Race is Culture

Quick question. Who said the following:

"[Barack Obama is] light skinned [and] with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."

No it wasn't Rush Limbaugh. Not Sean Hannity or Glenn Beck but whoever said that must be a real racist. Unless of course that person was Senate majority leader Harry Reid, whose statements automatically get the Democratic Teflon Coat of immortality when it comes to racist comments towards, blacks, jews and hispanics. But no, Harry Reid can't be that insensitive, can he?






Let's look another quote by someone whose Democratic Teflon Coat has already been worn away slightly. 

"This guy — he was catapulted in on hope and change — what we hope the guy is. What the (expletive)? Everything he's saying's on the teleprompter. I'm blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little Laundromat in a black community not far from where we lived. I saw it all growing up."

 Any guesses on who said that. The expletive probably gave it away. Otherwise this quote is bleeping golden. That's right former governer and furniture salesman Rod Blagojevich, made this beef up, without his Democratic Teflon Coat on but it didn't hurt him too much because he can only go one direction from where he is, up.

But this isn't a post about Democratic Teflon Coat, which  sounds like something that can be sold on an infomercial, this is a post on race has come to mean. I contend that race and race relations is not defined by the color of someone's skin, but by the color of their rice. Race has become culture and that is something no politician wants to admit.

So let's talk race. Mind you I am not wearing my Democratic Teflon Coat so this is going to be very off the cuff. Let's begin:

(Oh and one last thing. In order to be as confusing as possible, I will try to use a different phrase every time I mention a racial group. It will keep you on your feet, and make you hate political correctness. Win win.)

A Race develops when a group of people are thought to stereotypically act in a certain way. The one that I mentioned earlier was African-American. The Negro culture itself is easy to define. If I were to point at prominent politicians of African Ancestry like Colin Powell and ask, "What makes Colin Powell black?", you would be very hard pressed for an answer. Most people when thinking about Colin Powell, don't think black man. If you look at his accomplishments, you will find them to be racially independent. He worked his way up the army and eventually became Secretary of state. If you were knew to American politics and never saw his picture, you would probably guess he was white.

There is a reason for that. The Caucasian culture has defined itself as the politically active side of race relations. If you were to look at Congress  sun bathing, you would be blinded by the lack of pigment. Politics is largely a profession for the pigmentally challenged. To those who say that it doesn't matter who you are on the outside, they're right. Colin Powell may have been black on the outside, but on the inside, he was white. Mind you I respect him as an intellectual and a politician but, the fact that he's got slightly more melanin than other statesman, has nothing to do with it.

Still don't believe that race is culture? Consider this. Race is not something you are born with. *dodges rotten tomatoes*. Hear me out for a second. If race was something primordial, how can   someone whose physical qualities are not unlike that of someone who came from the west side of the African continent, go about calling other people with the same physical characteristics "white." The fact that people can change their race proves it is not coded into their genes. Better yet how can the phrases "Twinkie" and "Oreo" be used to describe anyone. While you are eating that food for thought, (Get it? Twinkies. Oreos. Food for thought). watch this awesome segment on Jon Stewart: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-march-29-2007/frog-princess

PS. For those wondering what Oreo and Twinkie mean, Black/Yellow on the outside, and white on the inside.

PPS. Democratic Teflon Coats are available at retailers near you. Make checks payable to  the inventor of these coats John F. Kennedy.