Is Obama Black enough?

via Media Matters:

an all-white group discussed an upcoming forum at a National Association of Black Journalists convention that will address, according to the convention program -- as quoted by The Washington Post -- the question Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) "cannot seem to shake -- is he black enough? Is this an unfair question? What is the measure of blackness and who gets to decide?" Host Tucker Carlson asked A.B. Stoddard, associate editor of The Hill, and Newsweek senior editor Jonathan Alter: "What exactly do people mean when they talk about Obama's quote, "blackness"?

Well, that's surely an interesting question. This brings up a point that was more of an issue during the pre-civil rights era; will, or even should, someone of mixed ancestry be accepted by one of the groups, both, or neither? Now, I thought we were past this, but apparently the conservative right won't let it go. Reading the transcript from that site, it is clear that these people believe that neither will fully accept him. Of the total American population, I would agree, a large minority of both groups would probably reject him because of this fact alone, but most of this minority are either conservatives, republicans, or independents who would vote republican anyway. I guess I just have to believe that the liberals and democrats are past this and the fact that Obama is black, but not all black, and the fact that Hillary is a woman will not be more important than their policy decisions.