On being Black
Now that Barack Obama has been elected the 44th President of the USA, we may try to understand why. In doing so it is important to remember that he was selected and elected by a majority of the white population of the USA. It is also important to note that whites actually no longer constitute a majority in comparison to all other minorities, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, etc. in the USA.
Some years ago, I remember seeing an article in Time magazine about what the ideal American will look like in the next century, and that person was a light tanned color, neither Black nor White, but something in between, maybe with a hint of Hispanic and Asian added in. This assumed not only a post-racist, multi-cultural society, but also one in which race mixing will be common. Barack Obama is the predictor of that. Obama's mother was from Kansas, the white heartland of America, and she married a Black student from Africa, Obama's father, and after divorcing him, then an Indonesian Muslim. Not typical I would say, but nevertheless an increasingly common occurence. My wife's niece married a man of Bangladeshi origin in the UK, and such couplings are now no longer frowned upon in society. From my perspective that is good, showing a more liberal, tolerant attitude of Western society. But, as a Jew it also has some problems, because as a small minority in a huge population, intermarriage is a formula for extinction.
Obama is the epitome of the ascendence of Blacks to many roles in American society, for example, Colin Powell was Chief of Staff of the US forces, Condoleeza Rice is Secretary of State, NY State has a Black (and blind) Governor, David Patterson, and in sports of course many Blacks have reached the highest levels, for example the Williams sisters in tennis, Tiger Woods in golf, Lewis Hamilton is the first black (and British) racing car champion for 2008, and of course many Blacks dominate American football and basketball. This indicates a total opening of society to blacks and others and contrary to the prejudices of the European left and other movements around the world, that the US is a racist, fascist society, it is anything but, and is in fact more liberal in that respect than they are (noone expects a Black PM of Britain any time soon).
The gracious and immediate acknowledgement of Obama's victory by his opponent, John McCain, and by his predecessor, George Bush, are a model of democratic practise. There are very few countries in the world where such a monumental societal change could take place without any disruption whatsoever. I note that although George W. Bush is vilified by a large segment of society, that is largely unjustified. The state of the economy cannot be ascribed to him or to his actions, it developed over a period of many years (at least ten) due to the political decisions of Democrats to provide easier credit and of Republicans to deregulate the market. Also, the Iraq war, although it seems to have been a mistake to many, was in fact a very important event, for two reasons, first it prevented Islamism from taking root in the center of the Arab world (with US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan they have been essentially defeated in both) and second it showed the long reach of America's arm. Under Obama there will likely be a retraction of that reach, but too much, too quickly will result in a vacuum that will be filled by our enemies and will likely be to our detriment.
Another aspect of the current situation warrants comment. Around much of the world, including the Muslim world, there is a rumor that "the Jews" are behind the economic crisis. There are of course many Jews on Wall Street, and the US economy has been tended by Charimen of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan. In Europe, not so long ago, this would have caused anti-Jewish riots, but in the US, apart from some comments on the air waves, there has been no overt manifestation. Further, this morning's paper has a prominent photograph of Obama and his newly appointed Jewish White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, who has been his friend and supporter for many years. This position is crucial and influential regarding access to and operations of the President, but does not itself set policy, that is reserved for the respective Secretaries of Departments, such as State, Defense and Treasury.
It has been pointed out that Rahm in Hebrew means thunder and Barack means lightning, so we may be in for a stormy period.
Some years ago, I remember seeing an article in Time magazine about what the ideal American will look like in the next century, and that person was a light tanned color, neither Black nor White, but something in between, maybe with a hint of Hispanic and Asian added in. This assumed not only a post-racist, multi-cultural society, but also one in which race mixing will be common. Barack Obama is the predictor of that. Obama's mother was from Kansas, the white heartland of America, and she married a Black student from Africa, Obama's father, and after divorcing him, then an Indonesian Muslim. Not typical I would say, but nevertheless an increasingly common occurence. My wife's niece married a man of Bangladeshi origin in the UK, and such couplings are now no longer frowned upon in society. From my perspective that is good, showing a more liberal, tolerant attitude of Western society. But, as a Jew it also has some problems, because as a small minority in a huge population, intermarriage is a formula for extinction.
Obama is the epitome of the ascendence of Blacks to many roles in American society, for example, Colin Powell was Chief of Staff of the US forces, Condoleeza Rice is Secretary of State, NY State has a Black (and blind) Governor, David Patterson, and in sports of course many Blacks have reached the highest levels, for example the Williams sisters in tennis, Tiger Woods in golf, Lewis Hamilton is the first black (and British) racing car champion for 2008, and of course many Blacks dominate American football and basketball. This indicates a total opening of society to blacks and others and contrary to the prejudices of the European left and other movements around the world, that the US is a racist, fascist society, it is anything but, and is in fact more liberal in that respect than they are (noone expects a Black PM of Britain any time soon).
The gracious and immediate acknowledgement of Obama's victory by his opponent, John McCain, and by his predecessor, George Bush, are a model of democratic practise. There are very few countries in the world where such a monumental societal change could take place without any disruption whatsoever. I note that although George W. Bush is vilified by a large segment of society, that is largely unjustified. The state of the economy cannot be ascribed to him or to his actions, it developed over a period of many years (at least ten) due to the political decisions of Democrats to provide easier credit and of Republicans to deregulate the market. Also, the Iraq war, although it seems to have been a mistake to many, was in fact a very important event, for two reasons, first it prevented Islamism from taking root in the center of the Arab world (with US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan they have been essentially defeated in both) and second it showed the long reach of America's arm. Under Obama there will likely be a retraction of that reach, but too much, too quickly will result in a vacuum that will be filled by our enemies and will likely be to our detriment.
Another aspect of the current situation warrants comment. Around much of the world, including the Muslim world, there is a rumor that "the Jews" are behind the economic crisis. There are of course many Jews on Wall Street, and the US economy has been tended by Charimen of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan. In Europe, not so long ago, this would have caused anti-Jewish riots, but in the US, apart from some comments on the air waves, there has been no overt manifestation. Further, this morning's paper has a prominent photograph of Obama and his newly appointed Jewish White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, who has been his friend and supporter for many years. This position is crucial and influential regarding access to and operations of the President, but does not itself set policy, that is reserved for the respective Secretaries of Departments, such as State, Defense and Treasury.
It has been pointed out that Rahm in Hebrew means thunder and Barack means lightning, so we may be in for a stormy period.
posted by Jack Cohen at 11:30 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home