"Obama: Black Like Me"
As Sen. Barack Obama surges in the polls and furthers his quest for the Democratic nomination, his blackness continues to be scrutinized as often as his platform. Black-oriented radio shows, National Public Radio, scholarly forums, Sunday morning news shows, and religious leaders have weighed in on his racial authenticity. Unfortunately this discourse has been tiresome, and, in the case of black Americans, overwrought with emotion and counterproductive.
Obama’s biracial heritage, his immigrant, Kenyan father, and his suitability as a presidential candidate give many so-called “native” blacks pause because his history does not parallel that of most people of African descent born in the United States. To my utter dismay, some have argued that only a black candidate whose ancestors were enslaved in America, or who experienced the pain associated with our nation’s racial past, can genuinely grasp what it means to be black in America and represent the political interests of black Americans.
This is a narrow-minded and divisive notion. At a time when black Americans, whether by birth or by choice, should channel our collective political capital into a formidable voting block, we continue to waste time arguing about which of us are “really” black. Although most people of African descent in America have ancestors who were enslaved people, some do not; although Obama’s family were spared from American slavery and aspects of de jure and de facto segregation, this does not mean that he or non-U.S. blacks are unfamiliar with white supremacy and racism.
Many black immigrants from Africa, the Caribbean, and South America know the sting of racism and white supremacy all too well. Unfortunately, they are also painfully aware of what it is like to have longstanding American blacks view them with suspicion and judge them with a sense of superiority. Many ancestors of recent black immigrants were not enslaved in the U.S., but they were enslaved on European plantations in East and West Africa, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, or oppressed as subjects in a colonial regimes predicated upon white supremacy. They may not have experienced Jim Crow in the U.S., but they experienced pain and suffering wrought by indirect rule, white settler domination and/or Apartheid-like conditions.
How are black immigrants less “black” or less worthy of kinship with black Americans? It is absurd to suggest that black immigrants are unable to fathom the pain of racism, and the legacy of slavery and white supremacy. It saddens and angers me that Obama is subjected to such scrutiny, particularly from blacks who remain inexplicably eager and delighted to support white candidates who have often bamboozled us with rhetoric, symbolism over substance, and empty promises since we got off the boat.
Like Obama, whose mother is white, few American blacks can argue with certainty that they do not have white ancestors. Does this make most of us less black? In the American context, in addition to ancestry, blackness has been most often defined by culture, consciousness, and custom, rather than skin color. Walter White, Lena Horne, and Adam Clayton Power, Jr. come to mind. The more relevant question is why any of this should matter. Since when did having slave ancestors or two black parents become a requisite for being black or political office? Surely the larger numbers of blacks who support Sen. Hillary Clinton, the latest presidential offering from the Clinton dynasty, are not holding her to that standard. Who has the authority to determine who is black and who is not? Do black Americans have a monopoly on blackness and suffering? Black immigrants and their children are often the targets of some of the most egregious crimes against black people in America. Remember Abner Louima and Amadou Diallo? Some of America’s greatest black leaders had or have immigrant roots; Marcus Garvey, Stokely Carmichael, and Colin Powell to name a few. Many black immigrants are often just as powerless and as excluded from the promise of America as black Americans. We should build bridges to cure these ills, not burn them.
A bevy of black scholars, religious leaders, and critics have dissected Obama’s every move; they wait, it seems, for him to engage in behaviors that are…I suppose…“pseudo black?” Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree and Arizona State University professor Michael Mitchell have come to his defense. They have noted that Obama’s record, particularly as it relates to civil rights, is consistent with the voting patterns of the majority of African Americans.
His record, however, is apparently of marginal consequence to many in the black establishment. Indeed, a politician such as Obama is sometimes kicked out of the club if he demonstrates broad appeal. Then again, if a black candidate does not show broad appeal, there will never be a black president. It might also do us well to remember, therefore, that Obama is running for president of the United States, not African America as it is narrowly defined by those whose notions of blackness lack nuance, strategic intelligience and Pan-Africanist consciousness. Moreover, if black people do not vote for qualified, like-minded black candidates, the likelihood of an African American ascending to the presidency is highly unlikely. I am not suggesting that we all like or vote for Obama, but we should not allow the issue of his authenticity to undermine him or his stated responsibility to black communities.
In the end, the fate of immigrant and American blacks are interconnected. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. recognized the universality of the struggle for freedom, self-esteem and self-determination of black people around the world. As columnist Marjorie Valbrun has argued, “What were our protests against South African apartheid about if not this very principle? If American blacks can view black South Africans thousands of miles away as brothers in need of their support, why are they having such a hard time seeing Obama as one of their own?” In the end, whether Obama deserves our vote based upon his talent, training, promise and experience are all legitimate questions. Whether he is black enough is not.
Arizona Informant Newspaper
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Dr. Matthew C. Whitaker is Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University in Tempe. He is also an affiliate faculty in African and African American Studies and the School of Justice and Social Inquiry at ASU. He is co-owner and CEO of The Whitaker Group, L.L.C., a consulting firm specializing in diversity and educational curriculum and instruction training.