Barack Obama, First Things and Hope
We need a long view of history, David Blight writes
"First things are always interesting, and this is one of our first things," declared Frederick Douglass on April 14, 1876, in Washington, D. C., in the most extraordinary public address ever delivered by an African-American to that date—extraordinary for its argument and its audience. Douglass gave the dedication speech at the unveiling of the Freedman's Memorial, the statue of a standing Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation in hand, breaking the chains of a kneeling slave. Attending the event were President Ulysses S. Grant, members of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the president's cabinet. No black orator had ever addressed such an official assembly. If elected president, Barack Obama will be the second African-American to address such a powerful audience—this time on Inauguration Day.
Douglass struck chords of civil religion, referring to the "majestic dome of the Capitol" and the sacred "heights of Arlington" cemetery. It was in this oration that Douglass famously called his white fellow citizens Lincoln's "children," but himself and his fellow blacks "only his stepchildren." One hundred-and-thirty-two years later, we can still debate the meaning of those familial metaphors.
As we contemplate the "first" of Barack Obama achieving the presidency of the United States, we should brace ourselves with a long view of our history. We should take deep breaths and imagine the long prelude of the thousands murdered for trying to vote during Reconstruction, the thousands lynched because of the poisonous fears of white supremacy. And we should remember the millions denied life chances during the prolonged night of Jim Crow. Only then can we help Senator Obama feel the weight of responsibility in becoming America's ultimate "first thing." Such remembrance is both burden and inspiration.
If elected, Obama will have too many pressing issues to face to bask in mists of sentiment. But every American, whether they choose to or not, owns this heritage of slavery and racism that forces us to contemplate such first things. Whether they are the white "real Americans" in Sarah Palin's small towns, or the rest of the equally real people in pluralistic and cosmopolitan cities, we all breathe in this past.
In order to keep perspective, we might reflect on two expressions of the condition of American race relations nearly a century apart, one from W. E. B. Du Bois's masterpiece, The Souls of Black Folk (1903), and the other from Obama himself in his speech on race of March 18, 2008.
In Souls, Du Bois asks his readers to see race relations at the turn of the 20th century in the South through "two figures" who typified the legacies of slavery and the Civil War:
The one a gray-haired gentleman, whose fathers had quit themselves like men,
whose sons lay in nameless graves; who bowed to the evil of slavery because
its abolition threatened untold ill to all; who stood at last, in the evening of life,
a...ruined form, with hate in his eyes;—and the other a form hovering dark and
mother-like, her awful face black with the mists of centuries, had aforetime
quailed at that white master's command, had bent in love over the cradles of his
sons and daughters, and closed in death the sunken eyes of his wife,—aye,too, at
his behest had laid herself low to his lust, and borne a tawny man-child to the
world....
Without a pause, Du Bois pressed the issue: "These were the saddest sights of that woeful day, and no man clasped the hands of these passing figures of the present-past; but hating they went to their long home, and hating their children's children live today."
At the end of his speech on race, Obama tells a story. The organizer of his primary campaign in Florence, S.C., was a young, 23-year-old white woman named Ashley Baia. Ashley had grown up in poverty, her mother had contracted cancer when the girl was but 9 years old and she had survived on mustard and relish sandwiches while her mother lost her job and health insurance. At a campaign gathering, Ashley went around the room and asked all attending why they were there. Most mentioned a specific issue that especially animated their self-interest. Finally, the ritual reached an elderly black man who had sat silently until asked why he was there. His answer was simple: "I am here because of Ashley." As Obama admits, "by itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give healthcare to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children. But it is where we start."
- 1
- 2
- Next Page >
Reader Comments
Barack Obama, a Uniter for Troubled Times
Republicans try to paint Barack Obama as someone to fear, someone not ready to lead. Yet respected Spiritual leaders from different faiths and persuasions have come together as a group to write a letter and endorse Barack Obama as a true leader for these tumultuous times."As spiritual leaders signing this letter we are stepping forward to say: "We can make a difference" As our spiritual practice empties, opens and strengthens us, we are naturally moved to engage in the world with compassion, equanimity, and the dedication to live our values. We know many of you are already both concerned and involved in this year's Presidential election. Yet, in the past weeks, many of us have heard friends in the spiritual community expressing ambivalence about voting. When asked why they wouldn't vote we heard things like: "It doesn't make any difference"; "I'm more interested in spiritual practice than politics".This election, we have an opportunity to create a paradigm shift in the nature of politics. Senator McCain has voted with President Bush over 90% of the time leading to policies that have increased violence the world, furthered environmental destruction, tried to force religious views on the country, and shown a staggering lack of compassion for those most in need.Play a role in bringing peace and justice back to the planet by voting for Barack Obama. If you allow yourself to envision the world as it could be rather than the world as it is, what would it look like? And more importantly, what would you be willing to do to help create that world?************************************************************
Deepak Chopra, Jack Kornfield, Lama Surya Das. Jean Houston, Jack Kornfield, Reggie Ray, Reb Zalman Shachter-Shalomi, Seane Corn, Cyndi Lee, Jack Canfield, Shiva Rea, Pema Chödrön, Marianne Williamson, Barbara De Angelis, Roshi Joan Halifax, Joan Borysenko, Krishna Das, Sharon Salzberg, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Stephan Rechtschaffen, Judith Ansara Gass, Robert Gass -- and more every day!http://www.yogisandmeditatorsforobam...Americans all accross this country realize we need fundamental change, radical change, if we are to survive and thrive as a country. Barack Obama has brought many people together, such as Republicans who have never voted for Democrats, Newspapers who usually endorse Republicans, Generals, world leaders and a whole host of people, yound and old, gay and straight, and of all racial persuasions who realize that we have an opportunity in this great leader to fundamentally bring about positive and holistic change, not jusst for America but the world. Barack Obama has shown us through his words, actions and deeds, that we do not have to run a campaign through lies, deceit and deceptions. That you do not have to tear an opponent down or dislike him because he disagrees with you. He has elevated this political areana and ourselves, that we can be better and do better. He offers hope and inspiration, something lacking in America.
OBAMA FIRSTS....
Mr, Obama will be the "first" in several areas as President.
1. He will be our first socialist president.
2. The first president to begin his political career in the living room/fund raiser of a America hating terrorist, who continues to spout his hate speech to college student and who remains proud of his terrorist activities. Obama even endorsed the terrorist's book.
3. Obama will be the first president who supports infanticide.
4. Obama will the first president who openly advocates redistribution of wealth programs.
5. He will the first president to work for an organization that supports socialist programs, non qualifying loans to minorities and voter fraud (ACORN).
6. He will be the first president to refer to small town folk as "angry white people, clinging to religion and guns".
7. We will have a First Lady who said that she has never been proud to be an American and referred to America as a "downright mean country" - Another first.
8. We will have our first president who attended an openly racist church for 21 years and called the raving, frothing at the mouth reverend his friend and mentor.
9. Obama will be the first president to have joked, on national television, about the horror of abortion - "Knowing when life begins is above my pay grade."
10. He will be the first president to have threatened to invade an allied country before or after he was elected (Pakistan).
11. He will be the first president to have built a Roman temple and a "shock and awe" show for his convention.
12. He will be the first president to have actually purchased the White House by spending more than any other and 3 times as much as his opponent (after promising not to).
Boy, ain't "Change" grand?
Education?
I hope Obama is a good president and not up to something else.
Education topic: I think, United States has good education..That's really up to you if you want to be at school or just want to be there. Try to visit other countries then compare what America has then probably you'll appreciate your country.
Learn to live without blaming anyone.
Good luck!
advertisement
