The Bandwagon…
I can remember it well. It had been a whole year that I had been living in Africa. But the Obama fever was alive and well here also. For some reason I just could not quite catch it. I felt like Huey on the Boondocks (episode 1, season 3). Whenever someone approached me about my feelings in regards to the possibility of America electing a “Black President” I would reply with the equivalent of (a very non-enthusiastic), “ehhh.” On one level it made no sense. I majored in History and minored in Political Science in college. What could be both more historical and political at the same time as this? Nonetheless, it did not excite me as it did others. Sure, the whole thing would be nice; A Black man in the White House. And not only that, but this black man was not white washed by his ivy-league education nor was he too ghetto to represent us (other Blacks in America) well. He was the perfect balance: articulate, tall, well-educated, married to pretty black woman, not a sell-out, but at the same time he did not walk about blaming the White man for all his or Black America’s problems. I did not share some of his political views, but I liked him. Did I believe in “him?” No. It is not that I didn’t believe in Mr. Obama per se, as opposed to the other presidents that preceded him. It is that I learned long ago that the presidency of the United States, though being a very influential position, is not as powerful and world changing as most people make it out to be. Sure, the presidency in lots of other nations, especially those which are considered third-world, is more akin to a monarchial dictatorship than the product of fair elections. But even in a country as powerful and high-profile as the U.S., the president is not the end of all in terms of policy--both national and international. Though our checks and balances and separating branches of government are far from perfect, they along with term limits prevent even the most popular of men (so far) from attaining a superfluous grip on power—ask Hillary Clinton…
Back to Mr. Obama--I remember election night well. Everyone was abuzz, and every white person who supported John McCain felt the need to always preempt their explanation for the support with saying, “It’s not because Obama is Black…” My goodness, every time I would hear that, I had to chuckle to myself. By everyone saying this thing was NOT about race but then resorting to such speech just reinforces the realization of the reality that at the end of the day-- it was. Anyway, election night was met with such anticipation and giddiness. As the votes were being tallied, you could see the air being sucked in many a proud Black American’s chest. By the next morning you could see so many Black men strutting around with chests stuck out like roosters. Among the whites, they acted normal with a bit more pride in their stride. But when around fellow Black Americans, they would not shut up with the incessant, “We did it!” and “Yes we can!” I was not one of the political peacocks that day. You see I spent my time on election night doing something far more important—sleeping.
The Reality…
All the strutting around, giggling, high-fiving, and what not from the election results by all the Black Americans I knew that work and live here in North Africa with me provoked so much thought. This was true especially when I would hear, “We did it.” Apparently a significant portion of Black America took credit for Mr. Obama’s election. Though many believe this to be true, and to others this serves as a source of pride—it is far from the truth. There is no reason for a prolonged debate about this. Simple math attests to it. Black Americans make up barely 12% of the American population. They have recently been surpassed by Hispanics as the largest segment of minorities in America. Of this 12%, many (literally millions) have been spent time in prison at one time or another. In fact, Blacks make up the overwhelming majority of people (in terms of racial categories) incarcerated in America and America itself has more people incarcerated than any nation on Earth (even though its population is a far cry from that of places like China and India). Let’s put it this way, Black men make up only 7% of the American population, yet they are 46% of the total prison population. The total incarcerated population in America as a whole, at one time, is just over 2 million—yep, that’s a lot of black people (and that’s only the men). In some places where prisons are, there are more black men in prison than in the cities the prisons are in. What does this have to do with the election? Well, in some states (in fact 30), once an individual serves time in prison, he/she loses the right to vote. When you couple this fact with the small percentage of the total population that Blacks make up in America, their voting power is not that strong (whether or not this is a constructed conspiracy to further emasculate the black male politically and thus economically and socially is for another day of discussions). This is further evidenced by the fact that Republicans never have and probably never will (they simply don’t need to) undertake strong efforts to campaign for the Black vote. So, all those Black Americans prancing around talking about how “they” did it (put Barak Obama in office), are sadly mistaken. The most they can boast is that “We helped it.” The reality of it all is that the White vote put him in office. Truthfully, he would have gotten elected without the Black vote. Yes, that says volumes about America, but that’s also a different topic for another day.
Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the historical significance of it. But with the absence of Jim Crow Laws (the legal system in place in America that allowed racial discrimination in just about every area of American life—i.e. America’s version of Apartheid), the phrase, “He/She is the first African-American to…” just does not hold the same weight as it once did. Yes, I will be the first to admit that if you would have told me, a child of the 1980’s and 1990’s, that I would see a Black American president during my lifetime; I would have hurt myself laughing at you. I personally believed a woman would be in the White House first. But even still, when it happened, I was not overjoyed and consumed with all these high expectations of utopia being just around the corner. I think people really bought into the change thing way too much. Every presidential election in just about every place where democracy is practiced brings about a candidate or two preaching “change.” This is nothing new. Why was the concept of change so huge this time? Race. It’s that simple even though lots of people want to avoid discussing let alone analyzing it. Barak Obama, more than any other presidential candidate (in history) here in the U.S. represented change--not in his liberal/Democratic viewpoints (come on, they just echo what his constituents think and say) but in who he was and who he would inevitably represent. Here was a Black man, with an Arabic name, an African father, white mother, who was young, good-looking, and did not come in with a lot of political experience in D.C. nor at the state level. When the word “change” left his mouth, it was not about policy but about perception, it was not about ideas, but about image, it did not represent a progression in terms of the political course of America, but a transformation in who and what America was willing to allow to represent them on the world stage. Sure, he discussed bringing great change to America. But we all knew that after the dust settled, not much would be drastically altered. So far am I wrong? Are the troops back home? No, they’re still spread around the Middle East and now Africa. Has the American economy miraculously improved? No, capitalistic economies go through cycles of expansion and contraction. There is little that governments can do to avoid this. Have race relations improved, racism been eradicated, or the racist dynamics of the American criminal justice system, American private sector, and other American institutions been destroyed? No. Polices alone do very little to erase ignorant and racist ideologies, practices, and systems within a society. Over time, education, familiarization, and other implementations intended to combat ignorance are the best ways to deal with bigotry, discrimination, and prejudice. To be honest, focusing on economic equality (in terms of opportunities, education, employment, access to funds, and wages) rather than racial equality will do more for Blacks and other underprivileged minorities in the long run. Therefore, what change (half-way through this initial term) have we witnessed? Well, we have a president that one will see play basketball rather than golf. In other words, it is silly at best to expect the president in a governmental system like the U.S. to be enough to bring a huge amount of sweeping positive change to a country that (despite its current challenges) still has it pretty good overall.
