Bonnie Erbe

Barack Obama Isn't Superman, and It's Divisive to Think So

January 20, 2009 RSS Feed Print

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Can we get back to normal now? Can we get down to addressing the myriad problems that plague us? Can our feet touch the ground and our minds grasp reality?

Being in Washington this past week has been like living in a dream world where everyone's excited, happy, rich, starry-eyed, star-studded, and fancy free. This is nothing like the real United States, where stocks have lost trillions of dollars in value, credit is ridiculously tight, unemployment is at record highs, houses are being ripped out from under defaulting owners, and jobs do not exist.

The deification of Barack Obama has elevated him above the aurora borealis, beyond the Milky Way, and to points unknown. Whatever goes up must come down, and when he does, the crash could be atomic.

I see two potential disasters emanating from this fantasy state. First, it could strain race relations to a point where they have not been for years. Second, overblown expectations for a completely untested president could crash and squander his immense public support much more quickly than might otherwise occur.

On the race front, I'm not sure whether to blame the media, the Democrats, African-Americans, or all Americans, but to many people, the constant allusions to President Obama fulfilling Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream and some people's claim that he is "our man" serve to deepen racial divisions, not erase them, as Obama himself has sought to do. In the words of columnist and author Mitch Albom, on the meaning of Inauguration Day:

If you're happy because Obama is half-black, and now black issues will be moved to the forefront—then today is nothing to celebrate, because you are breaking things down by race, and once you do that, it doesn't matter which color you prefer, it's still myopic, and it's not unity.

I had a frank discussion about race and Obama's inauguration with a close African-American friend. She explained that because white people did not suffer through slavery, we could not possibly understand the way African-Americans feel about President Obama's historic win. She added that, for the first time in her life, she felt being African-American was an advantage rather than a disadvantage, and "that feels good."

I would never prejudge how it feels to be a member of any group to which I do not belong. But I do know if any other ethnic group (Hispanics, Latinos, Jews, Italians, Arabs, etc.) were celebrating in similar fashion, nonmembers would feel excluded and divided. What we all need to feel now is united.

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THE QUESTION

The little boy awkward and shy

Had a question in his eyes

To him the world was so simple

Yet so hard to comprehend

Alas he asked in quiet tones

The meaning of a mystery

Sir, he said, can you explain

Why superman is not like me?

Jesse Owens was the fastest man

Back then, I hear its now Carl Lewis

Sir, what is the colour of the skin

Of these two super men?

I hear Joe Louis was the strongest of all

And Cassius Clay some say,

Sir, what is the colour of the skin

Of these two super men?

The only men I knew to fly

Seems almost to the sky

Were Michael Jordan and his friend

Kareem Abdul Jabar

Sir, what is the colour of the skin

Of these two super men?

And I could go on to relate

The exploits of so many

Fast running, hitting, men that fly

Long jumping men, men jumping high

That look so much like me

So what's the reason, pray, kind Sir,

Superman's so unlike me?

The old man looked sadly

Down at him in deep commiseration

What was the meaning of the riddle

That as a child he'd pondered?

Come son I'll tell you

What I think, though

A philosopher I'm not

But patient years and

Great remorse

Have brought me some conclusions.

Superman is in the mind,

A thing of fantasy,

And in the world of fantasy

Reality is lost, and so both you and I

My son, can create what e're we want

In the imagination

With which all minds are blessed.

But here's my advice to you,

Young son, when inspiration comes

Use it as a precious gift

Without ever being rude,

Not to show that you are better,

Or less, than any other

But just to share the simple truth

That you are just as good.

Michael White 9:19AM June 24, 2009

If you were paying attention, Mr. M., you would have realized that I was not whining about anything, not was I *comparing* the position of Secretary of State to the position of the Presidency. I was simply pointing out that to say blacks have never made any advancements until now is false and disingenuous, and that the positions of power in our country held by blacks, some appointed and some elected (Obama himself having been *elected* as a senator first), have helped pave the way for his election to the Presidency.

(I know no one ever wants to give him credit for anything, but it's an undeniable fact that President Bush was the first to appoint a black Secretary of State, and he appointed two in a row, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.)

The bottom line is that it shouldn't be about race, it should be about qualifications. Time will tell what kind of president Obama will make, and for the sake of our country, I hope he'll be a good one.

L. Martin of CA 2:30PM January 21, 2009

It has been so long since we have had a leader for our country that we are overly excited that there will be someone in our country with a brain..That allows us to think of him as Superman....find someone else to make fun of for awhile. For your information, I am white.

Mary Lubbe

Mary Lubbe of TX 11:18AM January 21, 2009

Bonnie Erbe

Bonnie Erbe

Bonnie Erbe is a contributing editor at U.S. News & World Report and hosts PBS's weekly news analysis program, To the Contrary with Bonnie Erbe. She also writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column for Scripps Howard News Service.

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