Black Enough?

Posted on August 17, 2007
Filed Under Uncategorized, Goals, Fulfillment, Success, Community |

Barack Obama, is he Black enough? Initially when this question came up I ignored it. Something about it seemed frivolous and petty.  But as campaigning for the Presidency continues and the media persists with this question, is Barack Obama Black enough, I’ve become interested.  Let me first admit there is something amusing about the question and how it plays out in the media.  In my opinion, the media has always attempted to define and stereotype not just Black people, but all people.  But, I’ll stick with Black people since that is the topic.

Growing up in the United States, if I formed my definition of being Black from the media, I may have thought I needed to be neck twisting, finger pointing, welfare needing, single mothering, project living, baby daddy having, high school leaving, addicted and depressed.  The media’s perception of Black people is one dimensional, at best.  So this question of being Black enough regarding an educated, hard-working, dream-realizing, community-driven, family-dedicated, God-seeking man doesn’t necessarily surprise me, but I am puzzled and confused about who sets the standards or creates the rules for being Black enough?  What makes someone Black enough?

If Barack abandoned his family would he then be Black enough?  If he had done prison time, or dropped out of school would that make him Black enough?  No, what if he walked in that cool, pimp-like way, leaning slightly to the side as he slid one leg behind him?  Better yet, what if he wore his pants sagging or used slang when he spoke, the way Black people do . . . would he then be Black enough?

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I was raised in Watts, a poor community in Los Angeles, not much different from poor Black communities across the country, except with 290 days of sunshine and palm trees.  And, honestly, as a child I believed being Black meant all the things the media portrayed.  It took deep soul searching to define for myself what it means or doesn’t mean to be Black.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. asked as a nation to judge a person by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.  As I’ve matured, I’ve come to realize I am a Black person and so much more.  Further, I get the opportunity to define me – I am a creation of the Most High God, and for reasons beyond me, God saw fit to put me in this body though this body is not the total of who I am.  I am not the way I speak, the way I walk, my education, economic status, religion, the clothes I wear, or the music I choose.

Many of us, including myself, have looked to the world to find our identity.  We may have searched for what seemed acceptable to our families, our friends, and our communities to determine ourselves.  Sooner or later being what others say is enough will become unfulfilling.  It is only through our love for God that we discover our unique and authentic selves; the “self” God created us to be.  What if Christ would have tried to be Jewish enough?  It’s laughable right?  But many of us define and limit ourselves according to what the masses deem worthy.  In doing so we miss out on giving and being the gift God has ordained for us.

Genesis 1: 27 -  So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

There truly is no such thing as “Black enough”.  There is only the lie we buy into that lulls us asleep.  Let’s wake up to living God’s ideas of us.  Let’s begin asking ourselves do we love enough, do we give enough, and is the world better because we are here?

Peace and Blessings,

Monique Ruffin-James

Comments

2 Responses to “Black Enough?”

  1. Lyndi McCartney on August 17th, 2007 2:52 pm

    Thank you - beautifully said - oh I want to shout it from the roof tops.

  2. robert on August 18th, 2007 1:49 pm

    Monique,

    I enjoy your writing and your insight…

    Had you seen the interview Colbert did with Debra Dickenson (http://jazztheologian.typepad.com/findingthegroove/2007/02/is_barack_obama.html ) it’s worth the laugh.

    Or his response to the whole issue in Selma? (http://jazztheologian.typepad.com/findingthegroove/2007/03/obamas_response.html)

    blessings,
    robert

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