Cody
Williams
Obama's Mama
by Cody Williams
The Day day after the Iowa Democratic Caucuses a white colleague called me "Obama." As a young black educated and articulate man the better Senator Barrack Obama advances in his White House quest I figure the better other nationalities view me.
His candidacy helps to break down deeply entrenched stereotypes, many of which prevent very capable black men from being perceived as anything other than “naturally athletic,” “criminal,” a foul-mouth hip-hop rapper or a lazy deadbeat dad. It’s rare for those of us like Obama to get any national media attention if that attention does not exploit racial fears and distrust.
So it’s understandable why some of my young black articulate and responsible associates enthusiastically support Obama’s candidacy over that of Hilary Clinton. It’s a rare opportunity for one of us who does not rhyme every other verse, or wear a Mohawk haircut or processed James Brown style finger waves or 'Flavor Flav' type jewel incrusted teeth get the attention of the Nightly News crowd.
For that I cheer Mr. Obama, with his wife by his side and him holding his children in his arms.
Yes America, we exist and we are capable of leadership and lofty accomplishments.
And now with his first primary win under is belt, mainstream media, who created his candidacy in the first place, questions whether the majority of whites will ever vote to elect a black man President of the USA, even if his mother was as white as any mother whose son ever held that position.
I’ve always doubted the viability of an Obama White House bid, not based on his capabilities, but on what white America has always shown me they are incapable of: judging a person for the content of their character and not the color of their skin. It’s my lack of faith in [some] whites, not Mr. Obama that leads me to question his efforts. I just don’t have the same faith in whites that he demonstrates.
Yet, in our celebrity obsessed culture it helps that Obama is young and good looking. (Last year while vacationing in Hawaii he passed the buff beach photo test.) In a time when a Hollywood actor, whose major roles earned him millions with monosyllabic grunts and juvenile one-liners written by other people, can become governor of arguably one of the more politically important states in The Union, and an uneducated World Wrestling Federation contender can become governor of another state, why can’t Obama have lofty aspirations? Democracy does not always have to make the best sense or lead to the greater good. The presidencies of George W. Bush and Andrew Jackson show us that.
So, with all of this being said, I still take the election of a president seriously. From my point of view this country, nor the world, can afford to have another Bush type Republican run White House. We’ve seen what eight years of incompetent leadership has brought us. Iraq is a mess. New Orleans is still a mess. Our economy is a mess. An Obama nomination only betters the chances of a McCain or Romney White House. Either will hurt blacks more in the long run. This group of Republicans has distanced themselves from blacks as if we are plagued.
If elected president Hilary Clinton would be the best prepared person to ever walk into the Oval Office on day one. She has more than proven that she is capable of leading our nation. I judge her by the content of her character, not the color of her skin. Both she and Obama would do well to ignore the ‘journalism-by-instigation’ that pits them against each other with “he said, she said” racial signifying.
Some Blacks have misplaced hopes in supporting Obama for president. That’s understandable. He's inspirational. (I remember being proud to vote for Jesse Jackson in the 1988 Michigan primary. He won that one too) What we truly want Obama to be, in my opinion, is not a president, but a King (as in ML). Someone who can remind our entire nation what we all are individually, not a skin color, but individuals who should be given opportunity based on our capability.
© www.codywilliams.com 2008
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