Teresa Heinz Kerry: I'm an 'African American'
 

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/2/24/121520.shtml


Teresa Heinz Kerry: I'm an 'African American'

First lady wannabe Teresa Heinz Kerry sometimes describes herself as an
"African American," even though she grew up amidst segregated privilege in
colonial Mozambique.

"My roots are African," she told a reporter in 1995. "The birds I remember,
the fruits I ate, the trees I climbed, they're African."

Throughout the 1990s, Heinz Kerry referred to herself as "African American,"
the Baltimore Sun revealed on Tuesday. And when her use of the term set off
a firestorm of controversy in 1993, she defended the claim.

"African-hyphen-American belongs to blacks," Heinz Kerry's spokesman told
reporters, insisting that it was proper for his boss to call herself African
American as long as no hyphen was used or intended.

The one-time Republican's depiction of herself as African rankles some who
knew Heinz Kerry in the days when her father ran a medical clinic in
Mozambique.

Some say the wealthy "African American" has snubbed blacks in her homeland,
because she has done next to nothing with her vast Heinz Foods fortune to
improve living conditions there.

"We are proud she is a daughter of the land," Neo Simbine, 75, a retired
black nurse who worked with Heinz Kerry's father, told the Sun. "But you
have to live what you say. If she really loves Mozambique and has lots of
money, why doesn't she build us a hospital?"

Heinz Kerry's fortune is equal to nearly a quarter of Mozambique's annual
Gross Domestic Product.

But aside from a contribution to her homeland's Save the Children Fund, the
woman who repeatedly invokes her Mozambican roots has limited her
generosity.

A spokeswoman for the Heinz Foundation said the prospective first lady would
give more if she were more confident the money would be managed properly.



Don't kid yourself, Demoncats and Republicans alike think this woman has a bolt loose. We also know that if she were still a Republican, we'd be hearing non-stop about how this elitist rich white woman who lived in a segregated country for 25 years (and with black servants), was nothing more than a capitalist racist.

Make no mistake about it, if she wasn't the media darling's wife, the dreaded "R" word would have been printed in association with with her name a 10,000 times by now.

this is so stupid.

I went to college and was friends with many african students who laughed out loud at the black-only african-american designation. there are remnants of french, dutch, portughese, native, arab, and countless other ethnicities in Africa, and if any of those people move to the US and become citizens, they are therefore African-american.

DONT LABEL ME!!! Wait, That Label is FOR US ONLY!! How stupid.

actually, they are all only AMERICAN. I'm a scotch-irish-czech-brit-pennsyltuckian-American. but I settle for being called American.

if the descendents of slaves wish for a designation for them alone, I'd suggest they deserve it.. but that it should be unique to their group alone. Not exclusive of others who deserve the designation like countless non-black non-slave-descendant African-Americans.

picking on a woman who speaks her mind and doesn't clear everything through the spin squad first is stupid too. She's closer to what we need in a politician than most of the rest of them if for this reason alone.

k

Yeah but Terry Heinz has said some stupid things on the campaign trail..... For example, at Missouri she suggested regulations for organic farming methods among Hog Farmers.

The crowd went nuts and it seemed like some of them might start pelting Theresa Heinz with tomatos.

Who is supposed to be offended by this?

First off, they keep getting her name wrong --
 

She married Kerry. Her name is therefore Teresa Kerry. End of discussion on that.

I like her! As djugurba said:

******
. . . [P]icking on a woman who speaks her mind and doesn't clear everything through the spin squad first is stupid too. She's closer to what we need in a politician than most of the rest of them if for this reason alone.

******

Absolutely. A little more honesty around here is refreshing. I'll bet John, George, Dick, and all the other cartoon characters would *LOVE* to tell an annoying reporter to "shove it", but don't have the nerve.

That said, if she becomes First Lady, I don't want to see her treated like a de facto public official. If she wants public office, she can run for it like anybody else.

I've gotten off the topic, but if she's from Africa, why can't she call herself African American if she wants to buy into that foolish terminology? (What a depressing sight, that the cartoon characters are reduced to arguing about a hyphen. Teddy Roosevelt is probably rotating like a C230K supercharger in his grave about now.)

Agreed.

Actually, I think she's kinda cute....if not a MILF, possibly a GILF?? :eek:

She's hot enough to go from being a jungle doctor's daughter to marrying one mega-millionaire after another. She has got to have something going for her. With money like that, as far as she is concerned, she can call herself Pluto-American and she ain't gonna give **** what anyone says about it.

Depends on what she is there for.

"Karen is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me." PODUS on May 27, 2004 :D

Wow. Here's a burning issue. Just because she is an American born and raised in Africa, she has the nerve to call herself an African American. I am shocked. Can't the voters see that the future of Western Civilization depends on driving this evil woman out?

Whoever decided this thread merits discussion, I guess. :rolleyes:

Pluto-American! I like that. Maybe "Plutocratic-American"?

If Hubby wins, it will be a new and interesting experience to have somebody in the Whitehouse who has no political aspirations and seems downright ambivalent about the whole sorry mess.

Well, I think, as an outsider, that she's added a little spice to Kerry's otherwise bland campaign.

Ayyone seen the daughters? If I was in the US, I'd vote for him just to get more coverage of them. hottttttt!

as a black, african born african i have no problems with her calling herself african american. i have white "south african" teamates on my rugby team who are "african americans" and we call ourselves the african contingent in light of the kiwi contingent. i have no problems with that either. they were born and raised there just as much as i was.

in fact the whole african american thing to me is funny. both are continents, and not representative of the race of people described. so is it african, or american? i call myself black. or african.

and believe it or not, but her fears of mismanagement of funds are valid. there is a lot of corruption and chicanery in african politics. simply giving money to them would not be prudent.
this coming from a bonafide african. who is weary of watching "his" people suffer from lack of development. of corrupt govts stealing the peoples wealth.

and mozambique is right next to zimbabwe where i grew up.

I posted a picture of one of them awhile ago, if only Barb and Jenna would do some similar poses I'm sure the Bush campaign would get a rise
:cool:

Regarding Ms. Kerrys comment who cares? she was making a statment that was well intended and no big deal unless your a reporter.