Searching for Meaning in Obama's Election

Hi everybody! Here's a link round-up for you on commentary on the election of Senator Obama as it pertains to race in America. A diversity of opinions, for your reading enjoyment.

Thomas Chatterton Williams, in Black Man, White House:

That is the real change Obama offers—all of a sudden the world young black kids imagine themselves inhabiting would seem a richer place to live, one without an upper limit. To Biggie Smalls' dismal list of career options afforded young black males—"You either slang crack rock / Or you got a wicked jump shot"—we could add the office of president. And in response to what Jay-Z cynically defined as the black man's lot in life—"All we got is sports and entertainment/ Until we even, thievin"—we could say, No, not anymore.

Shelby Steele, Obama's Post-Racial Promise:

But there is an inherent contradiction in all this. When whites -- especially today's younger generation -- proudly support Obama for his post-racialism, they unwittingly embrace race as their primary motivation. They think and act racially, not post-racially. The point is that a post-racial society is a bargainer's ploy: It seduces whites with a vision of their racial innocence precisely to coerce them into acting out of a racial motivation. A real post-racialist could not be bargained with and would not care about displaying or documenting his racial innocence. Such a person would evaluate Obama politically rather than culturally.

Stanley Crouch, Obama vs Farrakhan:

The deepest element of this new maturity means a fresh perspective: Now an ethnic criminal or abuser of anything at all is seen in terms of being a crook first, a member of a given ethnic or religious group second. That is why O.J. Simpson got some attention, but not much, when he was not long ago convicted for committing a dumb robbery in Las Vegas. Simpson is no longer though to symbolize "the fate of black men" on any level. The same was true of Michael Vick or any other dashingly handsome man who is beyond a fool in his private entertainment choices. Then there are the Lil’ Kims and Foxy Browns who have shown themselves to be as repulsively willing to pimp themselves as Madonna. They are who they are, and Tiger Woods or Gwen Ifill or Barack Obama all happen to be who they are. Individuals first. The nation has noticed this.

Joshua Mattern, Pins on a Map: West Virginia:

Don’t misunderstand me—none of this is leading toward an excuse for racism. I abhor it when today’s West Virginians exhibit prejudice toward minorities. But my sense, having lived among them, isn’t that they are bigoted against blacks per se, the way that Nazis were bigoted against Jews. In a state where 98 percent of the population is white, African Americans—and all other minorities—seem like unfamiliar outsiders, and many West Virginians have a deep-seeded distrust, and even fear, of things and people that are unfamiliar.

Will Wilkinson, One Night of Romance:

The government of the state is profoundly important. And I think American voters picked a competent, decent, and sober executive officer. But this is not, headline writers, Barack Obama’s America. He is not your leader, any more than the mayor of your town is your leader. We are free people. We lead ourselves. He is set to be a high-ranking public administrator. Sure, there is romance in fame. But romance in politics is dangerous, misplaced, and beneath intelligent people. Were we more fully civilized, we would tolerate the yearnings projected on our leaders. Our tribal nature is not so easily escaped, after all. But we would try to escape it. We would discourage and condemn as irresponsible a romantic politics that tells us that if we all come together and want it hard enough, we’ll get it. We would spot the dangerous fallacy in condemning as “cynicism” all serious attempts to critically evaluate the content of political hopes.

Rod Dreher, Nationalist bigotry among Latino US immigrants:

On a related note, at the Dallas Ideas Festival this weekend, I heard Marcos Ronquillo, a Mexican-American lawyer who had voted for Obama, talk about how thrilled he was that Obama had won, but how also it needs to be acknowledged openly that there is a stark black-brown (that is, black-Latino) divide in this country. These things tend to get glossed over or dismissed by black and Latino politicians, who don't want to do anything to undermine ethnic solidarity in progressive causes. On the Dallas County school board, blacks and Hispanics are at each other's throats (whites are minor players). It will be rather interesting to see how ethnic politics in the US develops in the Age of Obama.

You should read all of those articles, if you have the time. Especially the comments on the Dreher blog psot. In any case, I think the Obama Presidency may make inroads as a role model or an aspirational figure for African-Americans and heal some of the tragic cultural pathologies that too often have crushed ambition. Hatred, however, is endemic to the broken human soul, and I pray that God may grant us the grace to forgive and to love. Wilkinson's right, though: this transformation is inherently personal. The emotions may be uplifted by campaign speeches, but the soul cannot be healed by Executive Order.