The Exceptional Negro

It’s been said that the current president of the United States of America has made history because he is thought to be the first Black/African American to hold the top office of this country. Yet there are many who say that he is not Black or African American because he lacks the overall “experience.” While his is, in part, of African descent because his father is African, his mother is Caucasian. Additionally, President Obama has lived for part of his life in Hawaii and has no direct multigenerational connection with the African American process involving the experience of slavery based on race and ethnicity. Moreover, can we even say that he is actually Black insofar as he is part African and part Caucasian? With 23-chromosomes from his African father and 23-chromosomes from his Caucasian mother, who decided that one part of his genetic make-up would be recognized as all encompassing when he is neither unto itself and could not exist without both? If he were born where phenotypically he looked like a White man, would we decidedly move along as if he were just another Caucasian president? Or might there be a salacious revelation where before he ever really got into the running to take office the media lets it be known that he was “passing”? Would he be Black enough to “be in” with Blacks or would he be White enough to “get by” on that end?

The truth of the matter is unless you are “pure” White you are often designated to be of the other part(s) and certainly not white no matter how white you might look on the outside. This has been a long-standing effort of some “White purist’s” who want to keep “their” race pure with no “compromised” blood…even if one appears to be pure giving rise to “the one drop rule” and anti-miscegenation laws where even in recent years a judge down south refused to marry a inter-racial couple. So having decided that Mr. Obama would be considered Black/African American by whomever, did he become the “exception” no differently than the birth of the “mulatto” during slavery where the mixing of White’s, Native American’s, and African’s (consensual and nonconsensual) took place producing a “new breed” of mixed “offspring” who were thought to be superior and more intelligent that the “regular” negro because “White Blood” was also running through their veins? What if he were black as coal? Would the outcome of the presidential election be different? If so…why? Did the fact that he is an eloquent speaker who happens to have light skin as a biracial male of African and Caucasian descent help other to view him as the “exceptional negro” as stated by Washington Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid who apologized not so long ago for describing President Obama, perhaps in admiration, as “a light skinned African American with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one.” Did many of us, too, think it or perhaps talk about his apparent “unique” abilities which seemed to separate him somehow…and not just because he was the darkest person on the stage, but as a speaker his “change and hope rhetoric pulled you in as well?” Did the aforesaid is believed to have impacted how media portrayed him and followed him throughout the election process. There were even points where other candidates sometimes felt that he was often given favor, in part, because he seemed to be this exceptional person, dare we call him Black. Stepping away from the stereotype of the “Black Man” who has been thought to be angry and sometimes violent being that is often absent from the Black family except to father another child, and lacking any interest in education and ambition beyond the next “get rich quick” scheme or illegal act “just to get by.” President Obama, up to this point, has demonstrated everything contradicting the aforesaid stereotype, which appears to have had an impact on his success in making it to the White House. However, what would happen to this image created, in part, by media hype and his overall coverage if he were found to have engaged in affairs on his wife Michelle? Would some of those stereotypes of a “Black Man” be revisit knocking him off of the pedestal we have helped to create?

Individuals of Black/African ancestry who present with exceptional skills and perform at the top of their game as the exception in their designated field of expertise where the repudiation of generally viewed stereotypes of the Black people was evidenced tend to be treated differently by the media. This tends to be expressed more profoundly with individuals of mixed race when compared to their Black brethren who appear to carry the “basic run of the mill” characteristics attributed to “regular Black” people. Perhaps things start off with a bit of cautiousness and suspicion in an effort to “figure this phenomenon” out. And then things can seemingly move to being “all good” until the perceived “betrayal” of the exceptional negro comes to light where mistakes and misdeeds are unearthed revealing him/her to be just as human as the next person which brings be to the example of Tiger Woods and Shaquille O’Neil. The news outlets picked up on an accident that Tiger Woods had and then something strange happened when suddenly Tiger´s wife started to come with stories and finally we discovered that Tiger had an affair. In the “regular” world, this is where CNN would stop broadcasting and ET (Entertainment Tonight) would take over, of course it was not a “big deal”.

But no, CNN and other reputable networks ran with this story. What is it about Tiger Woods? Yes, he had an affair with some groupies. I do not in any way condone this. To better understand the situation, let’s go back to only a few weeks ago when Cleveland Cavaliers NBA player Shaquille O’Neal also cheated on his wife. Why didn’t the media pounce on him? To be honest this story was better and juicer.

Not only he did cheat on his wife, he didn’t cheat with just any random groupie. It wasn’t some waitress. He was having an affair with another NBA player’s fiancé. He had an affair with the wife of Washington Wizard’s player Gilbert Arenas and the mother of his child. Do the media hold basketball players to a different standard than golf players? Is it even about the sport? Or is it because of the skin colour?

Why was everyone, especially news sites, so obsessed with Tiger Woods rather than Shaquille O’Neal and Gilbert Arenas? Gilbert might not be as famous, but Shaquille definitely is as famous as Tiger Woods. Why did Shaquille/Arenas’ story did not get as much publicity? Their story was on blogs and sites but not on CNN full segments. Shaquille O’Neil CHEATS (Present Perfect) mostly with Hispanic and Black women, so I ask myself, if they create a big deal out of Tiger Woods cheating on his “Perfect Beautiful White Wife”, then why did not they do that with Shaquille? Is it because Black women are being stereotyped? Or maybe Women of colour are supposed to take that from their husbands because they are just another number? Like in the slavery time? What I think is that some people tend to relate themselves to a group, maybe because its fears to be rejected, like Tiger has never identified himself as “Black”; he identifies himself as “Mixed”. Like in the Movie Queen by Halle Berry when she was not accepted, the Blacks wouldn't help her because she looked White and the Whites wouldn't help her because she was White “trash”. Was it because she had Black blood? Let´s think for a moment.

Some Whites in the past have wrongly suggested that Blacks do not have the mental ability for certain sports and positions. Intelligence may be a factor at the quarterback position, but one must still understand that such play is still based on repetition and experience and fundamental skills. The quarterback does not have to design the plays or even call them; he simply has to have the physical skills necessary to execute them. The statistics show that the Sport of Golf is composed by 84% White, 10% Hispanic or Latino/Other Races, 6% Black, otherwise in the NBA 79% of the players are Black, 3% Hispanic or Latino/Other Ethnicity, 18% White.

Some Whites surmised that blacks did not have the mental poise and intelligence to be the best at golf. They looked at the fact that not one homegrown “Black” had ever won a major and that on one hand could be counted all the Blacks who ever qualified for the PGA Tour. Maybe they gave Tiger the chance in a predominately White sport, because he is not “Pure Black” but Mixed. Perhaps he is being seeing as the Exceptional Negro.