One Year Later

This has been an interesting week, to say the least. While my views on race and racism have evolved over the years, they remain matters of which I am sorely conscious. That said, there is a white man, ten years my junior, with whom I discuss somewhat weighty topics from time to time - the types of topics one tends to avoid for fear of rousing "sleeping bears." Most recently, our exchange addressed the Obama Presidency.

Those who really know me know I am suspicious of politicians, in general. I don't trust them. In my mind expecting a politician to represent my best interests is akin to expecting a fair verdict from a jury of "peers" of which few, if any, have had life experiences even remotely similar to my own. Most politicians, like said jurors, cannot understand what drives me on the deepest levels - nor I, what drives them. Hence, I believe it is not possible for them to represent my interests accurately, anymore than the aforementioned jurors can be expected to understand my motives.

Enter Barack Obama, an African-American in the truest sense of that label. In fact, he can one-up most African-Americans because he knows his forefathers' country of origin. He is Kenyan-American; he is not a man with a blurred identity. He is not like me or most African-American males in this respect. I cannot relate to the challenges of being a half-black, African male raised by the white daughter of a bigoted grandmother. I cannot walk in the circles where Ivy League educated black men tread. So in my mind, the United States has conducted business as usual in (s)electing Barack Obama president. They have once again chosen a black man they perceive to be of the least threatening among us. Back in the day it was, "If you're light, you're all right...if you're black, get back." This stance toward African-Americans has become much more nuanced, but the prevailing attitude of accepting black folks whites find least threatening persists today, and Barack Obama is their poster child.

As I alluded to in a previous essay, Obama's election was significant. It has had a profound affect on a great many people of African descent, both here and around the world. But politics in this country is and has always been about preserving the wealth of the wealthy and the power of the powerful. Contrary to what many of us would like to believe, Obama fits a mold the wealthy and powerful find useful or he could not have risen through the ranks of our political system as he has done. Yes, a grass roots movement gave him the needed momentum to go all the way to the Oval office, but nonetheless, he was merely one in a pool of politicians presented by the media and given to the masses from which to choose. It's not like he was a write-in candidate whose elevation stunned the American body-politic.

Now because of the illusion that he is in this office because "we the people" wanted him there, there has been an uplifting affect on the common man in this nation, particularly among African-Americans. There has been a bit of a "me too" affect in that the psychological bonds around the aspirations of many - young people, in particular, have been broken. It has also given rise to a greater sense of responsibility in many black men; "We've got to do better," has almost become cliché. A number of whites will come to realize blacks are far more patriotic and capable than they once believed us to be. Still more will feel that his election to the Presidency - made possible by white support - frees them from the guilt of their antecedents' sins. All well and good, but why should I be satisfied with that? As I said before, the acceptance of blacks whom whites find least threatening is business as usual when it come to strides in social progress within the United States.

So, where do I set the bar? When will I be most proud of my fellow citizens? It's going to take the election - by overwhelming popular vote - of a capable, black, male descendent of slaves with a socially progressive agenda before I believe United States citizens have matured and moved past bigotry. If my interpersonal relationships are any indication, this may be possible within a generation. Why must he have a socially progressive agenda? Because conservatism in this country has always doubled as a thin veil for keeping the inequities fostered by racism and classism as the status quo. In no way has Obama's presidency struck me as being a real departure from this thus far. However, I'm not an unreasonable man. I realize he may have to go along to get along during his first term if he wants to be re-elected, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. What he does in the first half of a second term in office will reveal who and what he really is. I just hope going along to get along in the meantime doesn't do us irreparable harm.