Will the real Barack (Barry) Hussein Obama (Soetoro) please stand up

In an effort to appear more black (for all those who stupidly think he isn't black enough), Barack Obama (who was known in his younger years as just plain old "Barry") has virtually distanced himself from his white heritage, which seems rather odd, considering he is fully half white. Thinking yourself something doesn't necessarily make it so. So, shunning your white ancestry isn't going to make you any less, well ..... bi-racial. Which makes it even more bizarre, coming from a would-be President who claims he wants to be a catalyst in bridging America's "racial, religious and cultural divides." If he's so inclusive, then why can't he embrace his duality? His black and whiteness? Doesn't he think he could win on a bi-racial ticket? Or is he so enamored with the idea of being considered the first 'black' president, or so afraid he won't get the black vote if he isn't, he's willing to do anything to make his white side disappear, by over-emphasizing his black side? Even though his Kenyan father, Barack, Sr. abandoned the family when Junior was only 2 years old, and he was raised, primarily, by his white maternal grandparents Stanley and Madelyn Dunham (and, for a short time, by his mother and Indonesian stepfather), he still seems to identify exclusively with his black lineage. He even named his 1995 memoir, "Dreams from My Father", even though that father showed little or no interest in his life. In fact, it wasn't until after his dad died in the early 1980s (when Obama was 21) that he even met the Kenyan side of his family. And the only other time he met with his dad, was for a brief visit when he was 10 years old.

Who is the real Barack Obama? The more you read about him, the less you know. At least the truth about who he is. There are, apparently, discrepancies surfacing now regarding stories he has shared concerning his background, specifically his childhood, and how he tried to 'fit in', as a chubby 'black' kid in Hawaii and Indonesia. In his auto-biography, he describes having heated discussions about racism, but interviews with some of his black schoolmates suggest that although they, indeed, had those discussions, Barack (or Barry, at the time) never participated. And as racially diverse as Hawaii is, Obama was not as affected by racial inequalities as he claims to have been. He has also oft described (in his book and elsewhere) a pivotal moment in his life which he believes contributed to his racial awareness:

He is 9 years old, living in Indonesia, where he and his mother moved
with her new husband, Lolo Soetoro, a few years earlier. One day while visiting his mother, who was working at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Obama passed time by looking through several issues of Life magazine. He came across an article that he later would describe as feeling like an "ambush attack." The article included photos of a black man who had destroyed his skin with powerful chemical lighteners that promised to make him white. Instead, the chemicals had peeled off much of his skin, leaving him sad and scarred, Obama recalled. "I imagine other black children, then and now, undergoing similar moments of revelation," Obama wrote of the magazine photos in "Dreams."

Trouble is, Life has never published such an article or photos. And when questioned about that particular memory, Obama (in a recent interview) said that perhaps it was a copy of Ebony. But archival research at Ebony produced no such issue, either. Granted, memories from our youth can't totally be trusted, but to fabricate something that never existed to endear yourself to a certain segment of the population seems rather disingenuous. Why are people so afraid of saying "this is who I was and this is who I am", rather than trying to bury the past or making it something it wasn't?

And does the color of our skin, or the blood that courses through our veins dictate who we are? I believe we are more than our outer appearances and/or bloodlines. Who we are, as individuals, is a direct result of how and where we were raised. And whether our next President is Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, Bi-Racial or of any other ethnic mix, they should be judged by their character NOT by what they look like.

There are also questions about Obama's Islamic ties. An email making the rounds, claiming he had attended a Madrassa when he was a child proved to be false, but all his denials about ever being a Muslim (as a child) are also false, according to an article in the LA Times. The fact he was considered a Muslim when he was a child in Indonesia is of no import, what is troubling is his initial denial of the fact.

I feel particularly bad for his maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who seems to be glaringly missing from the campaign trail spotlight. She is refusing to give interviews, citing poor health. I hope this isn't a ruse to keep her out of sight, because photo ops of Obama and his white grandmama might not be what the Obama camp wants, at this point in time. And the following picture is very telling. Published 8/16/06 with an article about a trip to Kenya in 2004, in the Chicago Suntimes, there's a picture (at least for now) of "Obama with his grandmother (a very black) Madelyn Dunham." I'm not sure whether it was a Sun Times gaffe or not, but it is surprising that none of Obama's people have asked for it to be removed or addressed the issue, considering the photo was supplied by the Obama family.



"Barack Obama with his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, in Africa in 2004. Courtesy of the Obama family"

Below is the real granny Dunham with grandpa Stanley.

Just be who you are, Barack, and let people vote for you, if they choose to, on the basis of who you are, not the color of your skin! I won't be one of those, but I do know I probably would have voted for Colin Powell, way back when, had he chosen to run.