Dee Savoy

I have learned a new reality today–I am not black, nor is Barack Obama–at least not according to author Debra Dickerson who maintains that being black means being a descendent of West Africans who came to this country as slaves. HUH??

Last time I checked, black folks were just that–black, brown, beige whatever, depending on where you’re from and how much (um) fraternization your folks did with others. To my knowledge, none of my folks were slaves in this country with the possible exception of some folks on my father’s side who, given the name Savoy, obviously came from Louisiana.

Obama, is however African American–Dickerson will give him that much, since his dad is from Kenya. I suppose by that logic Dickerson would allow me my own assessment of my cultural identity: Jamerican–Jamaican and American.

Here’s what Dickerson had to say on the Daily Show.

So now Obama and I, and millions more folks I’m sure are now un-black in Dickerson’s eyes. Is that like being undead? Maybe she means the rest of us brown-skinned non-black folks who don’t a have a slave background here in America are, like vampires, sucking up the benefits of racial progress without having suffered for them first. I hope not. Either way, I think I’ll go sharpen my eyeteeth anyway.