Question for Black People?

I was reading the lastest issue of NewsWeek and it features Barack Obama. Okay I want to know do you agree with this statement and what are your thoughts about what his wife Michelle Obama said. "We as a black community are struggling with our own identity and what it means to be black." "We see what is shown of us on TV but we also know that is not the full picture. So what is the picture? We're figuring it out. It's a conversation that needs to take place." She made this statement trying to address people calling Barack "not black enough"

Public Comments

1. I think this statement is bad. Why does his wife think he is black? Why not call him white? he's half of each. Toni Morrison said 'Bill clinton was the blackest man I know'. this is just all stupid.
2. She has a great point. The problem Barack is facing is a lot like the one I face. I'm either viewed as old fashioned or too white by a lot of blacks because I don't listen to hip hop, I don't wear my pants around my thigh, and I go to job and read books rather then hang out on street corners. I feel like as a people we have allowed Capitalism to step in and sell our community ignorance and we've been buying it for decades know. It's time for us to wake up -b
3. I don't agree. What is shown on TV isn't the picture at all. It's TV and I'm sure there are some black people who act exactly what is portrayed on TV, but the majority don't. What exactly does it mean to be black? Does it mean that since I'm black that this certain thing has to happen in my life? Or maybe it doesn't? I don't think we're struggling with our own identity as a black person, but we may be struggling with our own identity as an individual person regardless of color. And on the comment of people calling Barack "not black enough". That is the real problem with black people. Saying a person isn't black based on how they act or don't act. Were individuals not one mind. No one has the right to say what makes a person black or white or what ever race they are. People need to wake up and think about that.
4. We are not struggling with our identities. First she can't say "we as the black community". A whole community can't struggle in that shape. Second, I would pretty much say our identity is already obvious, I guess, through popular culture and such. Her problem is Obama does not have the perceived "black identity" which is a good thing because he wouldn't be where he is now.
5. Okay, first off, I'm as white as they get. Sorry, I couldn't resist answering. This is a good thing, isn't it? Why do black people condemn an intelligent black person as being "white or not black enough"? I would vote for Obama. I grew up the only little white girl in a black neighborhood and was treated no different by blacks. In fact, I was protected and the white people were mean to me. But I recall growing up and hearing mother's say to their children "Stop acting white!" when they would pronounce something correctly. Why was this a bad thing? How can you be abandoning "your people" by being educated or speaking english correctly?
6. I agree completely. I saw a question on here the other day that asked "What exactly is acting black" and several of the answerers said things like, using slang, being uneducated and wearing baggy pants. If this is how society sees us as a race, then we are in trouble. I am so sick of black people that are articulate, being referred to as an "oreo" or not being black enough. Its rather unfair.
7. POLITICS All politicians always say things that try to appease to everyone sounds like gibberish to me. Typical Politician
8. Black people as a whole are not struggling with black identity. We know who we are. It's the rest of America that's having the identity crisis for us. They want to put black identity in a box so they can define what it is for themselves. What's shown on T.V. is NOT the full picture of what being black is, but it's what THEY are fascinated by. Black people know there's more to it than that. Barack may not be black enough for America because they only identify being black with Rappers & actors. Real black people know theres more to being black then whats fed to the masses. Double Consciousness baby!
9. I'm glad someone asked about this. My African-American peers have defined me as "White-washed" as I speak in coherent; correct sentences, value an education and I do not engage in their shananagins. Mrs. Obama may be correct on struggling as a people since slavery has disrupted perception. I know my Caucasian counterparts may sigh and may mutter how slavery no longer impacts the African-American populus, but their ignorance is painful. If you have an issue, it does not get smaller as time goes on untreat, it grows into a bigger problem. Though it's not just the ancestrors of the caucasians fault. It is also the African-American community as well. Statistics state that less than half of the African-American population vote. It's anticlimatic if you ask me. All the struggles our elders had to endure for a better future and today's youth does not engage into anything that was out of our elders reach. It's quite really. I suggest that African-American community stop sitting on their butts waiting for something and get up and take it (legally, of course) That is my two cents.
10. I agree with The Brian. Black people always question my "blackness" because I like rock music, I read books, and because I don't think Cedric the Entertainer is funny.(He really isn't). And because I speak correctly. It's really a problem.