Not Black President Obama, Just President Obama

The instant that Barack Obama tossed his hat in the presidential rink nearly two years ago the twin mantra was that he could be the first black to be president and if that happened America had finally kicked its race syndrome. The twin mantra has been repeated ad infinitum, and it's dead wrong about Obama and the presidency. The early hint that race was overblown and over obsessed came from Obama. He didn't talk about it. For good reason, he was not running as a black presidential aspirant. He was running as a presidential aspirant. He had to make that crucial distinction for personal and political purposes.

The ritual preface of the word "black" in front of any and every achievement or breakthrough that an African-American makes is insulting, condescending and minimizes their achievement. It maintains and reinforces the very racial separation that much of America claims it is trying to get past. Dumping the historic burden of race on blacks measures an individual's success or failure by a group standard. That's a burden whites don't have. They succeed or fail solely as individuals.

Obama's personal history--his bi-racial parents, his upbringing, his education, and his relative youth-- defies racial pigeonholing. He was influenced by but not shaped by the rigid race grounded civil rights struggles of the 1960s as older whites and blacks were.

The institution of the presidency, and what it takes to get it, demands that racial typecasting be scrapped anyway. Obama would have had no hope of bagging the presidency if there had been the slightest hint that he embraced the race tinged politics of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. His campaign would have been marginalized and compartmentalized as merely the politics of racial symbolism.

He could not have raised record amounts of campaign cash. He would not have been fawned over by legions of Hollywood celebrities, corporate and union leaders. He would not have netted the endorsements of Colin Powell and packs of former Reagan and Bush Sr. administration stalwarts, and prepped by W. Bush political guru Karl Rove on how to beat Hillary Clinton. The media would never have given him the top heavy favorable coverage, endorsements, nor relentlessly hammered Republican rival John McCain. If the media had so chosen, it could have torpedoed Obama's campaign by playing up his connection with his race focused former pastor Jeremiah Wright. It bought his protest of racial bewilderment at the Wright race revelations, and dropped the matter.

Obama had to cling closely to the centrist blueprint Bill Clinton laid out for Democrats to win elections, and to govern after he won.

It meant during the campaign and will mean at least in the early days of his presidency emphasis on strong defense, the war against terrorism, a vague plan for winding down the Iraq War, mild tax reform for the middle-class, a cautious plan for affordable health care and for dealing with the sub-prime lending crisis, and a genteel reproach of Wall Street.

The old axiom that you can tell a president-elect by his staff and cabinet picks will very much apply to Obama. A cast of governors, senators and ex senators, former Clinton and Democratic party operatives, and even a few token Republican mavericks have been floated for Obama's staff and cabinet picks such as Al Gore, Tom Dachle, Tim Kaine, John Kerry, Larry Summers, Robert Rubin, Paul Volcker, Chuck Hagel, Robert F, Kennedy, Tom Vilsack, and yes Arnold Schwarzenegger. The list reads like a who's who of the Beltway and Heartland America establishment.

Obama's cautious, center-governing non-racial, likely staff and cabinet cast and policies is plainly designed to blunt the standard Republican rap that Democrats, especially one branded a liberal Democrat, inherently pander to special interests, i.e. minorities, are pro expansive government, and anti-business. They will be watching hawk like for any sign of that from Obama.

As president Obama will be pulled and tugged at by corporate and defense industry lobbyists, the oil and nuclear power industry, government regulators, environmental watchdog groups, conservative family values groups, moderate and conservative GOP senators and house members, foreign diplomats and leaders. They all have their priorities and agendas and all will vie to get White House support for their pet legislation, or to kill or cripple legislation that threatens their interests.

An Obama White House will of course be a historic and symbolic first. However, it will be a White House that keeps a firm, cautious and conciliatory eye on mid-America public opinion, and corporate and defense industry interests in making policy decisions and determining priorities. All other occupants of the White House have done that. Obama would and could not have attained the White House if he didn't do the same. This has nothing to do with race, or the nonsense of being tagged a black president, first or not. It has everything to do with the requirement of White House governance.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His forthcoming book is How Obama Won (Middle Passage Press, January 2009)

Comments

[fiftyseven]

Bravo! I remember once listening to Dr. King give a speech and I realized as he spoke that his whole point was that race should be a non-issue. I know -- duh -- but I hadn't given race much thought until then, having grown up in a small town populated with people just like me -- white, lower middle-class. I'm sure I would find it annoying if my name or title were prefaced with "white" or "caucasian" or whatever. I look forward to the day when racial divisions are seen as silly as that great Star Trek episode with Frank Gorshen ("Can't you see? He is black on the LEFT side!") Oh for the day when people react to the assertion of race as an issue with as much incredulity as Captain Kirk did.

[brief candle]

I believe that most people didn't look at him as any color, what they and I did see was a caring, intelligent person. It's the media that is making a big deal about it and they need to stop. Yes, there are still some people that can't get over the ignorant predjudice of the past. Thankfully, they are becoming the minority.

[musselmanm]

I am so happy that President Obama is acting just like I imagined but better. I am very happy to see some very important issues being discussed even befor he is in office.
Our candidate Obama was not my black candidate and he is my President! Not my black President.
Just as our young voters have shown us, color does not enter into life very much any more.
I am a 58 year old white old long hair type. I am so very Freakin proud of what we have done and when I get pirssed off at something he does, I will BITCH!
I will also get over it.
I am sure he is pirssing someone off that is reading this.
Get over it, lets move into the new century with our new leadership. Not white, not black, not any race, just leadership!

[ElBruce]

When you compile a quick mental list of all the relevant criteria that Obama brings to the table - his nuanced thought, his inspiring way with words, his mad organizational abilities, his perspective on matters - the fact that he's half black is almost inconsequential in terms of what he's going to do for the country.

