Some excerpts from the article-
http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/17/stories/2009021751910900.htm
"'The road ahead is going to be rocky'
Hannah Pool
"In January 2008, on a trip to Los Angeles, I was chastised by my cousin Biniam for not being sufficiently excited about Barack Obama and the idea of America having a black president. Biniam and his wife Amanda were spending their evenings and weekends campaigning for Obama, who had not yet won the Democratic nomination, and they couldn't believe that I ' a black Briton with family in Africa ' didn't share their enthusiasm. "It'll never happen, and even if it does, who's to say it'd be a good thing?" I said, when they told me to imagine him in the White House. They sent me home with a flea in my ear and a couple of Obama T-shirts.
The thing is, I wanted to be more excited. But the idea of Obama succeeding, however remote then, seemed to me to be fraught with complexity ' and danger."
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"I profoundly understood this statement ' I too was brought up by a white family, in a white neighbourhood (I was adopted, rather than dual heritage) and in my 20s I too travelled to east Africa and met my African family for the first time, and returned to the west fundamentally changed by the experience. Yet I was still unsure that the election of this man, whose background was more similar to mine than I could ever imagine an American president's to be, would have any positive effect on my life. I kept wanting to shout: does no one get it? The world's most talked about man is a black man. The fact that Obama is black is not the most important thing about him, but it's certainly the thing that makes him more compelling to me than any other American president. And when he fails ' and he will fail, because he's human ' he will be a black man failing. And that will have consequences. From now until the foreseeable future, everything Obama does will reflect on black people everywhere. You can argue that it shouldn't, but the fact is it will. Suddenly a black man is the most photographed person on the planet, a black family is under a global spotlight and their every move will be scrutinised."
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"In the end, I thought OK, fine, I'll throw caution to the wind, I'll stop assuming everyone is out to get the black guy and, who knows, maybe I'll even enjoy myself. So for the next 24 hours I let myself be swept along with the collective euphoria, and eventually, somewhere after Dick Warren's creepy sermon, but before Aretha Franklin (and her hat) sang a note, I thought yes, this is a great day, we are all about to witness something momentous. Later, I had butterflies in my stomach as Obama made his way to the podium. That evening as I went to bed I thought, "Yes, this was a spectacular day. Maybe it's true, maybe the world has changed."
And then, slowly over the next few days, as I waded through the souvenir newspaper supplements, my sense of gloom returned. As person after person kept telling me how proud I must feel of Obama, my deep sense of unease began to escalate once more. In a world where racism, overt and covert, is still thriving, and where many racial divisions still exist, we're in a complicated situation, and the road ahead is going to be rocky.
Perhaps my unease is best explained by looking at the coverage of Obama we've already had, while all is going relatively well. It's bad enough listening to commentators marvel at how articulate Obama is (what they mean is: articulate "for a black man," and, as Prince Harry might say, "he doesn't sound black"), but since he's become president I have had to read about how well he dances (ah yes, that'll be his natural rhythm) and don't even get me started on the Sun's headline 'Obama does it 10 times a night' (it was actually referring to the number of times he danced with his wife, but hey, you get the point). All this and we're still in the honeymoon period. Goodness knows what kind of racism will come out of the woodwork when the backlash starts.
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"For me, the most interesting thing will be how an Obama administration deals with Africa. When I was visiting Eritrea last summer (a country that has always had close ties to Kenya), I asked friends and family whether they were excited about the prospect of an east African as president of America. "It is good to see his face, he looks like an east African," said one of my cousins. "But he is still an American, and what kind of a friend has America been to us?" Well, quite."
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Based on the article ,i have certain questions -
Do you think that people like Hannah Pool make a lot out of statements like how articulate Obama is when it could simply have meant an appreciation only ? Or are they thinking it the right way (specially considering
the fact that she is so experienced )? Or are they right in thinking this way (even if its not correct) because they are not treated fairly ?
Next , i'll put the question in the last line only -
"But he is still an American, and what kind of a friend has America been to us?"
So will Obama after all really bring the change to East Africa ?specially when the people present there
themselves have apprehensions !
Btw -While reading the article, you all also might have some queries , or some points you'd like to disagree on, or some points which you might have thought were mighty interesting or unique .So if that's the case,do put up those points for discussionš
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Talking more about racism that exists today , here is a poll conducted by washingtonpost -
http:////www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/01/19/ST2009011900012.html
The way the overall results are tilted towards what the whites feel, does indicate that an overwhelming number of whites have been considered in comparison to blacks, hence i'll consider the results given separately for blacks and whites.
First of all , its quite clear that the problem of racism has decreased , so kudos to that š
Next , a disturbing factor for me is the difference in percentage points between blacks and whites over these racial issues.
Does this indicate that majority of the whites are not aware of the problem or its seriousness?Or it tells that blacks seem to be considering it still more of a problem than what it really is ? If you think it is something in between, then towards whose side is it tilted ?
I have some more questions too regarding that poll , but they 'll be more apt if i could know more about the people who have given their responses in the poll. If someone can help me out here, i'd be gratefulš
Anupamaa
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