The Bare Knuckled Pundit
07-08-2008, 12:48 PM
In stark contrast to President Kennedy’s admonishment that Americans should “Ask not what their country can do for them….”, many have great expectations of the rewards to be reaped from an Obama presidency. And many of those expectations extend beyond the water’s edge.
Along with Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama has made this presidential electoral cycle a truly historic event. The combination of the first female and black candidate to be legitimate contenders for a major party nomination and the prospects of a potential landslide returning the Democrats to the White House and firmly establishing their dominance of Congress resulted in record Democratic primary and caucus turnouts week after week, state after state.
Having wrapped up the nomination with only John McCain left standing between him and the White House, there are many groups, both at home and abroad, that anxiously anticipate what a boon an Obama presidency will be for them.
Let’s take a look at a few of them and what they expect to gain from Obama’s potential ascendancy to the presidency.
Blacks
Black America views Obama as being something akin to the modern political equivalent of Joshua, who succeeded Moses and led the Israelites into the Promised Land. In this regard, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., much like Moses, unified his people and showed them the way out of the wilderness of segregation to the land where political and social equality flowed like milk and honey. Alas, King shared Moses’ fate of never tasting the sweet fruits of their labors and was ultimately denied entry into the Promised Land.
Though Jesse Jackson has long sought to fill the role of Joshua, it is Obama that is both the inheritor to King’s political vision and the embodiment of his dream. Obama’s position as the Democratic nominee attests to the realization of King’s hope that one day men would be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.
With Obama moving into the White House, black Americans anticipate a reshuffling of the domestic political agenda and the prioritization of issues near and dear to their hearts.
Real political and economic equality will finally occur as government moves beyond piecemeal policies to take comprehensive action on matters such as voter’s rights, disparate racial incarceration rates and prison sentences, predatory lending, unequal access to financial institutions, failing inner city schools, enforcement and expansion of Affirmative Action and the lingering effects of segregation and discrimination. In addition to this, should Obama follow thru on his promise to withdrawal American forces from Iraq, there will be the expectation that funds that would have otherwise underwritten the occupation will be redirected towards domestic spending, much it being focused on quality of life issues in the black community. With millions having voted, billions will be expected.
The NAACP will quickly step forward on the morning of November 5th with a list of preferred candidates to fill the Obama cabinet. Though he has not run as the “black candidate”, he is in fact the Great Black Hope. The concomitant expectations that accompany this status and his potential victory are both expansive and expensive.
Whites
Two generations after Brown vs Board of Education and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historic “I Have A Dream” speech, race is an issue of decreasing importance to white America. However, it is one which continues to illicit significant unease and defensiveness due to America’s history and the ease with which the label of racist is bandied about.
White America views Obama’s potential presidency as the ultimate reparation for the transgressions of slavery and segregation. With the election of the first black president, (Bill Clinton’s honorary title as such notwithstanding) whites will consider his inaugural address to be the eulogy over the burial of the issues of American racial division and inequality.
As rap music dominates the charts and wafts through the idyllic neighborhoods of suburbia, interracial relationships having moved from unspeakable taboo to unremarkable commonplace and black entertainers and athletes engendering the adoration and ticket sales of millions, an Obama presidency will be the final step in the complete integration of blacks into American society in the eyes of whites.
Will racism remain a social factor and political issue? Yes, devout racists will continue to exist. However, their influence and the prominence of racial-based politics are greatly diminished. Furthermore, it is not the exclusive domain of white America, as many portray. But rather one that cuts across all racial lines. Though there will still be hand-wringing apologists in academia and the media, the vast majority of whites will view Obama’s election as atonement for the sins of the past. Accordingly, the issue of race will have been buried once and for all in their opinion.
Along with that is the expectation that race will be removed from its position of prominence in the public square and as the basis for the formulation of governmental policy. Whites will welcome an Obama presidency as they believe it will free them from the perpetual penance they have paid for the sins of their forbearers.
Along with Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama has made this presidential electoral cycle a truly historic event. The combination of the first female and black candidate to be legitimate contenders for a major party nomination and the prospects of a potential landslide returning the Democrats to the White House and firmly establishing their dominance of Congress resulted in record Democratic primary and caucus turnouts week after week, state after state.
Having wrapped up the nomination with only John McCain left standing between him and the White House, there are many groups, both at home and abroad, that anxiously anticipate what a boon an Obama presidency will be for them.
Let’s take a look at a few of them and what they expect to gain from Obama’s potential ascendancy to the presidency.
Blacks
Black America views Obama as being something akin to the modern political equivalent of Joshua, who succeeded Moses and led the Israelites into the Promised Land. In this regard, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., much like Moses, unified his people and showed them the way out of the wilderness of segregation to the land where political and social equality flowed like milk and honey. Alas, King shared Moses’ fate of never tasting the sweet fruits of their labors and was ultimately denied entry into the Promised Land.
Though Jesse Jackson has long sought to fill the role of Joshua, it is Obama that is both the inheritor to King’s political vision and the embodiment of his dream. Obama’s position as the Democratic nominee attests to the realization of King’s hope that one day men would be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.
With Obama moving into the White House, black Americans anticipate a reshuffling of the domestic political agenda and the prioritization of issues near and dear to their hearts.
Real political and economic equality will finally occur as government moves beyond piecemeal policies to take comprehensive action on matters such as voter’s rights, disparate racial incarceration rates and prison sentences, predatory lending, unequal access to financial institutions, failing inner city schools, enforcement and expansion of Affirmative Action and the lingering effects of segregation and discrimination. In addition to this, should Obama follow thru on his promise to withdrawal American forces from Iraq, there will be the expectation that funds that would have otherwise underwritten the occupation will be redirected towards domestic spending, much it being focused on quality of life issues in the black community. With millions having voted, billions will be expected.
The NAACP will quickly step forward on the morning of November 5th with a list of preferred candidates to fill the Obama cabinet. Though he has not run as the “black candidate”, he is in fact the Great Black Hope. The concomitant expectations that accompany this status and his potential victory are both expansive and expensive.
Whites
Two generations after Brown vs Board of Education and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historic “I Have A Dream” speech, race is an issue of decreasing importance to white America. However, it is one which continues to illicit significant unease and defensiveness due to America’s history and the ease with which the label of racist is bandied about.
White America views Obama’s potential presidency as the ultimate reparation for the transgressions of slavery and segregation. With the election of the first black president, (Bill Clinton’s honorary title as such notwithstanding) whites will consider his inaugural address to be the eulogy over the burial of the issues of American racial division and inequality.
As rap music dominates the charts and wafts through the idyllic neighborhoods of suburbia, interracial relationships having moved from unspeakable taboo to unremarkable commonplace and black entertainers and athletes engendering the adoration and ticket sales of millions, an Obama presidency will be the final step in the complete integration of blacks into American society in the eyes of whites.
Will racism remain a social factor and political issue? Yes, devout racists will continue to exist. However, their influence and the prominence of racial-based politics are greatly diminished. Furthermore, it is not the exclusive domain of white America, as many portray. But rather one that cuts across all racial lines. Though there will still be hand-wringing apologists in academia and the media, the vast majority of whites will view Obama’s election as atonement for the sins of the past. Accordingly, the issue of race will have been buried once and for all in their opinion.
Along with that is the expectation that race will be removed from its position of prominence in the public square and as the basis for the formulation of governmental policy. Whites will welcome an Obama presidency as they believe it will free them from the perpetual penance they have paid for the sins of their forbearers.