Yo, wait a minute! I’m half-African-American, half-German. But I ain’t no mutt. President-elect Barack Obama is looking for a puppy, which he promised his cute little girls whether or not he was elected. Now he’s looking for one from an animal shelter (it also has to be hypo-allergenic). “But obviously, a lot of shelter dogs [...]
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Yo, wait a minute!
I’m half-African-American, half-German.
But I ain’t no mutt.
President-elect Barack Obama is looking for a puppy, which he promised his cute little girls whether or not he was elected.
Now he’s looking for one from an animal shelter (it also has to be hypo-allergenic).
“But obviously, a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me,” said Obama in a self-deprecating reference to his father from Kenya and mother from Kansas. “So whether we’re going to be able to balance those two thing, I think, is a pressing issue on the Obama household.”
That from Huffington Post (“Obama’s First Press Conference Turns To Dog Talk”).
Full video of the press conference below:
But time out!
I ain’t no mutt.
That is, I am not a mutt.
I don’t really care if Obama is trying to be self-deprecating to ingratiate the working man, the common man, the outcast, the forgotten, the misunderstood, the forlorn, the under-appreciated, the abandoned, the lost, or the inferior.
That’s all cool. But he doesn’t need to do that anymore. He’s the President-elect.
Mr. President-elect: Stop selling; start doing.
One of the things you can start doing right away is setting a new standard to uplift our own self-image.
We are a lot of things in this country, and many if not all of us are mixes of one thing and another.
I’m half-African-American, half-German. Others of us are half-Irish, half-Italian. Or half-Vietnamese, half-Californian. Or half-Moroccan, half-French. Or half-Hindu, half-Jewish. Or half-Native American, half-Mexican. Or half-this, half-that.
So?
We’re not mutts. We’re not half-breeds.
We’re the best of both worlds. We’re the combination of strengths. We’re hybrids. We’re thoroughbreds.
All of us. You. Me.
Americans.
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I hear you Claude, but I think that his usage, rather than being a pejorative, speaks to the notion that we are all mutts on some level. Beyond that is the implicit conclusion that any notions of racial purity in this day and age are inherently flawed; we are all africans in
a genetic context.
And besides…we all know that mutts are the best “dogs” physiologically, temperamentally and otherwise.
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Hi Claude,
I’m not an American, but I can relate to what you do say here. My eldest brother has some children born in America and they are still living there.
I am married to a Dutch man and I myself originate from Curacao (In the Caribbean).
My sons are also bi-racial so I can relate to what you say.
“That is, I am not a mutt.
I don’t really care if Obama is trying to be self-deprecating to ingratiate the working man, the common man, the outcast, the forgotten, the misunderstood, the forlorn, the under-appreciated, the abandoned, the lost, or the inferior.
That’s all cool. But he doesn’t need to do that anymore. He’s the President-elect.
Mr. President-elect: Stop selling; start doing.
One of the things you can start doing right away is setting a new standard to uplift our own self-image.”
Claude, I couldn’t agree with you more. Or yes, of course I can,
I can agree with you 200%!!!!!!! (LOL)
Our sons have been grown up with the idea and the knowledge that they are indead the best of two races. My youngest son is more aware of the fact that the outside world only see him as a son of a black woman.
As you call it (They’re thoroughbreds).
Their aunt from father’s site is also married to a German and that makes their daugther half Dutch and half German.
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I have always thought that “mutt” was a good thing. I’m African, Native American and Irish. I think my mixture gives me a flavor that is unique. It has certainly given me a wild sense of humor, it has made my hair a cross between something and something else, my freckels are always a topic of conversation, my Native American nose makes some think I am part Jewish. Does it matter ?. I’m a nice respectful educated productive human being. I’m a mother, grandmother, sister, sister-in-law, wife, child, or cousin to somebody in my huge mixed up family. We love it. The more diverse it gets the better we like it. Racism is somebody else’s stupidity. It only serves to limit one’s options and possibilities. So sad.
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Hey Ken, thanks. Yeah, I know he meant it a certain way. And sure enough, America itself is a mutt, in a matter of speaking. We are a mix of all countries, ethnic backgrounds, races, cultures, religions … the great American melting pot! But then he could have said, “A mutt like us.” Or added, “We’re all mutts.” My point too was that the self-deprecation is now no longer necessary. I’m not a dog person but I am pretty sure, from biology class, that species in nature usually get better and stronger and more adaptable when they mix.
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