3440 A proud grandma

A girlfriend (yes, we still say "girl" at our age) showed me the photos of her new grand daughter at about one hour old. She arrived 10 days early, very shortly after her mom's shower. Gorgeous, pink, and chubby with straight black hair and eyes, she is bi-racial, her father a Nigerian and her mother an Irish American. Her skin will darken some as she gets older, but right now she's a match with mom, not dad and because of the way we view people in this country by custom, culture and government edict, she will always be counted as African-American for the census, medical studies, scholarships, school diversity programs and employment opportunities. We have such an established bureaucracy dependent on keeping our citizens divided into groups, she may never in my life time be able to just be who she is.

African Americans are now the second largest minority group in the US--Hispanics are first. Many of the U.S. black population, like my friend's son-in-law, are recent arrivals--in fact 8 percent. According to the New York Times (reported at City Journal), more African immigrants have arrived voluntarily since 1990 than the number who once came as slaves. These immigrants, too, have far higher employment and education levels than native-born blacks. Barack Obama's name is out there for President. His father, although never a citizen, was born in Africa, and married an American and Barack was raised in Hawaii. Both his parents had advanced degrees. You can't say anything about his father only seeing him twice or being a Muslim or you are declared a racist, so just go read his autobiography or read a liberal blog which will tell you the same thing, but won't be called racist. Unlike some who have called him "privileged" because of private schooling, I'd say growing up without dad to help you sort through life's problems and hurts removes you from that definition.

Meanwhile, Diddy Daddy dawdles and hasn't married his "long time girlfriend," the mother of his new twin girls (and his older son) and Diddy didn't marry the mother of his oldest son. I feel a poem coming on. . . Poor Diddy's kiddies/Diddy or did he/you be one sad dad/You be P. Diddy. The failure of some highly visible and successful celebrities to become real fathers contributes to the poverty of the women and children left with Uncle Sam by young men who imitate the bling and strut of the diddy daddies of this world.

Technorati: Sean John Combs, P. Diddy, fatherhood, African Americans