Obama - African American or Arab American?

Submitted by David (United States), Aug 3, 2008 at 07:51

I am pretty sure I get Obama's genealogy on the mother side.

White, including his racist Grandmother and several ancestors who owned slaves. No American slaves are part of his mom's family tree, right?

What I don't get clearly enough, because I don't know enough about Kenya, its society, its people and its history is Obama's genealogy on his Dad's side.

Is Obama's dad a descendant of Arab slave traders?

Is there a major difference in Kenya between being of Arab descent and of being of "tribal African" descent?

I heard that Obama's dad only had one "tribal African" ancestor - a maternal great-grandparent. The rest of Obama's Dad's family were proud Arabs and I guess that really means something in Kenya, am I right about that?

What it means for us in the US is that the "First Black President" has no ancestors who were actually enslaved in America from the period up to 1865 when it was made illegal.

But moreover, whereas some, and I do say some because lots of whites arrived in America after the days of slavery, some whites can trace their ancestors back to being slave holders, Obama can trace his ancestors back to both sides of the evil slave trade. He had ancestors who caught slaves and sold them as well as ancestors who bought and used them as slaves.

But again, not one, not one ancestor who was actually a slave. But white people who to the best of their ability can find no slave owners in their genealogical background are more responsible for slavery than someone who has both slave traders and slave owners in his?

By the way, just wondering are there any racial tensions between Kenyans of Arab descent and Kenyans of tribal African descent in Kenya? If so, would the members of Obama's father's family be discriminated against or favored in Kenyan society for their Arab ancestry?

It looks like our first "African-American" President should more correctly be considered if one carefully looked at his genealogy Arab-American.

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