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It’s not the latest Will Smith film, an episode of The West Wing, or reruns of The Cosby Show, but this actually happened, just like in the movies.
Against all odds and probabilities, a black family has been catapulted into the greatest symbol of hope and prosperity in America and across the globe, and the world couldn’t be more pleased. With 52 percent of the popular vote, millions watched Obama beat McCain in the race for the White House and they cheered as a new chapter in history began. Who would have believed it in a film starring Morgan Freeman?
And, yes, Barack Obama does have an unenviable “In-Tray” waiting for his inauguration on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, but the world knows as well as I do that if he runs the Oval Office half as well as he handled his immaculate campaign, there will be no doubt as to who was the candidate best suited to takeover from a George W. Bush presidency.
It won’t have been easy; economic crisis at home and abroad; war in Iraq and Afghanistan; Russia flexing its muscles, again, universal health care matters; 56 million voters who didn’t select a Democrat, job losses, house prices, the environment, and more. It is a mighty full “To-Do” list, but it now seems much more likely that if anyone can, our intelligent man in Washington will.
With 43 percent of white voters choosing Obama, African-Americans must be especially delighted at the realisation of a dream deferred, now partially achieved. They have another good reason to smile, too. Obama drew the votes of two-thirds of Hispanic voters — a group heavily courted by both candidates — but a staggering 96 per cent of black people who went to the polls voted for the Illinois senator. 
This, despite black voters preferring Hillary Clinton at the start of the race and wrongly assuming that Obama “doesn’t stand a chance.” In the end, though, it wasn’t race that mattered, the black candidate’s mandate was simply the healthiest choice for the America people. Nonetheless, the 2008 US election may well go down in history as the first time that African-Americans properly realised the power of their block vote, and in the process, did right by their community, the country, and the rest of us.
My money is now on Condoleezza Rice seizing this defining moment to head the faded Republican Party. You heard it here first!
What were your first thoughts on hearing that Senator Barack Obama would be the 44th President of America?
Here are a few reactions from some friends:
Maashallah Tayo at 07:54 on 05 November
Disbelief and shock. I’m still trying to process it.
David McQueen at 07:56 on 05 November
Happy but cautious. Will people be so supportive when he has to make tough but unpopular choices? Basking in the joy for now, though.
Ayaan Robin at 07:58 on 05 November
The White House is now a BLACK HOUSE.
Russell Nii Odartei at 08:20 on 05 November
I thought I can do absolutely anything I want!
Alison Bajaican at 08:25 on 05 November
Barack’s victory has removed this “veil” of cynicism and distrust from the eyes of the world.
Matt Gibbs at 08:40 on 05 November
That his grandmother did not live to see her little boy become the President of the USA…and then I cried a little.
Janet Atika at 08:44 on 05 November
I am happy for him. Long live America.
Nav Sagar at 09:09 on 05 November
Amazed. I never thought I’d see this open mindedness in the USA in my lifetime. It’s renewed some hope in a cynical git (and some real hope for the next 4 years).
Lizzy Attree at 09:26 on 05 November
Tragically it was, I hope nobody shoots him, but then it was a big
Miki Turner at 09:47 on 05 November
I am glad my parents lived long enough to savour this moment.
Sarah Cawkwell at 09:51 on 05 November
I think what has happened in America is the best thing that could have happened for the world. Inspirational actually. I hope the world understands how to enjoy it and build on it.
Buki Koshoni.com at 11:09 on 05 November
Can we still doubt again that America really is the land of opportunity?
Eva Sophia Kalundu at 12:02 on 05 November
I was genuinely surprised he was allowed to come this far. Excitement or not, he has a tough job ahead, that is probably what I will be watching for more than anything else.
Chetwyn Greenidge at 12:41 on 05 November
Overwhelmed by his win…and giving God all the gratitude for letting me live to see it.
Ramona Tirado at 14:55 on 05 November
This changes so many things. These are very exciting times. We should all warm up our journal-writing pens. There will be a lot of history to document.
Emmanuel Ilemobayo at 16:40 on 06 November
The dream of Martin Luther King, jr. came to pass on this day. I know it is going to happen because Obama is an agent of change.
Leborah Michelle McDonald S. at 16:41 on 06 November
Tears and honour to my ancestors!
I hope that the appointment of the first black American president will help to reduce the numbers of fatherless children, loveless homes, drug addiction and a general sense of hopelessness in some communities. On a spiritual level, I like to think that the symbol represented by our new First Family will work to teach us all, anything is possible.
