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I ask because, given the current highly charged political times we find ourselves in, only a few months out from the all-important 2010 midterm elections-for all intents a de facto referendum on Obama’s performance as President-I thought it would be a good time to ask.
But before I present what I think to be some very hard questions to you, my esteemed readers, let’s briefly review the events of the past nearly two years…
When Barack Obama came on the scene during the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston, he was heralded as the heir apparent to Bill Clinton, a politician almost without parallel. Obama was young, handsome, articulate, and most of all, Black. Before he left the lecturn that night, rumors began to fly about a possible presidential bid.
The rumors and speculation continued for several years until, in early 2007, then-US Senator of Illinois Obama confirmed what was by then, a foregone conclusion-that he would indeed seek the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
The nearly two year long campaign was arduous and in some instances, brutal. While this was true for the entire field, it is undeniable that the sense of Obama, for better and sometimes for worse, being being put under a microscope, his every action or comment being ultra-scrutinized, was there. This was glaringly apparent during what some call the “Pastor Disaster“, Obama’s scandal involving his-them pastor and spiritual advisor, the controversial Christian minister, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright. Although Obama attempted to finesse the situation, he was eventually forced to jettison Wright altogether in a bid to keep his campaign and aspirations alive. The gambit worked.
Other aspects of Obama’s life were dissected-his credentials, if one can call them that in light of the Constitution’s requirements for eligibility to vie for the office of the presidency, were called into question-did he really get into Columbia and then Harvard, under his own steam, or was he, like his wife and future First Lady Michelle Obama, an “Affirmative Action baby”? Was he selected as Harvard’s first Black president of its famed Law Review because of his keen constitutional law skills, or because he was Black and looked the part?
Then, there was the personal examination itself: why did he marry a darker skinned Black Woman-was it a cynical political move, one designed to mollify Black Women voters in particular, and burnish his “street cred” with African Americans in general? After all, Obama’s formative years were not spent among Black folks-after being born in Hawaii, he lived for a time in his youth in another country-a Muslim country-in Indonesia. Returning to the States, he spent the rest of his youth in Honolulu, a place not known for its burgeoning African American population. This, along with his lack of ties to the more traditional Civil Rights Establishment, led to real questions being raised, if only among African Americans themselves, as to whether Obama was indeed “Black enough”.
Which led to a discussion of Obama’s heritage-as he was keen to note, and which has been stated ad nauseum eversince, he is of bi-racial lineage, born of a White Woman from Kansas, and a Black Man from Kenya. This we know, but what remained in the air was whether his parents were indeed married at the time he was born, and under what circumstances did they come together in the first place; for that matter, was Obama really born in Hawaii-or was it in Kenya?
And let’s be honest, many in both the Chattering Classes, and on the street, would say-Obama doesn’t look like the “typical” Black Man, at least not the mental image we have when we think of such a term; we think more along the lines of say, a Jesse Jackson or an Al Sharpton, or an Alvin Greene-that is to say, the phenotype that suggests West African genes, and a Slavery past. Senate majority leader Harry Reid and then-presidential hopeful Joe Biden‘s well-meaning if bitingly candid remarks about Obama’s persona and appearance, put out on Front St., what we all knew was true, if not at least in the psychological sense-that, in its best light, Obama was Black, but not “too Black”-meaning that his appearance, demeanor, vocal tonality and word choice, mannerisms, the whole shot, were such that he could bridge the divide, and give both camps-the Black and the White-what they wanted.
The political proctological was, I’m sure, drawn out and at turns, quite painful for the Union’s first “serious” Black presidential candidate. But in the end, it all worked. Barack Hussein Obama, Jr., took the Oath of Office on Jan 20, 2009.
It was hailed as a watershed moment in US political history; we had finally done what many thought was the impossible-moreover, his very compelling story, said loud and clear-especially to Black Men and boys-that they could be whatever they wanted to be, if they but played by the rules and worked hard. Reams of such articles and blogposts and Tweets and Facebook messages went out. Rapper/actor Common suggested that the “Obama Effect” would take hold of young Black Men in particular, making a seachange in their outlook and behavior. This latter point was huge in the American public mind-after all, Black Male problems were seen not so much as matters requiring fixes in and/or adjustments of public policy, but rather as personal flaws of the spirit, lapses in judgment and poor decision making. Barack Obama himself said as much, when, as a candidate for the presidency, he took special time out of his grueling schedule to “address” Black Men on Father’s Day 2008, to give what some consider to be a “tough love talk” to Black Men for being “little boys instead of grown Men” in abandoning their responsibilities in being fathers to their kids-a most curious campaign stop, I thought at the time, and one that, as far as I am aware, has no parallel insofar as presidential electoral political history is concerned.
