Godheval

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Mr. Obama, throughout his candidacy, worked hard to isolate himself from his identity as an African-American, in that he attempted to remove race from the campaign altogether.  He was astute enough to deliver an excellent speech on race, but it was mostly to resonate with the post-racial idealism of white liberals and to placate white dissent that came in response to the Jeremiah Wright controversy and Obama’s own comments about the “typical white person” during a radio interview.  He made sure to emphasize his blended heritage, to make himself relatable to white Americans, many of whom in their “post-racial” thinking were quick to argue during discussions of race how Obama wasn’t just black, but half-white.

I am not amongst those who have ever criticized Mr. Obama for not being “black enough”.  As a person growing up in this country with his skin color, his features, his name, I have no doubts that he had the full “black experience”, and that he came through it for the better.  It would have, however, been more historic had the first African-American president been a descendant of the enslaved Africans who formed the very backbone of this country.  It would’ve served as a more direct metaphor for “how far we’ve come”.  Still, I will never begrudge Mr. Obama his heritage.

As for symbolism, what exactly does Mr. Obama represent?  He gave white Americans the opportunity to prove – to themselves, at least – that they were not racist, because they voted a “black” President.  But here’s the problem.  In the ways that Obama divorced himself from race during his campaign – such as his clever universalizing of the reparations question – and in how his policies do not reflect any particular concern for people of color, he is the United States’ first African-American President in image only, not in representation.  I do not in any way mean to say that Mr. Obama, or any other person of color, is obligated to act on or even to have such concerns, but if we are talking about how symbolic his presidency is, then he is not an adequate representative of people of color.

Even spectators in other countries have honed in on this:

But it is now time that he lives up to his reputation. Being the first black president does not mean he will automatically champion black issues, or other minority appeals.

His skin colour is slowly blurring into the background of the White House. He is being measured not on his place in history, but on how his reign will affect history.

[...]

Having Obama as a black head of state in the most powerful country in the world will not solve the crises affecting minority populations in the nation.

He is simply the face for a white establishment, who happened to support him to the top because they saw a possibility for a win.

He is, first and foremost, an American President.

— Amy McQuire, National Indigenous Times, Australia

In other words, Obama was “black enough” to be the first African-American president, to allow white people to convince themselves of a post-racial society, but not black enough to rock the boat.  To clarify, this is not a criticism of Mr. Obama himself, but of a society that could elect an African-American president so long as he didn’t call too much attention to his blackness.  Had Mr. Obama even dared to use the word “reparations” during his campaign, he would’ve crashed and burned that instant.  During that reparations question on the CNN panel, only John Edwards had the personal integrity to plainly admit that he would not even address the issue.  Only Dennis Kucinich had the courage to acknowledge that it was an issue worth discussing.  Obama – in what was undoubtedly the right move, politically – danced around it brilliantly.

I am honing in on the reparations issue not because I think it is a pressing issue, but because it is one that highlights the ideological divide between white Americans and Americans of color – regardless of their political orientation.  The candidate willing to address such an issue directly, in a country where white Americans are the majority and still ill at ease discussing race issues, risks political suicide.  It was okay for Dennis Kucinich, who has already found his niche as a hardcore progressive.  But it is for that niche, also, that Kucinich may never be a viable Presidential candidate.

What does it say about a post-racial society that a candidate who wants to discuss the most sensitive issues around race and racism, and our country’s divided legacy, is automatically removed from any chance of being our President?  It suggests a real definition for post-racial:

post-ra⋅cial

–adjective.
beyond discussions of race & racism
Origin: 2008–10, Americanism

Word Origin & History

A term used to describe a society or time period in which discussions around race and racism have been deemed no longer relevant to current social dynamics. Popularized after the election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States of America in 2009.

There is no question that people of color hoped that Barack Obama might better represent their interests – interests that have been mostly ignored by long succession of white male Presidents.  They certainly did not need a President whose election suggested that their issues were no longer issues at all, that we as a nation had somehow grown beyond those issues – which, in effect, undermines any attempt at discussing them.

The election of a female president would not suddenly resolve gender inequalities or render all feminists movements obsolete.  The election of a gay president would not suddenly mean that the entire county has accepted homosexuality.  The election of a disabled president would not suggest that we do not still have a long way to go with regards to accommodating and fairly treating our disabled citizens.  So why in the world should the election of an African-American man to the Presidency symbolize this country having overcome its deeply rooted history of racism?

