The Times They Are A-changin’
February 27, 2007 by Robby Grossman
Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don’t criticize what you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’
—Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin’
Since declaring his candidacy on February 10, Senator Barack Obama has seen voters and pundits across the nation question the authenticity of his race. Stanley Crouch of the New York Daily News summarized the widespread questioning, noting that Obama does not “share a heritage with the majority of black Americans.” While factually correct in a purely genetic sense of the word “heritage,” the statement seems a bit out of the blue. Who cares?
A candidate’s Presidential qualifications are not dependent on whether he’s black, bi-racial or ancestrally-nonnative; they’re dependent on what he’s done with his life. Even if a voter’s highest national priority pertains to Civil Rights, he has no reason to be concerned with a candidate’s race; his concerns should be with what that candidate has done to help America rid itself of racial inequality. And so reading Crouch’s piece and the blogosphere that responded to it begs the question, “Why are we talking about this?”
The real reason that we’re questioning Obama’s race has nothing to do with a white mother, a Kenyan father or an ancestral distance from slavery. No, the real reason is more significant and more telling as to where contemporary America is on the fronts of the fight against racism. The real reason for the questioning of Obama’s race is that for the first time in American history, the phrase “viable black Presidential candidate” is not a paradox, but a reality.
A viable black Presidential candidate such as Obama surprises us not because we believe that blacks are inherently less apt or qualified for the job, but because it’s not what we’re used to; it’s not what we know. Giving widespread support to a black Presidential candidate is a boundary that until now we’ve looked at, but only from a distance. It’s a concept that until now we’ve considered, but under the premise that we’re only considering it. Like freeing the slaves, integrating classrooms, and sharing bathrooms and water fountains, accepting the normalcy of black Presidential candidacies is another step forward that America is in the process of taking. That step is almost complete, and it’s Obama who is leading America through the stride.
The vast support that Obama has received this early in his campaign is unprecedented for a man who wears black skin, regardless of his ancestry. It indicates not only that he holds the requisite qualities to push America forward, but that America is ready to be pushed.
It also seems to me that this question of Obama’s heritage is being discussed because we know where his father came from and we know his story. But when it comes to how he has been seen throughout his life by people with whom he crosses paths, he is an African American man. He may not have the same West African ancestry or the same family history of slavery, but he has the experience of coming of age as a black male in a society still divided by racial lines. Discrimination denies a person’s humanity and history and prejudice is not based on your family tree but on the color of your skin.
My husband is from Africa and someday our children will be considered African American because that is how they will be seen.
Kristine,
I agree with you that the contemporary relevance of race is that of skin color and not of ancestral lineage. Today’s white supremest racism targets those of black skin color, regardless of whether or not their heritage is native to this country (see: Amadou Diallo). Obama is unquestionably black in the eyes of any card-carrying Klansman, just as your children will one day be.
The point that I was trying to illustrate, however, is that the discussion of Obama’s heritage is merely a placeholder debate for the more meaningful precedent that he’s setting: the notion that a black man can be a viable Presidential candidate. If native blacks feel that Obama cannot relate to them for reasons of heritage, that’s fine. But that notion does not merit the national attention it’s been getting because it is not contextually relevant to where Obama stands in American history. The issue is not whether or not the black community should relate to Obama; the issue is whether or not America is ready for a black to become President.
Regardless of how Obama fares in the Primary and/or General Election(s), I think that the widespread and early support he has gathered indicates that America is indeed ready.
In your comment, you say that “the issue is not whether or not the black community should support Obama; the issue is whether or not America is ready for a black to become President”
I have to disagree…it’s ineed a question of whether America is ready, but it’s specific to Black America.
Much of the debate in the black community is whether he is “black enough” or has suffered like those who with slavery in their ancestry.
The majority of the country, I would like to believe - or at least going by the support he has received so far - does not consider Obama’s race a factor in their decision, or would at least like to believe that they no longer care about the color of one’s skin. He has shown overwhelming support from the white liberal community and yet much of the black community is skepticle of Obama;perhaps questioning his “black authenticity” in order to continue their support of Hillary. But why?
Last time I checked, Hillary was white…now I’m not saying that should matter, but if Obama’s race is being questioned within his own community, why not Hillary’s?
I don’t think the issue is “are we as a nation - as a whole - ready for a black President,” I believe it’s a question of whether the black community is willing to put their support, their hopes behind him as the first African American candidate who stands a chance in the primary, and possibly the general election.
Matthew,
My point isn’t that blacks shouldn’t question Obama’s blackness (it’s important for all groups to think hard about what defines them), but rather that it’s not an issue that the mainstream media is qualified to engage. It’s an issue that is personal to the individual members of black America. My problem is not with Stanley Crouch saying that as a black he is unable to empathize with Obama, but with the mainstream media acting as though his feeling is relevant to America at large.
The racial relevance of Obama to America at large is not a subjective feeling within parts of the black community, but the broader notion that America–white America included–is ready to accept him as a viable candidate.
[...] Read it at Barack the Youth Vote! [...]