Barack Obama - he's our man. If he can't do it - the Democrats are stuffed.
That's right. The good senator has just clinched the Democrat nomination for President of the United States of America. At last, after months and months of brutally slugging it out with Billary, the charisma, the charm, and the soaring rhetoric has clearly paid off.
Clearly, a lot of people think this is fantastic. And I'd have to say it's hard for me to disagree - especially when Obama is clearly a Muslim. Don't believe me? Think about it. Millions of far right loonies can't be wrong. Besides, 10 per cent of American voters are apparently wise to the truth.
Of course, the greatest buzz surrounds the prospect that we might just have the first black President in American history on our hands, here. Indeed, there's a fair chance Obama will win. George W Bush has been such a disaster that that Republican brand has been seriously diminished. And the latest polling puts Obama in front of McCain at this stage (though the gap isn't huge).
And obviously, the idea of a black American President is a pretty exciting one in a country where the second-longest serving Senator in history - a man named Strom Thurmond who held office until as recently as 2003 - held (and never renounced) pro-segregation views because it would be too difficult to "admit the nigger race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches."
Indeed, it is the fact that this sort of Senator can co-exist with a potential black president that makes the US such an astonishing country. Perhaps that is why the whole black president thing (and the woman president thing) has been so dominant in discussion of the US election. So far, I've found it difficult to find someone who has really strong pro-Obama or pro-Hillary feelings who knows anything really about their policies. Interesting that. Like a pure form of identity politics. The black guy v the woman. Take your choice.
But - and not wanting to put too fine a point on it - is Obama black? I ask the question because of a really interesting interview I heard earlier this year with the black American author, Debra Dickerson, who wrote a provocative book called The End of Blackness. The book doesn't discuss Obama, but she does discuss what the concept of "blackness" means in America. For her, it is tied intimately to slavery. That is, to be "black" in America is to be descended ultimately from those who were enslaved. In fact, this matters more than skin colour - as evidenced by the "one drop" rule which said that even if you only had "one drop" of slave's blood in you, that was sufficient to make you racially categorised as black - no matter how light your skin. That, she says, is the meaning of "blackness" in the American social context.
In the interview, she said that according to this conception of blackness, Obama wouldn't qualify as black. His mother is white, and his father - while obviously African - is really an immigrant. That is, Obama's story has nothing to do with slavery. It is not a story of being black in America, and accordingly for her, the US isn't on the verge of having its first "black" president. Moreover, if his story was one of slavery - rather than colonialism and migration - Dickerson suggests there's no way he'd be in the position he's now enjoying.
I actually find this theory interesting and persuasive, which is why I've used it before in my writing. But how do you feel about it? Can Obama supporters start celebrating the prospect of an inaugural black president? Or is that a litle premature and self-congratulatory?
Interested in your thoughts!
Comments
Murad20007 from Perth
I AGREE (0 people agree) I DISAGREE (0 people disagree)
Aussie from Christian
"far right loonies". Typical biased article. You yourself with little accomplishments owe your (and your wife's) media profile to the fact that you are a muslim. Of course you would defend your fellow muslim barack obama. You, Your wife and obama would be nobodies without identity politics. John Mccain is a bona fide war hero who understands the threat of islamofascism. Delete away - we all know muslims cant handle the truth and hate free speech.
WA says: And John McCain has disowened the loonies that insinuated Obama was a Muslm. Perhaps McCain's a closet Muslim, too! Eeek. Watch out! The Muslims are coming to get us...
I AGREE (0 people agree) I DISAGREE (3 people disagree)
shah from Rockdale
The Iraq blood bath is small beer compared to S Sudan. If you didn't know Sudan is where the Arab muslim world used to do its slave hunting. Europeans conquered the world because of free market capitalism and innovation. The Arabs and Turks got left behind
WA says: Indeed. Colonisation was merely an economic process that didn't involve any forms of violence at all.
I AGREE (1 people agree) I DISAGREE (0 people disagree)
Nomad from Melbourne
I AGREE (0 people agree) I DISAGREE (0 people disagree)
Chris from my desk
I keep getting errors when I try to post. Let's test it first...
WA says: Working for me!
I AGREE (0 people agree) I DISAGREE (0 people disagree)
Rod from Redlands
I AGREE (4 people agree) I DISAGREE (1 people disagree)
Tanya Sk from St Kilda, Melbourne
I AGREE (7 people agree) I DISAGREE (1 people disagree)
TH from GC
I AGREE (6 people agree) I DISAGREE (3 people disagree)
shah from rockdale
'Racism' is just a word that has traction in the successful white ruled western world and nowhere else. The stone cold facts are that blacks are incapable of creating Singapore's. Blacks are only capable of creating Somalia's.
WA says: Yeah...and whites are capable of creating...Iraqs? Is that your point?
I AGREE (2 people agree) I DISAGREE (10 people disagree)
Hany from Sydney
I AGREE (4 people agree) I DISAGREE (0 people disagree)
Huseyin from Western Sydney
I AGREE (2 people agree) I DISAGREE (0 people disagree)
Omar from Canberra
I have to admit I am concerned about whether Obama will win the election or not. Especially if he runs with Hillary americans will have a choice between a (perceived) black man and a woman, or a white conservative man. Considering American history, that doesn't sound too promising if you are barracking for Barack. I think he should try to choose a white southerner as a running mate and not hillary. Otherwise it is stunning that some think Obama is muslim, especially after his pastor problems.
WA says: Enter John Edwards. But he has ruled himself out as a Vice-Presidential candidate.
I AGREE (0 people agree) I DISAGREE (1 people disagree)
Srinivas from Canberra
I AGREE (9 people agree) I DISAGREE (12 people disagree)
Tamanna from Sydney
I AGREE (2 people agree) I DISAGREE (0 people disagree)
Farhan from McMahons Point
The recently concluded race to the Democratic Presidential nomination was a sign of the times,some thought it was the heralding of a new era of equality in the US.I would only wish so, but I hate to break that Utopian dream.Quite rightly,"Billary" was not just any woman but just "the wife of Bill" and that has made her try to win the nomination.So much for the feminist dream of women achieving goals by themselves.Obama might be Half-black but he still speaks the language of fear and domination.
WA says: Really? I would have thought that one of the reasons Obama has appealed to so many people is precisely because he doesn't speak a language of fear and domination, but talks a lot more about hope.
I AGREE (1 people agree) I DISAGREE (2 people disagree)
Hany from Sydney
I AGREE (2 people agree) I DISAGREE (0 people disagree)
shah from rockdale
There aren't too many success stories on the African continent. Black leadership, whether political or military, is never capable. Obama is a gift to John McCain and the Republican party who otherwise would have no chance.
WA says: Hmm...black people are incapable. Hard to think of a purer expression of racism, really.
I AGREE (2 people agree) I DISAGREE (6 people disagree)
Salihah from Melbourne
If he were to win it will be described as a racial victory though, even though I don't think he's what an american 'black' really is. But I dont think he'll win the presidency. It took America a decade or more to get this far, it might take the same amount or longer time to see a black president. Like it or not, America's not ready for it, racist sentiments still exist.. Pat Buchanan is a testament to that.
WA says: I don't know about that, actually. There is certainly some strong racism in the US, but to be honest, it's in areas that never would have voted Democrat anyway. People who might consider voting Democrat are likely to feel great about voting for a "black" candidate.
I AGREE (1 people agree) I DISAGREE (1 people disagree)
hashis shandy from Melbourne
I AGREE (4 people agree) I DISAGREE (0 people disagree)
Omar from Canberra
I AGREE (0 people agree) I DISAGREE (0 people disagree)