You wanna talk symbolism?  It would’ve been symbolic for a white American President to issue a public apology on behalf of the United States for slavery – much like Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Aboriginal Australians.  The mere idea of this apology nearly saw Bill Clinton crucified when he considered it.  In the end, he very cleverly “acknowledged the evils of slavery”, but without issuing any formal apology.  For white Americans, who love to address the issue of slavery and its legacy with the fact that they, personally, had nothing to do with it – they view such an apology as an admission of personal guilt.  They do not seem to understand it as a symbolic gesture.  And it seems to be a matter of national pride – of “patriotism” – to never acknowledge the grievous mistakes your country has made and continues to make.

The apology has been a long time coming, and it will be a longer time still before we ever – if we ever – see it.  Barack Obama cannot and should not be the President to make it, and for his political savvy I am certain he will not.  It would, after all, change what should be a symbolic gesture into an ironic one.

Personally I would have taken another white male President with the courage to have the necessary dialogues around race and racism.  A President who rather than bringing together a professor and a cop for a beer, dared to bring together an entire nation to discuss the issues that continue to divide them.  I would’ve been willing to put off the election of the first African-American for another 20 years in exchange for that kind of President.

While we wait for that President, Mr. Obama can continue to serve as a placebo solution to the problem of race and racism in the United States.  I can only hope that while the country is so busy convincing itself that we have suddenly become “post-racial”, that we do not lose the opportunity to bring about real change in our social dynamics, under the false pretext that such a change has already taken place.

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In fact, not too long ago, I trivialized the issue of gays’ right to marry, not because I would deny them anything, but because I also trivialized marriage.  I also dismissed the issue under the pretext that there were “more important” things to talk about.  But in truth, it is not my place to say what should and shouldn’t be important to other people, especially when I do not even have the ability to relate to their experiences.  It was not until very recently that I recognized my privilege as a straight person to even be able to take marriage for granted.

What we must remember in dismissing or downplaying the significance of marriage is that we – as straight people – will presumably always have the option of marrying or not. We can turn our noses up at the institution now, only to change our minds as we get older and – perhaps inevitably – become more conservative in our thinking.

Same-sex couples do not have this luxury. So I think, while we should continue making arguments for universal civil unions as the truly legally-recognizable social contract between partners, we should maintain some sensitivity to the privileges we have as straight people, and not begrudge anyone the desire to form that contract in the way of their choosing – be it “marriage” in some official ceremony, or civil union before a judge.

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Speaking of prejudices, another interesting point was made by Andrew Liepman, deputy director for intelligence at the National Counterterrorism Center.  He said:

The potential terrorist indoctrination and recruitment was a consequence of these clusters, and is the product of “the refugee experience of fleeing a war-torn country combined with isolation, perceived discrimination, marginalization and frustrated expectations.

“Perceived discrimination” is a troublesome phrase, because it eliminates by default the suggestion that the discrimination was real.  It suggests that not only did Liepman consider discrimination as a potential cause for radicalization, but that he then consciously decided that it was only a matter of Somali perception.  He could’ve simply said that the Somalis face discrimination – something no one would’ve doubted – without any additional qualifiers.  It could’ve been left to the audience to decide whether or not it was real or perceived.

To downplay the possibility of discrimination as a mere matter of Somali perception is to potentially ignore a critical aspect of their experience.  Xenophobia, after 9/11, has reached new heights, and so it is not only possible, but likely that Somali-Americans experience discrimination as a result of this fear.  Nevermind the prevailing prejudices that mark the experiences of anyone considered “black” in the United States.  Perceived discrimination indeed, Mr. Liepman.

It is all too common for members of the demographic majority, who are not likely to experience any meaningful discrimination, to downplay the discrimination of minorities as either exaggerated or as cases of “hypersensitivity”.  This turns responsibility for discrimination away from the perpetrators and towards the aggrieved, in effect blaming them for their own negative experiences.  Framed within a discussion about homegrown terrorism, this diminishes any attempts at empathy, and bolsters the case for considering Somali-Americans a threat, because not only are they frustrated and isolated, but also delusional.

Ultimately, in identifying discrimination as a risk factor for radicalization, it doesn’t even matter whether it is real or perceived, and either way suggests a need for a more equitable interface between the Somali-American community and the greater American society.

If we are going to dismiss any or all experience of discrimination as existing only within the perception of the aggrieved, then perhaps this rising threat of homegrown terrorism is a mere matter of perception as well.  At what point does a problem cross over from simple perception to a living breathing phenomenon?  Is it only when it affects the demographic majority?  Which then is more real, the “threat” presented by innocent Arab and Muslim American citizens in the aftermath of 9/11, or the prejudices those Americans have faced since that fateful day?  Which then, was a mere matter of perception?

Shirwa Ahmed, if we can even be certain that he was involved in the Hargeisa-Bobaso bombings, would be the only known example of terrorist threat emerging from the Somali-American community.  It is important to note in this case, that the attacks were conducted in Somalia, probably in response to the lingering tensisons and political instabilities there.  It is not completely unreasonable for a recent Somali transplant, culturally isolated in the United States, to seek purpose in his homeland, where his memories and emotions are still tethered.  None of this implies that any other individual with similar experiences would turn any such frustration or isolation into a desire to attack the United States.

Connecting terrorist activities in another country to the fears of potential terrorist attacks in this country is not only reckless, but intellectually irresponsible.  At the same time, to dismiss what may be a very real experience with prejudice as only a matter of perception is to ignore one of the factors that may make certain members of the Somali-American community susceptible to radical ideology.

Terrorism is too often viewed as a random and/or purely evil act, with no precedent or rational cause.  There is no group of people, national, cultural or religious, that in itself presents a greater threat of terrorism than any other.  It is always the situations surrounding a group that increases the risk – situations that create fear, desperation, or a hopelessness so pervasive that death becomes a viable option.  Addressing the problems facing any community before they become risk factors is vital to reducing the threat of terrorism.  Addressing a problem begins by acknowledging it, rather than dismissing it as a mere matter of perception.

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There have been some mutterings that the Steele appointment was akin to Affirmative Action – that is to say, that he was chosen exclusively for his ethnicity.  However, while it is true that Steele was probably chosen at least in part for being African-American, it is hardly an example of Affirmative Action, because the Republican National Committee is under no obligation to fulfill any quotas in their appointments.  The Steele appointment, unlike Affirmative Action, was not an attempt to foster greater inclusion, but the kind of exercise in racial politics for which the GOP has become notorious.

President Obama’s ethnicity played no small part in his election.  While he certainly was elected by virtue of his vision, his eloquence, and a message which resonated with a country’s desperate grasping for change, it is true that he may not have gotten as much attention were he not African-American.  He galvanized the vast majority of African-American and other non-white voters by virtue of being non-white himself.  He powerfully contradicted long-standing stereotypes of African-Americans in the public consciousness, and made people pay attention long enough to hear his message.  And out of a resistance to the racism that they had long denied but were forced to acknowledge as it reared its ugly head at Obama, many Euro-Americans voted for him as well – at least in part as an affirmation that they, unlike the nationalist fringe, were not party to such ugliness.

Given all this, it becomes clear that the dynamic between Obama’s ethnicity and his success as a politician is rather complex, not a simple 1-to-1 correlation.  In other words, he most certainly was not elected because he was African-American, but it was in part because he was African-American that people paid attention long enough to notice that he was a strong candidate.  A misunderstanding of this dynamic illustrates a greater misunderstanding of American racial dynamics in general.  And it is this kind of misunderstanding that has virtually ensured that the African-American vote, and that of other minority groups, have been lost to the Republican party for generations.

During the Illinois Senate race of 2004, the GOP found itself up against a strong Democratic candidate, one who happened to be African-American.  Their response to then Senate contender Barack Obama was Alan Keyes, a last minute substitute for Jack Ryan, who had suddenly withdrawn from the race.  Keyes, who had never been a viable candidate for any office, and had near zero political power or influence, was remarkable only for being one of very few visible African-American Republicans.  Predicated on the false assumption that Barack Obama’s singular claim to fame was his ethnicity, the GOP seemed to think that putting up an African-American candidate themselves would cut into his market share.  They were dead wrong.  Obama received 70% of the vote to Keyes’ 27%, the largest victory margin for a statewide race in Illinois history.

The GOP attempted a similar strategy in the 2008 Presidential campaign by selecting Sarah Palin as their Vice Presidential nominee, in an apparent attempt to draw the female voters they perceived the Democratic party to have lost by not selecting Hillary Clinton.  It backfired.  Women resented the suggestion that they were voting based on gender rather than an understanding of the issues – an understanding Sarah Palin vividly illustrated that she did not possess.

Now with Michael Steele we see the GOP again using blackface [sic] in an attempt to counter the widespread popularity of Barack Obama.  Strange that they would attempt the exact same strategy that failed not only once, but twice – a further indication of how out of touch they are with the electorate.  While Steele may have merits outside of his ethnicity, they have not gained him any worthwhile recognition, and until now he has been a barely relevant figure in American politics.  It is noteworthy to mention that his popularity was most significant amongst African-American Republicans, who as a minority within a minority, sometimes find public representatives hard to come by.

