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::I just think we should apply the same standard to both articles. I also think that a man's achievements (or lack thereof, in the case of Obama) are more important than his skin color. Finally, if we can't be sure if any of the Presidents was black, we certainly can't be sure about the much larger number of more obscure generals. [[User:BHarlan|BHarlan]] 12:06, 15 October 2008 (EDT)
::I just think we should apply the same standard to both articles. I also think that a man's achievements (or lack thereof, in the case of Obama) are more important than his skin color. Finally, if we can't be sure if any of the Presidents was black, we certainly can't be sure about the much larger number of more obscure generals. [[User:BHarlan|BHarlan]] 12:06, 15 October 2008 (EDT)
:::Being "black" is more about superficial characteristics than about "blood quanta". It's about shared experiences of being looked at as "other" as "worse"; it's about the shared experience of being called a N***er, spat upon for your skin color. It's about not being able to ride a bus or drink from a fountain based on what people can *see*, not based on what someone might find if they look really hard into your geology. In that context, Powell, followed by Ms. Rice are certainly black, certainly distinct from other "white" politicians who did not have as hard a path. Ms. Rice is from Denver, and I have heard her lecture on what it was like to grow up Black here. I think it is a valuable comment, though it may not need to be the first or second comment on any biography - the color of her skin shaped who Ms. Rice is, and made her one of the strongest women in America. (I wish McCain had chosen her. She would have set this world on FIRE! - can I make personal comments like that? or is that not appropriate?)--[[User:JeanJacques|JeanJacques]] 11:16, 20 October 2008 (EDT)
:::Being "black" is more about superficial characteristics than about "blood quanta". It's about shared experiences of being looked at as "other" as "worse"; it's about the shared experience of being called a N***er, spat upon for your skin color. It's about not being able to ride a bus or drink from a fountain based on what people can *see*, not based on what someone might find if they look really hard into your geology. In that context, Powell, followed by Ms. Rice are certainly black, certainly distinct from other "white" politicians who did not have as hard a path. Ms. Rice is from Denver, and I have heard her lecture on what it was like to grow up Black here. I think it is a valuable comment, though it may not need to be the first or second comment on any biography - the color of her skin shaped who Ms. Rice is, and made her one of the strongest women in America. (I wish McCain had chosen her. She would have set this world on FIRE! - can I make personal comments like that? or is that not appropriate?)--[[User:JeanJacques|JeanJacques]] 11:16, 20 October 2008 (EDT)
:::Colin Powell is known as being an African American as both of his parents come from Jamaica. Barack Obama is known to be the product of a bi-racial marriage. It was in part Powell's "blackness" and acceptance as military leader by Americans of all hues that was noteworthy. It showed not only a change in who could reach the highest levels of importance, but a change in the cultural attitudes of the country at large. To not make mention of this, when Powell himself does, would be to sidestep an important part of the full picture. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 14:12, 21 October 2008 (EDT)