Oh yes, *that* was it...

[royalmarriage]

On one of the forums I frequent, I came across the most wonderful thing over the weekend. Just found it again. Someone refers to Barack Obama as "the first openly black President."

My mind is boggling...

Comments

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

LOL! Exactly who would the secretly black president have been?

I'm going to be generous and assume that the "US" is implied, because otherwise there are quite a few black presidents to choose from.

[thene]

Warren Harding, supposedly, but it's a really spurious comment that I've only seen brought up recently as a way of belittling Obama's breakthrough moment as America's first black President. It's similar to the speculation in the UK about Edward Heath's sexuality; yeah, he may well have been gay, but that has nothing the hell to do with the way openly gay politicians get treated right now.

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

So, even according to his enemies, he would have been, what, one-sixteenth? By that standard, Sweden would have a black prime minister.

[thene]

Yeah, it's a completely bullshit dogwhistle used by the US right to downplay their own racism.

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

Trying to downplay racism by invoking the one-drop rule is kind of hilarious in a tragic way.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

There have been closet ones? Who knew?

Well obviously no-body, I guess!

[thene]

I'm pretty sure it's a (completely meaningless) reference to Warren Harding; see my above comment.