Demographers, pollsters and scientists have a lot to answer for. The New York Times ran a story about Barack Obama and how citizens of composite origins identify with him. The article wrote about people being pigeonholed into “Black”, “White” ore “Asian”. What I found most repulsive, however, was the suggestion that one had to be 100% black/white/asian – whatever – to “fit in”. Alright, so I admit I’m living with my head in a hole…honestly, I’ve known of this at the intellectual level, so it’s really a matter of something triggering my self-righteous indignation enough to post a psychopathic rant about things that I long ago filed away to simmer at the back of my mind.

Anyone who’s read my previous posts should already understand this – race to a Malaysian is like fire to a gunpowder magazine. I live in a society where ethnic identity permeates the very air I breathe. After all, the “Original Sin” of Malaysian politics is its ethnically/racially charged nature where “Malays vote for Malays, Chinese vote for Chinese and Indians vote for Indians”. I’ve lived with that mentality all my life – every election, one of the prime concerns in my household would be “Will a Chinese retain power in Penang, or will it be one of those Malay guys from UMNO?” That’s why my older relatives get so annoyed with me when I say “If he does a good job, why not?” I suppose I’ve become somewhat more cosmopolitan in my views towards race and religion. I blame the web.

It would seem, however, that the web doesn’t have quite that kind of effect on some of the most worthless scum ever to populate the surface of the planet – the bigot. I’ll admit, I’m a bigot too. I still have trouble finding nice things to say about the proselytizing religions – Judaism, Christianity – in general and Islam in particular. But some things just get my goat. You see, my father always thought me to get along with people. Whatever, whoever they are, I should always take them as individuals, not as “a Muslim”, “a Jew” or “a Black”. Whatever their heritage, a person should be judged, not by what he is but who he is.

Enter the Obama Wars

Two days ago, while browsing digg, I came across a comment about Barack Obama – who, the poster claimed, was “50% White, 6% Black, 43% Arab”, or something like that insinuating that anyone who is…uh…43% Arab?.. is ineligible to become President. Ok, fine. So digg isn’t much a haven for the intelligent – at least their posting section brings its own share of trolls and morons. But it’s dramatically sad when otherwise intelligent Americans can somehow believe that someone cannot be President on account of his racial heritage.

Let’s get the picture clear here.

He’s got Arab blood, therefore he must be some evil terrorist who’s gonna sell out the US to those bloody Arabs in the MidEast.

Riiiiiight.

I don’t know what offends me more – the racist sentiment behind that or the fact that people are willing to go so far as to “break down” his ancestry into “percentages of acceptability”. It’s not just Obama – the sentiment (100% BLACK) goes both ways.

Honestly, why anyone should really fucking care if a person is black, brown, yellow, white or blue with pink polka-dots (why are they called polka dots anyway?)? For that matter, why should it fucking matter that I’m not 100% BLACK? What is this? America or the Third-fucking-Reich? And,no, I am *not* being hyperbolic because the only fucking country where this kind of shit has ever been important was the Third-fucking-Reich. Y’know…all the concern about “pure Aryan blood” and all that?

So where was I? Oh, yes – demographers. Well, take your statistics and fucking *stuff* them up thine, will you? I don’t fucking want to be known as “Chinese” “Buddhist” or whatever. We’re all humans, from the same stock, with the same heritage and responsibilities as citizens of the world. What does it matter what “percentage” I am of what shit? I. Am. Human.

And let’s leave it as such.

Oh, and Mr. “Obama is 40% Ay-rab”? Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries.