MATTTBASTARD: Does it make me feel proud to see someone who reflects my biracial identity at the helm of the world’s most powerful nation? Sure—but what Barack Obama’s victory most represents to me is “an opportunity.” The margins of ‘possible’ and ‘impossible’ have been redefined. This ain’t about the man—never was.
TODAY in the African American Perspective at UMX feature we give you a strong piece by Matttbastard, who I thank for adding his voice to our mix. (For those just tuning in, this special feature at UMX runs through to Sunday the 16th of November with a new post every day.)
matttbastard is a (typically foul-mouthed and incivil) Canadian blogger, activist and political junkie. He blogs at bastard.logic and Comments From Left Field, and has guest-posted at Shakesville and Muslimah Media Watch.
Say it with me, brethren: Barack Obama ain’t Jesus (black or otherwise.)
He’s not RFK, nor MLK, nor FDR. He sure as hell isn’t on the vanguard of some post-racial generational shift, from Moses to Joshua; as Colin Powell recently put it, “no matter what happens in the case of [President-elect] Obama, there are still a lot of black kids who don’t see that dream there for them.” And, sorry, Oprah, but, with all due respect, Obama ain’t ‘The One’, either.
Chet Scoville hit it last week in a morning-after post:
Barack Obama was just the right person at the right time, which is something that can never be predicted [emph. mine]. And that means that even now, American politics can be unpredictable.
The unlikeliness of Obama’s ascendancy cannot be overstated. A skinny mixed race kid with a funny name, barely 2 years into his Senate career, who goes on to thump the Clinton machine, John “The Original Maverick” McCain, and conventional wisdom re: racial politics in America, barely breaking a sweat in the process?
Amazing.
But not fate, unless one defines ‘fate’ as the inevitable finally occurring.
So.
Strip this admittedly monumental (if unlikely, unpredictable and–paradoxically–inevitable) event of all mythic connotations, take it out of broader historical context.
What does the election of Barack Hussein Obama mean to me, a skinny mixed-race political junkie from Canada (whose name is only ‘funny’ in the sense that it doesn’t quite match his complexion)?”
Here’s the thing: despite recent image problems, we (as in ‘the world outside US borders’) actually do have a longstanding love affair with the idea, the great potential, of America. That America in practice rarely lives up to that potential has always been a given. We have no illusions regarding America’s exceptional benevolence, or lack thereof.
But there’s never been anyone in the Oval Office like George W. Bush, who has taken America’s moral capital and, over the course of a decade, put it into negative equity.
The Bush years have been, for lack of a better word, abusive. I feel abused — the whole world does (just ask the Islamic world, which, out of everyone, has borne the brunt of America’s bold, brazen turn to the dark side.) Now, finally, we’ve entered the post-Bush era. Bishop Desmond Tutu, writing in the Washington Post this past Sunday, said that “Barack Obama has turned America’s image on its head” and that Obama’s (monumental, unlikely, inevitable) victory “dramatizes the self-correcting mechanism that epitomizes American democracy.”
And that feels damn good.
Now, does it make me feel proud to see someone who reflects my biracial identity at the helm of the world’s most powerful nation? Sure–but what Barack Obama’s victory most represents to me, as a progressive social democrat from Canada who also happens to be a person of colour, is, as I wrote the other day, “an opportunity.” The margins of ‘possible’ and ‘impossible’ have been redefined.
Ain’t about the man–never was. This election was about us. We did this, we the people (yes, we–y’all seriously gotta get used to the rest of the world not despising you again.)
4 years from now, if we’re not disappointed by the first term of President Barack Hussein Obama, it means we haven’t set the bar high enough–not just for Obama, but for ourselves.
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mattbastard, a fantastic post, I was right with you on every tight corner you turned. Agree with your premises completely.
Too many commenters on the Obama phenomenon speak like spectators rather than participants. I’m personally overjoyed and elated about the election but shy away from either overstating or understating its meaning. There’s plenty of room between hanging the hopes of the world on him and arms-crossed toe-tapping frowning cynicism waiting for a trainwreck; and worse yet, both of these are passive postures.
In my view, what happens in the years ahead depends not so much on Obama — I already know where he stands, it’s on record — but on popular organization and mobilization, building on what has happened, connecting grassroots community to executive power. That’s where I’ll be focusing my energy and attention, not on the singular figure of Obama. It’s not on him, it’s on us.
Peace.
word kai, “what happens in the years ahead depends not so much on Obama — I already know where he stands, it’s on record — but on popular organization and mobilization, building on what has happened, connecting grassroots community to executive power.”
“It’s not on him, it’s on us.”
that is exciting and hopeful.
peace
a valuable simmering down and sharpening into the practical and purposeful, as well as a reinforcement that this series was a great idea! gracias, mattt.
Dude I got goosebumps at reading this…. *chuckle, chuckle* I’ve recently started reading your blogs and I love the way you straight up lay it out there.
I recently had a debate with a couple of people the other day saying the same thing….”It aint like he’s Jesus or something, relax’….and OMG the spark of absolute anger invoked was beyond words….HA….I’m glad to see someone else on the same page as me. I’m behind you one hundred percent on this one…..it truly is about “us”!
Respect!
Hey mattt, nice to see you branching out, so to speak, with such a great post!
It wasn’t until a few days after the election that I figured out why I was so bloody exhausted. As a feminist activist from the Prairies of Canada, I have come to realize that I have been working for this change - this opportunity, as you phrase it - since before Bush invaded Iraq.
It’s feeling a little awkward, actually, taking my place as one who has contributed to making the change in the US because it was, in fact, the people of the US who actually did it. But I know that my work as a peace activist and writer here in Canada had to have helped build global dissent towards the Bushites and build support - energetic or otherwise - for the millions of US citizens in their work of replacing the Bushites!
Congrats, world!
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i love this statement for it’s trueness. I agree, that this new administration is a chance for it to finally be about us, we the people. it is up to us to capitalize on this opportunity, demonstrated in the election process, and explained so well in your post.
i also think mr bastard :), that you hit it squarely on the head, by defining this time in our history as post-bush, (not post racial). i know i have the feel of walking out of the dungeons with the others, unchained, looking rough and abused, squinting in the natural light my eyes are not use to, wondering where the f’ i am and what the f’ am i to do now, feelings mixed with joy of release due to our initiative, and trepidation that it is only a dream or maybe a bad joke.
the thought that the world is not looking at us with the disdain that we have come to deserve is refreshing. it is up to us, to keep president elect obama on the track of right action for right results, so we can keep this feeling of accomplishment, as a people united.