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Obama’s diverse family

 

nytimes
pic courtesy: nytimes

 

 

Was reading the NYtimes, and the portrait of the Obama family is pretty diverse. Very interesting mixture.

The president’s elderly stepgrandmother brought him an oxtail fly whisk, a mark of power at home in Kenya. Cousins journeyed from the South Carolina town where the first lady’s great-great-grandfather was born into slavery, while the rabbi in the family came from the synagogue where he had been commemoratingMartin Luther King’s Birthday. The president and first lady’s siblings were there, too, of course: his Indonesian-American half-sister, who brought her Chinese-Canadian husband, and her brother, a black man with a white wife.

Whether Obama will change the US of A or not, I think this mixture is definitely a change to the hypocritical ‘ruling class’ of the US of A ; which has predominantly been white protestants. The NYTimes say that, there were several thousands of people who came to the Inauguration, not for witnessing the event, but for making sure – they would not believe that they would have a black president, until they see one taking the oath. Wow. That is shocking.

2 replies on “Obama’s diverse family”

What makes you think that the ruling class of USA is only of protestant stock? You say that you studied in USA seems not know the country well. My understanding stems from my days in MidWest and following their history.

For a time a few decades after independence, Virginia and the Penn States were Scotch Irish dominated -i.e. of Scottish Northern Irish extraction who belonged to presbyterian church which is protestant. Later, Poles in Chicago, Irish in Mass and Italians in Newyork are all Catholics. and other Adriatic extraction from whom the current Illinois governor comes from belong to orthodox church, ( there are large numbers of them spread out in MidWest), Jews just about every where-Newyork, Ohio … AND not to forget Greeks who have their own orthodox church. Orthodox churches are neither catholic nor protestant. Plus Nordic populated Minnesota and up. Better to say a mixed bag of white ruling class.

As far blacks, they do think of dream fulfilling when a half-black has become the president. But a black lawyer in Alabama told me recently, to understand their depth of depravity the president should be from a ‘slave stock’ which Obama is not, but it is beginning. Mere ‘rain bow’ coalition would not do for them. They fear that this has come too late. Why? In about 30+ years there will be majority hispanics who are catholics. Add to them extraction of Poles, Italians and Irish. USA will be catholic. One should have seen how Pope Benedict was received last year in USA.

Ravi:

I did not mean to make a controversial comment there. I just quoted wikipedia and NYTimes, which said, that the presidents (all 43 of them) have mostly been from the protestant class.

I understand that, the congress and the senate has a good mixture. Having been to down south (Louisiana, Alabama, Miss.), I understand and empathize what you say about the slave class. But like the lawyer rightly said – it is a beginning. Lets see how it unfolds.

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