I'm worried many people don't fully understand the importance of the election of Barack Obama. (myself included.) It is hard for somebody who hasn't had the experiences of a persecuted people, like a white person for instance, to understand what they have gone through. The importance of the election of the first black president in American history cannot be overstated.
Racism has been one of the the world's greatest evils. It has disenfranchised millions of people, led to the breakup of thousands of families, and destroyed generations of blacks. It (sometimes literally) raped an entire race of people. It has led to so many of the world's modern problems. Colonization led to chaos in Africa. It has led to a region to become enslaved (no pun intended) to amazing poverty, medical crises (including the AIDS epidemic), and continuous war, as people fight over resources, land, and power. Racism has been manifested in genocide and a tremendous income and educational gap. In the U.S. racism has led not only to slavery and persecution, but now to a race that fails to find a comfortable or appropriate identity.
America was one of the last countries to outlaw slavery and has had one of the most difficult times overcoming racism. Luckily, the country that may have had the most difficult time, South Africa, elected a black as president almost two decades ago. That is why it is so important that America has elected a black person. It has always, historically, been one of the last countries to deal with racial problems. The world doesn't like America much right now. And the world is watching. It is a historic moment not just for the United States, but the entire civilized world.
Obama's heritage and story make him perfect to be the first black president. He's half black, and grew up with his white mother and grandparents. He lived was raised in Kenya and Hawa'ii. His heritage serves as sort of a symbolic bridge. We are not to complete racial equality or justice now, but we are getting there. It is only appropriate that in a country with such diversity as America, the first black president has such a heritage. I am proud because this election represents progress in two ways. First, obviously, is the fact that a black man was elected. Second, however, America didn't fall prey to fear and repeat its past mistakes. Even with all of the anti-Muslim hysteria, it still elected a president with ties to Islam and an Islamic name.
I am hopeful, though cautiously skeptical, that this could be a new start for America. The past eight years, everything has been blamed on Bush and the Republicans. Worldwide, once positive opinions of America have turned negative. With so many Americans having such great admiration for Obama and so many foreigners so excited about his election, I hope we pursue a polity that is a little more civilized. Human nature probably guarantees combative and power politics, hopefully, in this new age of development, things can be a little more pragmatic and solution-oriented. The world is in an unprecedented era of globalization and interdependence, economically, technologically, etc. It is amazing that a man like Obama, with his heritage, has been elected the leader of the free world. While I would disagree with Nancy Pelosi that he is sent from God, or with Louis Farrakhan that he is the messiah, in some ways, he may be.
2 comments:
I think you've fallen prey to several common misconceptions that you repeat in your blog. For instance, you seem to speak as though racism is primarily expressed against Africans and their descendants, which ignores the universal nature of racism and the many examples of racism within and between other people groups.
Also, regardless of the overall merits of European colonization in Africa, I would ask you to expound on how it led to "chaos" (I would said it led to the opposite just as many times, and more chaos has filled the void left by decolonization).
Regarding the abolition of the slave trade, you state, "America was one of the last countries to outlaw slavery," yet see Abolition of slavery timeline; the United States abolished slavery in the mid-1800s contemporaneous with many other countries.
Finally, while I agree that Obama does represent progress in racial relations in the United States, I think too many people ignore the meaninglessness of white/black when describing him. He's technically more "white" than "black," though obviously his skin color determined how he was treated, etc., when growing up. I'm just worried that while his election should signal a de-emphasis on race in general, instead it fuels an us/them mentality.
I should have made my statement more clear about slave abolition. The U.S. was one of the last major western countries to abolish slavery. France, Britain, Prussia, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Greece, Denmark, Sweden, Brazil, Portugal, among others all largely suppressed slave trade before the U.S.
I do believe Africans have been the "hardest hit" by racism, more so than any other group.
When you speak of decolonization creating more chaos, that is exactly my point. Colonization, the result of racism and slavery, led to so much trouble that the continent has been a powder keg since colonization, wether it be during colonization or post-colonization. Colonization messed the continent up so much that it couldn't function without colonization and led it to be unstable for centuries. And looking at Africa today, I think it is clear that colonization has left and ugly footprint and the region still hasn't recovered (not in the least).
I absolutely agree that it is meaningless to place labels on him. But I do think it is appropriate that he is bi-racial, and hopefully should aid in the process of reconciliation. My hope is that it does fuel a de-emphasis in the long term, but in the short term it is important that it is noticed and discussed. Obviously, in a perfect world, there would be no more problems, but that isn't so, and I think this is a very big step in the right direction.
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