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On the Day of the Obama Inauguration, a Few Important NotesJan 20 '09 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Going Colorblind
For anybody that finds this day special, I hope that it brings you all the feelings of hope and success that you were hoping it would. As has become my custom, I feel a need to get through to some of the deeper truths, which gives us a clarity in thought, and properly defines what is actually happening on this day. Nobody who was not born and raised as a black person in a black family can really understand what it means to be black. I doubt many would disagree with that statement. But, there has been a disturbing omission of late in the banter of the pundits, the reporters, and in those media personalities covering this inauguration. Barack Obama is 50% black and 50% white. He is not, in fact, African American. He is of a mixed-race, a mixed heritage (as many of us are). I would have never been bothered by this issue were it not for a comment left on a video on Youtube (the Yes We Can song composed by Will-I-am and others) that said this: “If we call a man who is 50% black African American, then what do we call a man who is 50% white?” Since reading that note, I have been somewhat disturbed by the omission. The media is so scared to point this out for fear of the claim of racism being launched against them. I find that scary, because again, those who fear full truths, 100% truths, misguide people, misinform people, and that can lead to chaos. Barack Obama is bi-racial (or multi-racial: I have not done the research to see if his mother had Indian blood or some other mixed heritage). That was my first truth that I needed to express on this day. It has nothing to do with the thought, “What about us white people—can’t we take some credit for Barack Obama?” That’s a very narrow-minded thought, and people who truly believe in equality should not care what color any candidates skin is, but they should care about what the times and troubles of a country demand of a leader, and then vote for that leader. As I said in another article, there is something very American about being able to vote for whomever you want to and for any reason you want to. But there is something more respectable about those who truly ponder the issues, think not only of themselves but other Americans who are like them and who are nothing like them. That leads me to my second truth. After watching so many talk shows and interviews over the past several months, I was unpleasantly surprised that I noticed so many black Americans dedicated to getting a “black” person in the high office. Yes, it is special and it’s coming at a special time—yes it speaks to how far we’ve matured as a nation and how Dr. King’s dream seems to be coming true—but it seems very narrow-minded to me to vote for any person based solely or in large part due to the color of their skin (and that also goes for the whites that voted against Barrack because of his color… narrow-mindedness knows no ethnic boundaries). On this great day in American history, when Barack Obama was sworn in as president, it wasn’t his color I was thinking of. It was how this time, these problems, demanded somebody special—demanded him—for the fight ahead. I believe of all the candidates that ran, he is, with no close second-place, the person for this job at this time. If anybody can turn it around, Barack Obama can. In closing, I hope I haven’t offended anybody, but the fear of offending anybody has never held me back from exposing truths, evident or not so evident. If you’re black, you shouldn’t fear identifying Barack Obama as half-white any more than a white should fear identifying him as half-black. He is what he is, and frankly, if the man were all the colors of the rainbow, it wouldn’t matter to me (although his stylists would have a hell of a time picking out clothes for him). Let’s not go forward with this false belief in color, while fully recognizing that Barack Obama appears more black than white and that that appearance, in the past, has brought out the racists views and behaviors in many whites—and that the fact that he become president in spite of that appearance only with an overwhelming vote from blacks AND whites speaks to our growth as a nation. Let’s work with truths, and truths only, and celebrate this day for what it really is—a turning point in American history that will launch us in a new and better direction, tearing down walls and building our strengths in every sector and category—don’t let this be about race, or in truth, we will not have made the amount of progress I originally thought we had made. Thanks for reading.  |
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