Related Reading:
Inspire a Nation: Barack Obama's Most Electrifying Speeches of the 2008 Election (International Edition): Includes Obama's Berlin Speech and Election Night Victory Speech
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
Yes We Can: A Biography of Barack Obama
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and InheritancePopularity: 17% [?]
(2 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
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10 comments ↓
I have watched Obama’s victory with interest, but from a distance. I don’t feel particularly drawn to him emotionally because I’m not at all sure where he’s coming from. I think politicians generally express themselves in a very particular way which I don’t readily understand. Although he talks about change I don’t exactly know what that might mean. Instituting change at a political level is very tricky.
I certainly don’t feel he’s one of mine because of the colour of his skin or anything familial or clannish. I suspect the Obama victory has in fact meant more to white people. I’m not sure of course.
Everybody in the media seems to be identifying him as black, though his appeal might paradoxically be his whiteness. I haven’t heard one person refer to him as mixed, although they do mention his white mother and African relations all the time. Identifying him as black is of course a far more safe place to be. Almost as safe as being white!!?
I have my doubts about real change coming through any political process…
Isabel.
Hmmmm. I think Obama’s election already represents change. Its a huge change in perception at the very least about how the world views Americans and their issues with race. It is strange that we quibble over whether people refer to Obama as “mixed” or see him as “black” and possibly his “whiteness” whatever all this means — gets jumbled up in distraction. What’s important.. I think .. is how he will lead and will his leadership be substantive enough to encourage PEOPLE (of all colors) to perceive and use our their power differently — more effectively.
His new position is obviously one of incredible power and influence. Will he be able to maintain his focus.. and retain “who he really is” and not let his soul be taken by those who are reaching for it to subvert what is good for people and this country. Most important — I am anxious to see how his administration will continue to use the power of the Internet to help people…young people in particular…stay informed, connected, participating, and ENTHUSIASTIC about his presidency and CONTRIBUTING to change via the political process.
Its isn’t just Obama’s job to change…its our job to be engaged in being open to — AND implementing change. Real change through any political process I think.. requires the audacity to have hope. We just observed one of the most well run — and incredible political campaigns in history. This was an absolute change in the political process, tactics and “message” to gain the White House. He has changed the course of politics already. To this I say.. WOW!
I don’t think America has the same preference for “mixed race” as England obviously does. As far as I am aware, it’s only in Britain, South Africa and the Caribbean that bi-racial people seem to go out of their way to make a point about being of “mixed” race. In the Caribbean, this normally means holding on tight to the fact of having “white blood” and marrying others like yourself or lighter to “lift the colour” as they call it.
Rightly or wrongly, most bi-racial people in America consider themselves “black” as does the rest of American society. This has its origins in the “one drop rule” of course where a drop of Negro blood meant that you were fit to be enslaved. In America, as elsewhere, the transatlantic slave trade (and more recently, love beyond racial classifications) has made it difficult for most western black people to claim racial purity. From Malcolm X to Oprah Winfrey, Beyonce to Will Smith, take your pick, most of us are mixed to some degree or other - no matter how dark we may appear on the surface - while the rest of us (especially here in England) are busy trying to get that way.
What is most commendable about Barack Obama the man from my perspective is that he is married to what most of us would recognise as a black women, and he has black children, which would probably be unlikely had he been born and raised in England. In America, middle class blacks can still find and sustain relationships with each other rather than thinking that they need a white spouse in order to reap the benefits of the American Dream or provide their children with a better legacy.
As for not being able to see the change that Barack Obama has already brought to politics (in America), I really don’t think that you’re trying hard enough. It’s great to know that one does not need to be a Clinton or a Bush in order to raise the kind of backing necessary to compete in the political system. If nothing else, Obama has taught us that through his use of the Internet. Moreover, everyone from Gordon Brown to David Cameron is copying his style already, which is, as you know, a form of flattery.
I can’t help but wondering what Mr Obama will feel like to live in the House built over buckets of sweat by those slaves two centuries ago…
I guess i’m saying that it isn’t necessarily a huge change in perception - necessarily. If he’s black, he’s black and that would of course be the end of it. But he’s not and that is a fact. As I said the media wish to qualify his blackness, they did not qualify the racial origin of the white candidate.
Race is a complex issue , but one of the things I have discovered is that the race of the observer is crucial. Who is looking at who is fundamental. For instance, my mother was a white woman and my father a black guy from the Caribbean. No white person sees me as white, even while they are denying my blackness.
