On November 4, Americans go to the polls to elect a
president in what USA media has been calling a historic election. Of course,
there is nothing historic about it except for the fact that one candidate Barack
Obama is referred to as African American (used interchangeably with being black)
although he is of mixed racial heritage.
The obsession with Obamas racial identity is a troubling
statement of the racial undertones that characterise American politics. A woman
at a rally asked Obamas opponent, John McCain, whether it was true that Obama
is an Arab. No mum, McCain answered, he is a descent human being. Does this
mean that Arabs are not descent human beings? On many blogs, Obamas opponents
call him a Muslim to discredit him as if being Muslim disqualifies one from
running for president.
But why is a person of mixed race called black? It all goes
back to slavery which was built on racial identity. For it to work, Europeans
in America systematically devalued and rejected everything African. People of
African origin were constructed as sub-human. Inter racial mating/marriage was
criminalised. Every drop of African blood was enough to push someone out of the
category of human (defined as white) into sub-human (defined as black). In the
process, the European half of racially mixed off-springs was denied
acknowledgement.
It is this ugly history that Obama, his admirers, opponents
and the mass media accept without question when they call him black. Yet in
spite of this history and its many faults, America is a functional society that
offers its citizens many opportunities. Obama realised this and will therefore
become an inspiration to many people of African descent.
In his book, Dreams from my Father, he demonstrates the
social obstacles that stand in the path to personal development in the US by
African Americans. Yet he expresses an admirable resolve to overcome them. His
key message is that seeming liabilities can be worked into advantages; and that
although the circumstances of our birth can impose immense obstacles in our
path, how we traverse our life’s journey is more important.
I was attracted to his message of personal responsibility the
courage to look within oneself for one’s success, the refusal to attribute ones
life’s failures to others whatever their contribution to your disadvantage.
Obama shows that even in a bad situation, opportunities abound, however limited
and that a keen person should be able to take advantage of them. This, more
than any policy proposal he has put forth, makes Obama an interesting candidate
to look up to.
During his growth, Obama writes, he sought inspiration by
reading the works of leading African American intellectuals W.E.B. DuBois,
James Baldwin etc. They sounded like prisoners, held in Americas social jails weary,
resigned and exhausted by the very social injustices they were supposed to
fight. Obama was not willing to accept this defeatist mentality that led to
self contempt. He wanted inspiration and he found it in Malcolm X who rejected
the attitude of defeat and resignation without ignoring the immensity of the
challenge before him.
Obama felt that the attitude of defeat among African
Americans was rooted in a historical power equation where they played on the
white mans court... by the white mans rules. Those who succumbed to this
illogic spectre of race withdrew into personal rage until being black in
America meant only the knowledge of ones powerlessness. Yet even those who
refused defeat and lashed out at their oppressors did not do well either
because they were quickly labelled Angry, Militant, Violent, etc.
Although attracted to Malcolm Xs militancy, he rejected his
mentors anger against white people while understanding its origins. Malcolm X
had white ancestors. Apparently his great white grandfather had raped his black
great grandmother. So he was a product of hate and crime. Obama is an offspring
of a love affair between a black Kenyan and a white Kansas woman, brought up in
the loving care of white grandparents.
Although Obama understood Malcolm Xs rejection of his white
ancestry, he also realised it could not fit him either. It is in this
experience that constructs the foundational philosophy of Obamas politics of
reaching across the Isle to the other side. For him, life does not have only
one defining moment, one beginning or one end. He sees many possibilities,
different courses of action and different outcomes.
I discover early in his book that his message of change is
actually not new it is a slogan he wrote in his 1996 publication Dreams
from my Father. But then, can Obama really change America? This is where he is
likely to disappoint many admirers. For the United States has entrenched
interests that stand above and beyond what any president can do. We can take
just one example the military industrial complex. Its largest client is the US
government. It will therefore always push any president to war. Obama will
therefore have to find some country to bomb in order to stake his claim to
being an effective commander in chief.
Yet it is not so much what the president of the US does but
rather how he does it that shapes how the world takes him. Bill Clinton bombed
as many countries as George Bush Afghanistan, Sudan and Serbia and invaded
Haiti. Yet Clinton has not attracted the kind of hostile reception that Bush
has encountered well because he recognised the views of others. Thus, if he
wins on November 4, the challenge for Obama is how to work with other nations
without making America appear like a bull in a China shop.
Obamas proposed reforms in healthcare, in education and in
social security will meet resistance from vested interests and get bogged down
in congressional gridlock. Thus, the greatest contribution his victory will
bring will not be in changing America. Rather it will be in inspiring African
Americans and Africans generally to aim higher. Quite often we resign ourselves
to defeat on grounds that white society imposes innumerable social obstacles in
our path. If one defined as African can win the highest office in America that
excuse will have been dealt a devastating blow.
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