Reply With QuoteOk, there goes my reason for voting for Obama.
"Sixth black president" just doesn't have the same ring to it.
Guess I'll just vote for Nader.
We keep hearing that this year will mark the first time a major political party in the United States nominated a woman or a Black person as its presidential candidate. For women, that is true, but some historians say Sen. Barack Obama, if elected, would not be the nation's first Black president. They say he certainly won't be the first president with Black ancestors--just the first to acknowledge his Blackness.
Which other presidents hid their African ancestry? Well, it's not Bill Clinton, even though the Congressional Black Caucus honored him as the nation's "first Black president" at its 2001 annual awards dinner. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge all had Black ancestors they kept in their genealogical closets, according to historians.
Harding did not deny his African ancestry when Republican leaders called on him to deny his "Negro" history. He said, "How should I know whether or not one of my ancestors might have jumped the fence?"
Does African ancestry make these men Black? If the bar is the one-drop rule, then yes. The one-drop rule is a historical term used during the Jim Crow era that defines a person with one drop of sub-Saharan-African ancestry as not white and therefore must be Black. If that's the bar, then there have already been other Black presidents, says historian Leroy Vaughn, author of Black People and Their Place in World History.
The first president with African ancestry was Jefferson, who served two terms between 1801 and 1809. Jefferson was described as the "son of a half-breed Indian squaw and a Virginia mulatto father," as stated in Vaughn's findings. Jefferson also was said to have destroyed all documentation attached to his mother, even going to extremes to seize letters written by his mother to other people.
President Andrew Jackson, the nation's seventh president, was in office between 1829 and 1837. Vaughn cites an article written in The Virginia Magazine of History that states Jackson was the son of an Irish woman who married a Black man. The magazine also stated that Jackson's oldest brother had been sold as a slave.
Lincoln, the nation's 16th president, served between 1861 and 1865. Lincoln was said to have been the illegitimate son of an African man, according to Vaughn's findings. Lincoln had very dark skin and coarse hair and his mother allegedly came from an Ethiopian tribe. His heritage fueled so much controversy that Lincoln was nicknamed "Abraham Africanus the First" by his opponents.
President Warren Harding, the 29th president, in office between 1921 and 1923, apparently never denied his ancestry. According to Vaughn, William Chancellor, a professor of economics and politics at Wooster College in Ohio, wrote a book on the Harding family genealogy. Evidently, Harding had Black ancestors between both sets of parents. Chancellor also said that Harding attended Iberia College, a school founded to educate fugitive slaves.
Coolidge, the nation's 30th president, served between 1923 and 1929 and supposedly was proud of his heritage. He claimed his mother was dark because of mixed Indian ancestry. Coolidge's mother's maiden name was "Moor," and in Europe, the name "Moor" was given to all Blacks, just as "Negro" was used in America. It later was concluded that Coolidge was part Black.
Ok, there goes my reason for voting for Obama.
"Sixth black president" just doesn't have the same ring to it.
Guess I'll just vote for Nader.
No, just like having an Italian ancestry doesn't make me Italian.Originally Posted by Bringthetruth
I am American. I was born here. My parents were born here. Two of my four grandparents were born here. I am American. I am a citizen of the United States of America. When people stop this separatist thinking, then perhaps this country will make progress. Until then, some are hopelessly stuck in the past. To that I say; You cannot change the past, or that you were conceived in the womb, or who's womb you were conceived in. How can you say you believe in the God that created you and thumb your nose at Him because He created you to be who you are? Get over it and move on.
First Amendment rights are like muscles, if you don't exercise them they will atrophy.
That's what people say who aren't the minority. This is why we can never move on .
Oh please! Cry me a river...
First Amendment rights are like muscles, if you don't exercise them they will atrophy.
5 BLACK PRESIDENTS
From the Book
Black People
And Their Place In World History
By:
Dr. Leroy Vaughn
The Five Black Presidents of The United States Of America
Thomas Jefferson
Andrew Jackson
Abraham Lincoln
WHO
IS
NEXT?
Warren Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Joel A. Rogers and Dr. Auset Bakhufu have both written books documenting that at least five former presidents of the United States had Black people among their ancestors. If one considers the fact that European men far outnumbered European women during the founding of this country, and that the rape and impregnation of an African female slave was not considered a crime, it is even more surprising that these two authors could not document Black ancestors among an ever larger number of former presidents. The president’s names include Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Warren Harding, and Calvin Coolidge.
The best case for Black ancestry is against Warren G. Harding, our 29th president from 1921 until 1923. Harding himself never denied his ancestry. When Republican leaders called on Harding to deny the "Negro" history, he said, "How should I know whether or not one of my ancestors might have jumped the fence." William Chancellor, a White professor of economics and politics at Wooster College in Ohio, wrote a book on the Harding family genealogy and identified Black ancestors among both parents of President Harding. Justice Department agents allegedly bought and destroyed all copies of this book. Chancellor also said that Harding's only academic credentials included education at Iberia College, which was founded in order to educate fugitive slaves.