Being mixed ( actually I hate to be identified racially) is neither a quibble Nor a distraction. Who you are as a person affects, informs all your life. Or does it? Will it for Obama?
When Margaret Thatcher came to power everyone was jubilant that a woman had made it into the male preserve. But one of the first things she did was take milk out of the mouths of babes!
Who Obama is in that sense is yet to be seen. How will he as the real/symbolic black or mixed race inform the decisions he has to make. I have yet to witness how this man might change the course of history.
I understand what you are saying about the significance of mixedness in America and other countries, but totalising mixed race is a form of denial and merely robs the identification of any meaning. The mixed race person left nowhere, as it were, neither black nor white.
What you deem most commendable is for me also questionable. I couldn’t help noticing on the telly and in one of your pics posted, the image of straightened hair, on mother and daughters- a racial signifier of great significance.
It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and while there is a truth in it, there is also a distortion. To truly imitate is to acknowledge value while to flatter is to heap on insincere praise.
Somewhere between hope and hopelessness…
best Isabel,
Isabel said:
“I couldn’t help noticing on the telly and in one of your pics posted, the image of straightened hair, on mother and daughters- a racial signifier of great significance.”
Their hair? Seriously? Their hair?
How is that a racial signifier? I get my hair straightened? So what? My skin is black and I straighten my hair because I like to. Although I have considered switching up to a very short natural. Some people wear their hair straight some natural — I don’t understand how Michelle and her daughter’s hair matters.
I have mixed race children (my husband is white) and my daughter’s hair gets straightened. Why? For a lot of reasons.. mostly due to easier care & maintenance for both of us. White women get their hair permed to be curly and this isn’t a racial signifier is it? Is it a racial signifier for all the different ways Oprah wears her hair or any other high profile black women or women of color?
I think personally — to see Michelle Obama in the White House — a dark-skinned Black Woman — is a self-esteem booster for black women for a host of reasons. I believe she will EXPAND our nation’s/advertisers’ concept (via TV & newsprint etc.) of beauty beyond the most advertised status quo of “blonde hair and blue eyes.” I love seeing Michelle and Obama on the cover of so many magazines. Let’s see how long this lasts.
That said — I think it is perfectly reasonable to be somewhat cynical about what Obama will be able to accomplish his first term in office. But until he makes his first move — how Michelle and her girls wear their hair; or how we think people perceive their mixed-race ethnicity or how we think the press should describe their ethnicity is a distraction from the most important issues facing this country.
Race is this context of the conversation in my opinion IS a distraction. People on an individual level will have to deal with their own personal issues & perceptions about their race & his race — and sort it out.
I believe you’re right in that sense race is in the eye of the beholder — it is personal. But it is a very small part of the equation — blow out of portion — as Obama proved by winning.
IMHO, Obama’s job is to use his intelligence and unflappability to articulate to the masses how we can work/sacrific together as a nation — to build that “more perfect union.”
Is this a lot of ideology I expouse? Yeah.. it is. But I think we each have to take responsibility for dealing with our personal perceptions about race and how people should be seen because of their racial composition. I don’t think Obama has time to focus or care about that.
However, I am hopeful that Obama will show us how to focus on the issues and not get distracted with what is not important.
I expect Obama to make mistakes, tick people off; and at the same time set new standards in politics that may not appease everyone. I expect the press and everyone to follow his every move with a fine tooth comb of critique because he is the first president of color.
No one could be more aware of the intense level of expectation than the Obamas themselves.
So — I say let’s worry less about how Michelle and her girls wear their hair as a racial signifier and more about how the hell we can get our military out of two wars and provide healthcare to millions of Americans who are going broke because they get sick.
I think the further down the line Obama gets in his term — his race will matter less and less; and what he does will matter more and more.
At the end of his first term we will see if it was a substantive & strategic as his campaign for the presidency.
The only signifier I’m looking for is one that says — “I’m human and I care deeply about mankind — and I will do no harm.”
I maintain — that we must have the Audacity to Have Hope.
Traci
I agree with Traci. Judge them not by the style or processed-texture of their hair or not, but by their deeds and the content of their hearts and minds.
You can find out more about Barack Obama in his book, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
. I enjoyed it, you might, too. If nothing else, it’s very well written. And like you, Obama is seen as both “black” and “mixed” by black and white people alike. Sadly, the construct of “whiteness” is less inclusive than its opposite, so unless you can “pass,” it is unlikely that anyone will see you as white.
