ok let me make it clear I am an unabashed conspiracy theorist. The Federal Reserve Bank which is privately owned and not a government owned, the Trilateral Commission, the United Nations are run by the same folks for self serving purposes and not for the benefit of mankind. These folks feel it is their moral obligation to control every person on the planet.
Take 5 minutes and read some quotes from the “powers that be”.
http://www.tellmewhy.co.uk/theagenda.htm
Does he pass the “paper bag test”? If you didn’t know anything about him and saw him walking up the street, what race would you call him? Outside of culture, what is the difference between an African and an African American?
…yea. Seriously his point is moot because there were free African-Americans during the time of slavery (think Crispus Attucks- he was a free man in the 1700′s). Hell, my ancestors on my mother’s side were like that, and half of them were not passing.
I can’t say that slavery didn’t affect the African-American psyche. But what I can say is that we shouldn’t use it as a tool of more separation and division among us brown-skinned folks in society. After all, many Blacks and Latinos may not get along in many instances, but if you think about it, Latin American countries had to endure slavery as well. Sh*t, Brazil didn’t officially outlaw slavery until 1888, 25 years after it was outlawed here in the states.
Instead of making this an issue, why can’t we all just collectively get along?
I respect Mr McGruder’s right to have an opinion and I recognize that it is just that-HIS OPINION. A very well thought out and expressed opinion shaped by his life experiences and beliefs. One can only do/say/be as they see fit and that will never please everyone all of the time.
I see what he is saying, Obama does not share the same experiances that African Americans, or black people in the western hemisphere in general, share through slavery.
The effects of that experiance on AA can not be dismissed since it has molded the culture and moral values (such as the love affair with outlaws).
But I think his life as a black man in America balances that.
But in reality he is “technically” the first black president.
Aaron is a controversy cat, I love em’ but sometimes he takes the critical thinking too far. In America dude is black. His dad was seen as black. You have some black folks who pass for white with lineage going back to slaves…does that make them more “black” than someone who is seen as and treated as black who doesn’t have lineage reaching back to slavery. I tend to take the diasporic view of black anyway, but I think its especially silly to split hairs on whether your ancestor was here, or there – bottom line 1 drop rule still applies to melanin content.