Race has perpetually been a dividing line in American life. No one, perhaps not even Barack Obama himself, thought that he would cross that line, right into the White House. The media has alternately referred to President-Elect Obama as “black” or “multi-racial.” Which is it? Why is the distinction relevant?
In college, I met a Yale student whose parents were from Ghana. He was distressed by the fact that, in America, a person with one black parent is considered to be black. Never, he told me, would that person be called white. My friend was on to something. It was absolutely true, and it had never once crossed my mind.
Now we must all ask ourselves which label can appropriately be affixed to Mr. Obama. Of course, we were all made acutely aware by the President-Elect himself that he was raised by a white grandmother and was the child of a white mother. It seemed to me that he was making the case that he wasn’t just black. He couldn’t be conveniently pidgeon-holed as the friend of Chicago radicals in the black community. Rather, he was a prairie populist, standing amid golden waves of wheat, who could just as easily pass as a farmer from the heartland.
Well, the election is over. The media announced jubilantly that America had elected its first black president. Under our social constructs, I guess that statement would have to be correct. If we place it all in context, historians will be quick to point out that Barack Obama is the sort of “black” man who could be elected. After all, he was the son of a white woman. He was a highly educated man from Harvard Law School, not a rapper with a grille, baggy pants, and an entourage.
Logically, there is no reason that Obama isn’t just as black as he is white. On a practical level, let’s say for a police line-up, he would surely be described as black. He might even be pulled over for “driving while black.”
Now that Obama been elected, the black community is faced with the realization that he is our first “black” president. If he screws everything up, the black community will be blamed. If he does everything right, the black community might be given some credit.
Labels, when we get down to it, are the most superficial things that we deal with. However, they assume a supreme importance in our society. Whether we like it or not, gain or lose from the distinction, we cannot avoid the fact that Barack Obama will more often than not be referred to as a “black man.” Time will tell what this label will ultimately mean. For the present, we are (as Obama would say) hopeful.
President-Elect Obama, under whatever label you are, god speed and may god be with you. The entire nation is depending on you.
