Here we go again: another European innocent poke at Obama's African ancestry. [Watch the video]. This time a Turkish news anchor wears black face [I guess he was paying homage to Mister Al Jolson] as he reported on President Obama's recent trip to Turkey [you know, that country James Baldwin swooned over in the doc Price of the Ticket]. What will it take for some of these demeaning albeit innocent Europeans to learn painting your face black or promoting fried chicken in the name of our president is not acceptable? Seriously, where are these people learning race etiquette? From a Tom and Jerry cartoon?
This ongoing dehumanizing kahretsin [look it up] needs to come to a global end. Come on, people, you have to know painting your face black is not quality broadcast journalism, or innocent. BTW, many Turkish people are darker in complexion than many people of African-descent. In fact, I'm sure if you took at swab of Turkish DNA those sub-Saharan markers would be dancing "all up and through". My point? If the news anchor was trying to relate to our half-Kenyan prez he didn't have to paint on anything.
Keith Josef Adkins is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter and social commentator.