The conversation around whether Illinois Senator, Barack Obama was “black enough” to be considered a “black president,” reached a crescendo last week at the National Association of Black Journalist national convention. The question that has dogged this presidential election’s “black” (and most exciting) candidate for months had its origins in the black press. Obama finally had the chance to confront the source, but only after convention delegates decided to apply the same question to New York Senator, Hilary Clinton, that day before Obama’s appearance. No other candidate, to date, had been confronted with such a question.

Richardson hasn’t been asked is he Hispanic enough, though many Latinos were hardly aware of his candidacy before recent efforts to publicize it, due to Richardson non-Latin surname. Nobody has used campaign time to ask Rudy Guiliani if he’s Italian enough, or Mitt Romney if he’s Mormon enough (though some have asked if he’s “too Mormon"). And of course, nobody has asked Hilary if she’s woman enough, despite obvious attempts to soften up her image. It’s Obama who has had to try to justify his presence among Blacks and Whites, as he has sought to define himself outside the preacher/politician construct of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

Jackson’s presidential runs in 1984 and 1988 were serious campaigns to address domestic policy issues disproportionately affecting African Americans in the midst of the Reagan revolution. Sharpton’s run was more an act of self-aggrandizement and wasn’t considered any more a serious run for president than Shirley Chisholm’s run in 1972. Barack has proven to be the “real deal.” What determines who’s the real deal? Money. No one, except actual Presidents, have raised “Barack” money. And certainly no “black” candidate has. So what’s the point here?

The point is, all of the previous African American candidates were considered “black candidates” with little “crossover” appeal outside their black base (except for Jackson’s rainbow base in 1988). Their “legitimacy” in the black community wasn’t questioned, nor was there any questions about their racial identity. Obama’s Ivy League pedigree, combined with his bi-racial identity, has seemed to negate a very legitimate civil rights and community organizing background that fostered one of the most pro-black state legislators in the Mid-West. His blackness became a question, then a campaign issue, but only in the black community. And why is it any issue anyway (the question Barack asked NABJ)? Who would be black enough for Black America?

The Obama quandary really leads to a larger, more legitimate question. Is there anybody in the 2008 race for President who could satisfactorily address the biggest concerns of African Americans, nationwide? Blacks are treated as a monolithic group whose issues are largely ignored, and whites are ignored are as hegemonic group whose issues are highly salient and frequently addressed. The question, “are you white enough” to represent America’s dominant interests never have to be stated, but are always inferred in every debate. Hilary Clinton came to the NABJ convention speaking about the plight of black males, but didn’t speak to the socio-economic and political systems that have caused 1.4 million black boys to be out of school, out of work, and in Hilary’s word “often out of hope.” It clearly was perceived as pandering to the black press. But when she was asked the question as to whether she was “black enough” to represent black people and translate her husband’s black support levels to her own, her response was generic and unclear - some rhetoric about having to earn the black vote. Well, how do you do that if you really don’t speak to institutional and systemic issues that effect black folk?

Hilary’s “racism is real” comments were fine, and it’s always good to acknowledge the problem (as did her husband), but how do you propose to change it - without giving up your inferred position of being white enough to get elected? In Obama’s case, he confronted this question at the NABJ convention to his credit, in a way that really outlined the fear (and distrust) of anybody being able to represent the whole nation while, given the state of Black America, representing the unique and complex issues of African Americans. Yeah, his appeal to Whites makes him a bona-fide candidate. And his appeal to Blacks is just as legitimate, despite the “colorstuck” politics that historically have been a source of intra-race conflict for African Americans. The “black enough” discussion is rooted in the intra-race distrust among dark-skinned and light-skinned Blacks that causes the race to have divided interests, not necessarily just around class (haves vs. have-nots) issues. We witness a bifurcation in the political economy of urban black communities, and in the shifting definitions of what “blackness” is supposed to represent in the “us” versus “them” battle of racial identity politics in America. Whites want to suggest this battle no longer exists (the Colorblind construct) but African Americans know for sure that it exists. Barack is trying to avoid, and I’m not sure wants to be, the “Black Candidate” label (in the Jackson/Sharpton mode) for as long as he can, but has been careful to speak to issues impacting Blacks (“quiet riots in urban America”) that will keep him plugged into this important base. Concurrently, Obama has forced the black press not only to recant on the question, but to make it an equal opportunity question that is applied to every candidate, not just the black one.

In the final analysis, I’m not so sure which candidate, if any, can really be considered “black enough” to be responsive to the issues that African Americans care about:

The domestic “Marshall Plan” several candidates have mentioned as infra-structure rehabilitation issues are really urban and social reinvestment programs that scare the hell out of white people. Nobody’s black enough, so far, to make this a primary staple of their campaign platform, or to make a campaign promise to fix issues many believe white folk care little about. I don’t think anybody’s that black. If so, declare yourself.

So, in a nutshell, no candidate is “black enough” to represent Black America. But Black America will decide the next President, so we’ll see how “black” the candidates get over in the next few months. Barack won’t be the only one called out for not being “black enough.” The others will have to “talk black” for a minute, if they want to be elected, but nobody is volunteering to be the first “black President.” Obama is just the only one whose face won’t come off after the election. He’ll have to come back home. The others' blackface will wash off if they have to declare themselves “President of all the people.” Until they make a promise (and come through), nobody’s black enough. The pandering has only just begun.   

BlackCommentator.com Columnist Dr. Anthony Asadullah Samad is a national columnist, managing director of the Urban Issues Forum and author of the upcoming book, Saving The Race: Empowerment Through Wisdom. His Website is AnthonySamad.com. Click here to contact Dr. Samad.