A Ticklish Position

GUESS who came to dinner, during the presidential election of 2008? Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinoisand he is the first black nominee ever. This is big and cheering news, given American history. And no fair saying that he’s not a descendant of slaves. And no fair saying that, actually, he’s half white. That’s not the way it works in America, for better or worse. (Almost certainly worse.)

The country has always abided by the “one-drop rule,” mentally at least. And there is an old, sharp saying: America is the only country in which a white woman can give birth to a black baby, but a black woman can’t give birth to a white baby.

About the Author

Jay Nordlinger

Jay Nordlinger was a senior editor of National Review and a book fellow at National Review Institute.

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GUESS who came to dinner, during the presidential election of 2008? Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinoisand he is the first black nominee ever. This is big and cheering news, given American history. And no fair saying that he’s not a descendant of slaves. And no fair saying that, actually, he’s half white. That’s not the way it works in America, for better or worse. (Almost certainly worse.)

The country has always abided by the “one-drop rule,” mentally at least. And there is an old, sharp saying: America is the only country in which a white woman can give birth to a black baby, but a black woman can’t give birth to a white baby.