You May Not Get There with me

Abstract

One of the earliest controversies involving the now historic presidential run of Barack Obama was largely an unavoidable one. The issue beyond his control, to paraphrase his later comment, was mosdy woven into his DNA. Amid enthusiasm about the potential of electing an African American candidate as president, columnist Debra Dickerson posed a rather provocative question about Obama’s appeal. While Obama possessed many appealing qualities, she suggested, the candidate was not ‘black’ in the sense that many of his supporters claimed. Even while Obama “invokes slavery and Jim Crow,” she wrote, “he does so as one who stands outside, one who emotes but still merely informs.”¹