A Black President?!

The fact that I'm compelled to address this issue is problematic in itself- Is the United States ready for a black president? I am self-conscious about being a white man writing about this. But somehow this question has come up time and time again whenever I have expressed my support for Barack Obama. Sometimes it's hard to believe that this is all the further we've progressed by the twenty-first century. I guess that pretending the problem has been resolved is simply futile, and maybe even dangerous.

I'll freely admit to having been, at times, racist in my thinking. It's my opinion that such thought is inevitable in this nation. My definition of the word "racism" is a bit unconventional in that I try to view it as a value-neutral word. Thinking about things through a racist perspective involves considering social phenomena in a way that includes the observance of race. If race exists in reality, then we are foolish (or deliberately ignorant) not to include it among the variables that make up a human (or collective) identity. Having said that, I also believe that we have to take into account the motivations and intentions of racist communication. The descriptors "white" and "black" are emotionally-laden terms. People actually have a broad range of personal associations with these words. For some, such a label inherently invests an individual with negativity.

Certainly it's irrational to apply specific attributions and expectations to an entire mass of people just because they have relatively less or more melanin in their skin. Yet the moment that we talk about what black people want... or what white people think... we have engaged in racist thought. So I believe I have already set racist terms for our discussion by asking whether the nation is ready for a black president. Having established that parameter, I'd like to move on.

Most observers are going to identify Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as "black". It doesn't matter that he is of mixed-race heritage (his mother is white and his father is from Kenya, and thus black). I believe that he is comfortable in identifying himself as black. But does he fit the common stereotypes for a "black man"? Is he good at basketball? Can he speak in ebonics? Is he disenfranchised? Does he have "soul"? More to the point, does he fit your stereotype of a black man? Because that's really what's at issue here- the individual voter. It strikes me as a bit ridiculous actually. Obama has attended private academies. He is eloquent. He strikes me as honest and purely ethical, and he has a clear reputation of integrity. These qualities are the sole province of neither blacks nor whites (or Asians... or Latinos, etc.).

So what does it mean that Obama is "black"? Perhaps he has insight into what it feels like to be immediately identifiable as an "outsider" in many of the social and political situations he has been part of. He must have had to deal with a self-perception of "otherness", and experienced being treated accordingly. In today's political climate, I can only see this as an asset. Because quite obviously he is unlike the vast majority of political power-brokers in American history- just simply in terms of skin color. And people are generally dissatisfied with the political leadership of our country. I would hope that my fellow citizens would be drawn to at least the outward appearance of "otherness" in this case. Just by being able to avoid being identified with the status quo, I believe he gains an advantage.

I could well be mistaken. There are many people willing to offer their opinions on race who have inherited and accepted their notions without question. There are reactionaries with inordinately simplistic ideas about black people. And there are many poor white people who are going to resent the idea of a black man being empowered while they are still mired in their impotency. And then there are the naysayers who give Obama no chance of acquiring his party's nomination because there is still so much racism in the United States. The political structure we have lived with for hundreds of years has been very adept at turning the disenfranchised elements of our society against each other. That's how they have maintained their control. Obama is a (at the very least) symbolic threat against this order. If the will of the country demands significant change, then he could well have a good chance of succeeding in his quest to become the next president.