I believe that people (specifically the White people that put him in office) fell in love with the idea, that they, as Americans had the opportunity to put someone in the White House that is different in such a way, that the critics and naysayers that still want to label the U.S. as “racist” (and believe me it still is) would have to censor themselves. Because, let’s be honest, you will see hell freeze over before you see a Black person as president in France, England, Germany, Belgium, anywhere in Scandinavia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, or any other Western European country that claims to be so much more tolerant, progressive, and culturally advanced than the U.S. The election of Barak Obama, by White America, put the spotlight back onto those nations. Americans saw this as an opportunity to finally shed a large part of the label of “racist.” The question was: How can America be racist if it has elected a Black president? This leads me to the concept of tokenism.
The Question of Tokenism…
“Tokenism is not progress.” I heard this from the lips of Joseph Lowery, a MLK era civil rights leader. He made a speech in Atlanta back in 2002 and I was in attendance. I don’t remember much else of what he said, but that quote has always stuck with me. America has to be careful not to make Barak Obama into a token. By saying this, I am not in any way, shape, or form detracting from his greatness in terms of who he is and what he has accomplished. But there is an ignorant sentiment that many Whites (and other non-blacks) share. It suggests that since a Black man has been elected to the highest office in the land that that stands as proof that racism and bigotry in America (namely the anti-Black type) is no longer a serious issue in terms of impeding the progress and development of Black America. This type of thinking would further suggest that policies and practices intended to combat such societal ills should be reduced and eventually abandoned, thus leaving Black America to, again, fend for themselves. As much as I would like this to be true, it is not. As long as the income, educational, wealth, and incarceration rate disparity between Blacks and Whites are in such shape as they are today, there must be consistent and committed people and policies in place to combat systematic and individual racism. At the same time, Black America’s ills and challenges are not all or always the result of racism alone. Black America has done a poor job of policing themselves but a great job at pointing fingers and manufacturing excuses. But, again, that is a different discussion. In regards to the president becoming a token, we must not allow him to become some sort of monument that people point to and say, “Well, racism pretty much ended when we elected a Black man to office.” Barak Obama must be the first of many non-White males to hold the reigns of the highest office in the U.S. His election should open the doors for not only other Blacks, but women, Latinos, Asians, and other Americans that fall within such categories. We should not elect people because they are not White. That is not what I mean. We should not let anyone’s whiteness or lack thereof be a factor in who we choose to represent us. Then and only then will we begin to really tackle this race issue. The truth be told, voting for Mr. Obama because he is Black, is just as bad as not voting for him because he is not White. With it put into that perspective, how many Americans, Black and White were guilty of taking race into the polling stations with them?
My Personal Reaction…
I remember when the election concluded and I was here in Africa. A local person came up to me asked how excited I was about the results of the election. I answered him with a question (I know, I know, you aren’t supposed to do that—but the cynic in me could not resist); “When you all got a Black president, how much better did it make your life?” You can imagine the look I got. Yes, by and large, Black presidents in Africa have not really made things better (that’s not to say White ones would either). Some can argue that at times, they made things much worse. My point was, as a Black American, Barak Obama’s election was not going to change my life that much. Sure, if my son would say to me that he wanted to become president, yes, the idea would not be that farfetched now. But other than that, things would be the same. I would not gain any more respect from racists because there is a Black man in the White House. People would not in any way associate me, a Black American, with my president anymore than I would associate White guys from Texas with George Bush. Yes, I know, back to my comment. Blacks assuming the presidency in African nations represented something different than Barak Obama’s election. So my comparison was not a great one. Their elections represented the first of many major steps to break free from colonialism and exploitation (on the surface at least). Now what these Black African leaders did after that is another story. Barak Obama’s election to me was just another check mark in the column of things that Blacks have not accomplished yet. And that’s pretty much it. Now I understand that to many, especially the older generation that grew up under the yoke of institutionalized racism, that his election marked a significant achievement. I don’t belittle that. But I did not grow up during that era and as special as it is to those individuals, I cannot make it my party. In the end I view the American presidency in a similar vein as the late, great Malcolm X. He compared the two-party democratic system in America to a person voting for either a wolf or a fox. In other words, no matter who wins at the end of the day, you still get a dog in office.
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