Since his appointment, Steele has hit the ground stumbling, making a number of gaffes and self-contradictions, all the while demonstrating that he, like much of the party, is out of touch.  Were he not African-American, would he have referred the economic stimulus as “bling bling“?  Would Minnesota representative Michelle Bachman have said to him, in a laughable attempt to speak AAVE, “You be da man“?  Or would Steele have declared it necessary for the GOP to have a “hip-hop makeover“, by initiating an “off the hook” public relations campaign?

It is as if Chairman Steele is trying to remind everyone that he is African-American, just in case they’d forgotten since they last time they saw his face.  And of course blackness – nevermind the 400+ years of rich history and traditions, struggle and accomplishment – is foremost defined by stereotypes and pop culture slogans.  Perhaps to people with zero knowledge of history, and whose only frame of reference when it comes to African-Americans is the television.  It may be that Steele is so out of touch with African-Americans that he has felt a need to mentally renew his own “membership”.  In the process, he is making a complete fool of himself.

Given hip-hop’s political origins, a case actually could be made for the GOP using the culture as a medium for galvanizing new party recruits.  However, doing so would require the GOP to take hip-hop seriously, not condescend to it by throwing around obsolete catch phrases.

If Michael Steele knew anything at all about hip-hop, he would know of its capriciousness, its capacity for rapid change, that the flavor of the day can easily be replaced by the flavor of the next minute.  Had he known anything about hip hop, he might’ve paused before making statements that were not only long out of circulation within the hip hop lexicon, but have since been co-opted by those who would ridicule the culture.  Probably everyone who embraces the culture, and anyone who at least appreciates the music, cringed collectively every time Michael Steele invoked hip-hop from some podium.

African-Americans as a group – diverse in their interests, their concerns, their ideologies, their practices – are a microcosm for the larger American population.  It stands to reason then, that in spite there being some unique issues to contend with, African-American concerns are simply American concerns.

The Republican party, in its stalwart resistance to change, its clinging to static values and obsolete principles, has proven itself of late to be ill-representative of the American population, and ignorant of those concerns.  Michael Steele therefore, as a man equally out of touch with the group from which he was selected, is the perfect choice to lead them.

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So I would like to discuss some of these perceived memes, in hopes of better understanding them, and perhaps not allowing them to color my perceptions of Jewish people.  Note that I say “perceived memes”, as I recognize that these things may not be characteristics of Jewish culture, but just how things look to me from the outside.

1) Extreme Ethnocentricism – Jewish ethnocentrism seems to reach the point of perceived ethnic superiority, including thoughts of being a “chosen people”.  Solidarity for the sake of preserving one’s culture or heritage makes sense, but Jewish ethnocentrism seems to take on a self-righteous bent.

2) Anti-Semitism – To my knowledge, this is the only term for prejudice against a specific group of people, all other forms of prejudice categorized under the general “isms”.  If that weren’t enough, there’s the matter of this term being used at countless turns, where Jewish people, their culture, or the state of Israel are criticized – a “politics of Anti-Semitism” if you will.  Other minority groups are called hypersensitive for referring to their experiences with prejudice, but Jews seem to get endless sympathy in cases of so-called Anti-Semitism.

3) Zionism – To be frank, I do not think that the state of Israel should have come into being at all.  It was an initiative started far earlier than the gross atrocities of the Holocaust, which only placed an exclamation point at the end of every justification for creating a Jewish state.  If it had to be created, then perhaps out of fairness, it should’ve been carved out of Nazi Germany.  That it was created in Palestine – a place which had nothing to do with World War II – only highlights the fact that it was based on pre-existent Jewish claims to the land.  Zionism seems to run strong amongst Jewish people, which as a consequence often means disregarding the lives of Palestinians.  Now that Israel does exist and is not likely to go anywhere, I concede that peace will necessarily include a safe and prosperous Jewish state.  Still, Zionism seems to prioritize the prosperity of the Jewish state over all else.

4) White Privilege/Minority Victimization Duality – Jewish people have the unique advantage of being able to (in most cases) claim white privilege, while at the same time being able to count themselves as an aggrieved minority.  I do not begrudge them the latter, because the more people in the fight against prejudice the better, but far too often have I seen it where white privilege is the default position, with claims to victimization brought to bear against situations of “Anti-Semitism”.  Along with this comes the idea that the Holocaust was the foremost example of human cruelty the world has ever seen, and having overcome it, Jews set the example by which others should follow, in “getting over” their own hardships.

These four perceived memes are the most prominent in my thinking, and will hopefully serve as a good start to the conversation – that is, if anyone is willing to have it.  My intentions in writing this essay are not – I emphasize, NOT – to lend any legitimacy or support for real Anti-Semitism.  On the contrary, I am putting my thoughts on display here in hopes of deconstructing and eliminating prejudice through understanding.

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