Journalist To Hillary: Are You Black Enough?
One courageous, truth-demanding CNN reporter asking the important questions that matter:
The question usually aimed at her darker opponent from Chicago triggered a burst of laughter from Hillary Rodham Clinton. She recovered from the barb and proceeded by not answering it.
This campaign moment occurred Thursday before the Las Vegas convention crowd of the National Association of Black Journalists. CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux pinned back the former First Lady to explain how she could “sustain black support ” while running against an African-American. Ironically, thanks to Sen. Barack Obama’s mixed white and Kenyan parentage and campaign mischief, it is he who usually gets to field the “black enough” question.
The “are you black enough” question is absurd and insulting when asked of anyone, up to and including Barrack Obama. I’m no fan of Obama myself. I find his preferred policies to be both naive and fundamentally flawed, but what does his race have to do with leading this country? And while we’re at it, what does Hillary Clinton’s gender have to do with it?
When reporters ask Senator Obama about his race, I think his response to those asking should always be “Why does my race matter to you or anyone else?”