Andrew Jackson was our 7th president from 1829 to 1837. The Virginia Magazine of History Volume 29 says that Jackson was the son of a White woman from Ireland who had intermarried with a Negro. The magazine also said that his eldest brother had been sold as a slave in Carolina. Joel Rogers says that Andrew Jackson Sr. died long before President Andrew Jackson Jr. was born. He says the president's mother then went to live on the Crawford farm where there were Negro slaves and that one of these men was Andrew Jr's father. Another account of the "brother sold into slavery” story can be found in David Coyle's book entitled "Ordeal of the Presidency" (1960).
Thomas Jefferson was our 3rd president from 1801 to 1809. The chief attack on Jefferson was in a book written by Thomas Hazard in 1867 called "The Johnny Cake Papers." Hazard interviewed Paris Gardiner, who said he was present during the 1796 presidential campaign, when one speaker states that Thomas Jefferson was “a mean-spirited son of a half-breed Indian squaw and a Virginia mulatto father.” In his book entitled "The Slave Children of Thomas Jefferson," Samuel Sloan wrote that Jefferson destroyed all of the papers, portraits, and personal effects of his mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson, when she died on March 31, 1776. He even wrote letters to every person who had ever received a letter from his mother, asking them to return that letter. Sloan says, "There is something strange and even psychopathic about the lengths to which Thomas Jefferson went to destroy all remembrances of his mother, while saving over 18,000 copies of his own letters and other documents for posterity." One must ask, "What is it he was trying to hide?"
Abraham Lincoln was our 16th president from 1861 to 1865. J. A. Rogers quotes Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks, as saying that Abraham Lincoln was the illegitimate son of an African man. William Herndon, Lincoln's law partner, said that Lincoln had very dark skin and coarse hair and that his mother was from an Ethiopian tribe. In Herndon's book entitled "The Hidden Lincoln" he says that Thomas Lincoln could not have been Abraham Lincoln's father because he was sterile from childhood mumps and was later castrated. Lincoln's presidential opponents made cartoon drawings depicting him as a Negro and nicknamed him “Abraham Africanus the First."
Calvin Coolidge was our 30th president, and he succeeded Warren Harding. He proudly admitted that his mother was dark because of mixed Indian ancestry. However, Dr. Bakhufu says that by 1800 the New England Indian was hardly any longer pure Indian, because they had mixed so often with Blacks. Calvin Coolidge's mother's maiden name was "Moor." In Europe the name "Moor" was given to all Black people just as the name Negro was used in America.
All of the presidents mentioned were able to pass for White and never acknowledged their Black ancestry. Millions of other children who were descendants of former slaves have also been able to pass for White. American society has had so much interracial mixing that books such as “The Bell Curve”, discussing IQ evaluations based solely on race, are totally unrealistic.
I’m Dr. Leroy Vaughn and that’s my view.
Moving on is a choice and takes conscious action to LET IT GO - by everyone! People need to stop looking at color/heritage/ancestry and just look at themselves as AMERICAN - we're all just a bunch of mutts, no pedigree. Get over it and move on already!
The Big Bang Theory: God Spoke and BANG! it happened.
so very,very true...
whatever
Lookout, he's back and ready to go with both barrels!
You come back every few months, just to say "whatever?"
What are you, a comedian?
Speak for yourself.
Unless you change your color there is no moving on, this is why race hating against blacks are still a MAJOR problem in america.
Ever wonder why it's not as bad in canada as the united states?
Slavery has affected blacks for many generations up until this day, but people like you aren't privy to that because you don't care to research and READ about it for yourself.
Be real for a minute.
What is it with the plagiarism? BringHussienObama just can't seem to grasp that when you steal somebody else's amterial you're supposed to give them credit.
Plain and simple, it's thievery.
Oh pul-ease! get over yourself and move on. I don't see the Italians bemoaning the Mongolians. I don't see the Israelites bemoaning the Egyptians or the Chaldean's. They moved on. So should you and your entitled attitude.
You are the one that needs to be real for a moment.
First Amendment rights are like muscles, if you don't exercise them they will atrophy.
What you fail to really understand is any of the other nationalities you mentioned felt slighted or discriminated and wanted to leave, they would always have a country to go back to, because they have relatives still there .
African Americans who wanted to go back didn't have any record of family to go back to.
I guarantee you mesue and Fisher you guys have no empathy of the african american being forced to come to america , while all others cam on their free will and kept in touch and recieved encouragement from their homeland.
I once heard this gentlemen from africa say , you blacks in america are some of the strongest.
To go thru what you have been thru from the 200 plus years of slavery and now own your property and make decision for others in business etc...
How strong a people you realy are.
He also said he doesn't imagine any other race of people able to overcome the cruel bondage and humilation ocurring while abiding in the United States Of America.
Institutionalised racism is so much more insiduous and evil because no one wants to take direct responsibility to change it.
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