Incidentally, I have a couple of friends who do look white, perhaps more Spanish, but they always insist on telling people who assume what may seem obvious that “my dad is a black man from Trinidad,” and they will always stand up against racial prejudice and injustice wherever they might find it. It doesn’t make them any less proud of their dual heritage, of course, or any less “black” than some of my natty-haired acquaintances.
Hi Paul and Tracy,
I am a black/mixed woman living in a white community in Wales. I write, paint, make stuff and teach children who aren’t doing well at school. I try to live a creative life. I’m pretty much an outsider in this community.
I cannot say I’m particularly interested in politics. The other day a researcher asked me to comment on the Obama victory. I wasn’t that interested but I managed to make a few observations from the little I had seen.
I am, however, quite interested in issues of race and identity and have written a great deal about that, mostly published on the net. I haven’t read Obama’s book, but I’ll take your advice and get it from the library.
I’m not making a judgement on processed hair any more than your observation about the Cosby Show…I noticed the same thing you did. In fact that was why I noticed it, because you pointed it out.
In the white world where I live hair is very significant. My daughter cut off all her hair at age 4 when she first went to school. We had to move from one town to another because of race. I have been locked in a room and all manner of horrid things have happened to me because I mentioned race in discussion. I wouldn’t dream of talking about race to any white person now.
Life has taught me to take a middle road, to be cautious, especially where race is concerned - the political arena swings very much like a pendulum and I think there are dangers in being grandiose. Not sure if that is the right word here.
There are a great deal of things to talk about around sexual imagery…but not sure if this is the moment.
best wishes,
Isabel
The topics of race, identity, and empowerment for African-Americans are such loaded and complex topics that I always hesitate to ‘embark upon discussion in what I consider ‘elliptical forums. Yet, I feel that we have entered a new era of our history which calls for defining or re-defining our lineage through history and blood (i.e. Jews, Native Americans, Irish, Aleutians, etc). As with most things ‘African-American’-a name of which I have grown weary and skeptical-most people feel entitled to use it at their convenience without regard to its significance. I am frankly in the mode of ‘re-naming’ and ‘re-defining’-for the good of the many young continental Africans, descendants of the middle passage, and their progeny.
So the topic of Obama is so complex. Proud I am of his achievement. Proud I am of seeing Michelle and knowing that she is a woman of clarity and strength. I love the feel of the strong relationship which they have. But I still can’t help but wonder: “If she wore her hair in an Afro, would she frighten the nation…and some even mutter I told you so….for I still feel that while we have achieved a monumental political milestone, the underlying identity of ‘Africanness’ has to be muted in order to not alienate. I was happy to see the girls in their braids. Will Michelle be able to wear hers….or is that too “Black”? Will the many continental African and ‘African-American’ girls be further inclined to believe that pressed hair is a mark of ‘civility’ as in Queen Latifah’s comedic film, as she transformed herself from the trash-talking, afro-wearing, ghetto sister to a a re-fined hair, refined persona? I wonder how much validation beyond skin identity will be given? It is much needed. It reminds me of the selection of the first Miss American who was Black, Vanessa Williiams. We all remember that image. It was comfortable for those who chose her. “See”, they said. “We’ve found a beautiful Black girl worthy of this lofty title.” Of course, people of African descent articulated the obvious, “Is this your idea of ‘Blackness’. Gradually, they proved that they really could find ‘africanness and beauty’ in one package. That is an important lesson whether it be in beauty, intelligence or comportment.
There was much jaw dropping when Ralph Nader dared to ask the question? Will he (Barack Obama) be an agent for change or an “Uncle Tom”? The commentator tried to make him feel as though he had degraded everything sacred by posing the question. Did they not ask it of Clarence Thomas? Will we be forced to accept all that is Obama-good or bad-for our rise to sacredom…asking the question: Y’all still ain’t happy?
I am not going to read through all of these long comments, particularly Isabel’s. However, as an American and a Caribbean of mixed descent, I see absolutely no reasoning that Obama’s win doesn’t identify with him being black! He is black - more than a drop I believe is the saying. Anyway, he should not be looked at simply because of his skin color or lack thereof in some of your eyes! He is simply the BEST person for the job - PERIOD! He simply happens to be BLACK and therefore you should feel a sense of excitement, accomplishment and pride - I KNOW I DO!! And that’s so stupid - how will he feel living in a house built by slaves! IT’S 2009 WAKE UP!!!
The media can focus on what they choose, however, that man knows who and what he is. Barack Obama - I am indeed proud!
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