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by The_Bliss_Report from Metro Detroit

Last Post 42 days, 11 hours Ago


PRESIDENT ELECT BARACK OBAMA'S "MUTT LIKE ME" STATEMENT HIGHLIGHTS JOY AND PAIN
Nov 27, 2008 | 11:14 AM
Category: News
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When I read the musician Kanye West's comment in a popular magazine that he prefers to date exotic-looking, mixed-race female "mutts" and cast them in his videos—I was outraged.  The word mutt sounds so dirty, so inferior.  It's the opposite, in the dog world, of pedigreed.  You know, the primped and groomed kind of expensive, pure-blood dog that wins blue ribbons.

But when I heard that President Elect Barack Obama said he wanted to get his daughters a puppy from a shelter, specifically "a mutt like me" — I took the comment quite differently.  Especialy when I read a news article that said his comment — which drew laughter — epitomized his ability to take a heavy-duty subject like race and lighten it into palatable subject matter for life-changing conversations.

Whatever it takes.  I just caution that a word that's so loaded with meaning can be used, by the malicious-minded, against us.

Biracial and multiracial are the terms du jour that make mixed-race people feel affirmed and valued. Those are the contemporary words that should be used as America's new conversation on race evolves.  Meanwhile, we should banish the slave-era word mulatto — which comes from mule, the sterile cross between a horse and a donkey.  It's also a life partner with the word tragic.  The tragic mulatto stereotype, also rooted in slavery, cast an image of mixed-race folks as confused, alienated, rejected by both side.

Now every side is embracing this triumphant man named Barack Obama.

Because, thankfully, the world has changed.  Race relations have changed.  Perceptions have changed.  And the conversation has changed.
In the big picture, any dialogue is progress.  Sometimes we can be so terrified of offending someone, that we opt out of the race conversation altogether.  That's dangerous.

Let's be brave in our new world.  And continue to change for the better. 
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The_Bliss_Report

Tired of bad news? Send me a good news story and I'll publish it in The Bliss Report. I’m a former Fox 2 news writer and a bestselling author. A Michigan native and downtown Detroiter, I’m an exercise and healthy eating enthusiast—after celebrating a 100-pound weight loss on Oprah! As an expert on interracial families and biracial people, I was a guest on Montel with my first book, White Chocolate.

Member Since: 4/17/2008


 

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