Yet, his speech, given at a prominent Black Chicago church, was met with great approval by those in attendance, and around the nation in general-after all, who could argue with Obama himself? A Man who had been abandoned by his father, a Black Man, whom he met only once in his life, yet had gone on to be a loving and involved father to his own two kids. He was able to say openly to Black Men, what others in American society-notably Whites-either wouldn’t, or couldn’t, for fear of being accused of bigotry or racism. The Black Family was in crisis, and this wasn’t because of flawed economic, social or political policy, but solely due to the moral failings of Black Men.
Obama would go on to win nearly 100% of the Black Vote, with Black Men in particular voting in unprecedented numbers.
Little Black boys were shown pictures of Barack Obama at home and at school, and told if that they worked hard and did the right things, they too could rise to the highest office in the land. All was right with the world.
Fast forward nearly two years hence. My, my, what a difference, some 22 months can make.
At present, according to various public opinion polls, one in every five Americans believes that President Obama is a Muslim, was not born in the United States, sympathizes with terrorists, and despises heartland American culture, ideas, norms and most importantly, values. An even higher percentage, when asked, responds by saying “they don’t know”. All this, while the drumbeat of such sentiment goes on, without any pushback from Obama’s ostensible allies and supporters. An entire political movement, motivated in goodly part out of personal animus towards him, has grown since his taking the Oval Office, with shows of protest including the brandishing of military-issue assault rifles-something not even seen during the height of the Bush v Gore controversey.
While many in our time attempt to hazard out the truths of life with the aid of studies, grids and graphs, I have personally found that Psychology helps to answer the many “why’s” of life. While I am by no means alone in this regard, it must also be said that psychology itself continues to get its fair share of detractors and naysayers, largely because it’s not “scientific” enough, if at all. I agree on this latter point-it is not scientific, if by that its meant, in the way that say, Physics is. Nevertheless, psychology has proven to have considerable value in understanding human behavior, what motivates us to act and think as we do.
So, with that said, and with my previous comments above, please allow me to make the following premise:
That, despite his truly compelling personal story, his academic and political achievements, his unique personhood, and his “duties” as an American-among them being, a dutiful and loving husband and father-President Barack Obama, is still not fundamentally accepted as “one of us” by a significant-and growing-segment of our population.
Question: what kind of *psychological* message, does that send to Black Men and boys?
The answer, for me, is quite simple, and profound: that no matter how hard you work, or degrees you get, no matter how faithful you are or what kind of dad you are, no matter how much you thump the Bible and imbibe the best of Americana, you will NEVER be fully accepted as a Brother-In-Arms of the American Creed (indeed, one is forced to recall Malcolm X‘s famous rhetorical question, “what do you call a Black Man with a PhD?”, to which is he answers himself, “I’ll tell you what the White Man calls him – he calls him a Nigger.”). At best, and in the best of times, you will be given “provisional” status in the membership of who is considered “American” or not-
-and, let’s not mince words here. “American” is simply another way of saying, “White”. And in the minds of MILLIONS OF Americans – and not all of them White by any means – Black Men simply aren’t “American”.
Period.
I have gone on record in painstaking, and painful, detail, as to what life is like as a Black Man in America, from birth, to the hood, to the boardroom. The evidence, anecdotal as it may be, is hard to deny, when one just steps back and surveys it all.
In my humble view, it is extremely difficult to look a young Black Man in the eye, and with a straight face tell him that he truly can be anything he wants to be, AND be fully accepted as an American as well. To a large extent, I can tell his sister this. But I have a very hard time telling HIM this.
Moreover, I have a very hard time telling him, again, with a straight face, that the cost/benefit analysis of “doing the right things” is really worth it FOR HIM, in the end. Sure, I can give him all the boilerplate populist and always-infused-with-morality-when-it-comes-to-Black Men yearbook reasons for him to do it-but, when it comes to Black Women, a simple cost/benefit, straight shot analysis is all that is needed. Simply put, if they do x, y, and z, they experience success. We simply cannot say the same for Black Men, in aggregate. It’s very, very painful to acknowledge this, publicly or otherwise. But true nevertheless.
There are those out there who read my blog with some degree of regularity, and for this I thank you, deeply. Many of you have sons, or otherwise know young Black Men. After reading this, do you still feel the same way you did on election night, 2008, or Inauguration Day, 2009? What would you say to those young Black Men, right now? Would you agree with me, or not, and why?
By all means, feel free to register your comments and feedback.
Now adjourn your asses…
Special biggups and shoutouts to Brotha blogger Shaun King for giving me the inspiration to do up this post. Go check him out!
The Obsidian