Of course it's significant. Mark it in your calendars, put it down in the history books, check it off the progressive to-do list, let's even dance in the streets for a few days. But once the party's wound down, what's going to matter about President Obama is what he can do, not what he is.

[hgovernick]

Mr. Hutchinson,
Thank you for your insights. Not only do I completely agree with you, but, as you state in your commentary, Mr. Obama's personal history, specifically his bi-racial parents, define him not as "black", but rather as mulatto (Merriam-Webster dictionary: mulatto - the first-generation offspring of a black person and a white person.).

So, although we have elected the nation's first mulatto president, I agree that "just President Obama" is the proper mantra for this remarkable individual.

[allonfla]

You have so completely missed the point. He is not talking about whether Obama is Black or Mulatto. Obama is Black. Period. But he didn't grow up with the "influences" of Blacks who grew up in a predominantly Black world, where unfortunately, we are told that we can't do certain things because White people won't let us. In any case, don't kid yourself about this mulatto stuff. Tiger Wood's tried that caublasian mess and he gave it up. If you want to get technical, there is no such thing as race. But our world is such that everyone is identified with the group they most resemble. Obama, Tiger Woods, Halle Barry, Alicia Keys - although mixed - are considered Black beacause their physical appearance meets the criteria. If you really want to stick to your technical term of Black -- A vast majority of Black Americans have white ancestry - should they go around saying "I'm 1/4 white or 1/3 white"? And if you really, really want to go there ---- 40% of Whites in this country have Black ancestry. What should they call themselves? Obama will go down in history as the first Black president, not Mulatto, not Bi-Racial, not Mixed. BLACK!!!! This however, is not what the author is referring to.

[bill76]

What do you mean he is "Black, period"? if you want to view him as just "black", so be it. But as a mixed guy myself, I resent that remark. You obviously see the world the way others have told you that you should.

[hgovernick]

allonfla,

I was under the impression that I had not missed the point at all, when I included in the final sentence of my comment the phrase "I agree that "just President Obama" is the proper mantra for this remarkable individual."

I don't completely agree with you that technically there is no such thing as race. If I had even half the wisdom and intelligence of Barack Obama, I might borrow from a concept he has often repeated in various speeches throughout his involvement in the betterment of the human condition, when referring to "red states" and "blue states" by stating the following:

There is no black race, there is no white race, there is no yellow race, there is no red race, there is no brown race - there is only the human race

[robXdion]

Do you know what a "mulatto" is?

It's Spanish for "mule", which is the sterile offspring of a horse and a donkey. And it is an insult leftover from a time when such things were allowed.

[hgovernick]

robXdion,

My apologies if my comments insulted you. You ask if I know what a "mulatto" is. As I stated in my comment, I was offering the Meriam-Webster definition, which fits the President Elect perfectly - although only in terms of a dictionary definition, not necessarily in terms of how Mr. Obama perceives himself, or how others may perceive him. Please note, however, that everything I've read defines "mulatto" as I've stated in my comment. Your reference to "Spanish for 'mule'" actually refers to the etymology (history of the development of a word from its earliest origins) of that word, and not the accepted definition. I can, however, see how the etymolgical perpecption of the word would be insulting to anyone who accepts the historical origins of the word as the definition of the word. That was not my intention.

[topbunk]

The only problem I have with Mr. Hutchison's statement is that he presumes to speak for the whole black community. You can't have it all ways, Mr. Hutchison. I appreciate what you're saying and I totally agree: there is tacit discrimination and condescension whenever a person's race, gender, sexual orientation and even creed precedes their accomplishment. That's life and that's the way people use adjectives to describe other people as a general rule.

However, when I hear other black leaders emphasising the fact that Obama is black, I am inclined to strongly believe that his race is of huge significance to many African-Americans.

Whenever someone oustide the Old Boy Network breaks through barriers, there is always a celebration. Many supporters of equal opportunity will want emphasis placed on the fact that the successful person is a member of an "outsider" group so they can proclaim they've broken through but others will feel that they haven't truly broken through until no mention is made.

When the first female is elected into the presidency, will you make mention of her gender?

[vinny]

That's politically correct bull jive.

If you were paying attention to some of O's early speeches, he talked about the need to address the intransigent institutional racism that is still with us today.

Only a BLACK PRESIDENT can take these issues on in a politically meaningful way.

[benne]

I am deeply suspicious of conservative statements that insist that the White House must be run this or that way. Don't expect to much, you tell us. But, remembering the "Yes, we can" and the broad coalition of support, I don't want to be told to ramp down my expectations. Instead, I, and all the members of this movement, should be told to help him push a bold agenda. Obama should follow the lead of FDR. Where would we be if FDR had believed that the White House must be run in this or that conformist way?

And I for one do expect his White House and cabinet to reflect the broad coalition of supporters, who helped him get to the White House. That is, I expect it to be multi-ethnic, multi-racial, and mutli-gendered. Why should he do any less in this department than Bill Clinton did?

[hgovernick]

I second that emotion!

[Nommo]

Earl, being Black is such a great thing that no one in America will ever let you forget it. Given the fact that a visual image can span the globe immediately, it kind of seems absurd that constant reminders are necessary. I imagine that whatever anyone has decided Barack Obama is to them is what he will be to them. That's the great thing about reality. There's a place for everyone and their perception, and the asylums are still overrun.

[robXdion]

The adjective is only a problem if you feel the word "black" has negative connotations. Which you obviously seem to have from reading your other articles. You bashed Obama thoroughly and unfairly throughout this election process. I suggest you work out your own self-hate issues and stop worrying about the simple word "black" and what it means in the minds of whites. Because that's your REAL fear: "what are the white people thinking?"

[PATina]

I agree w/ you first sentence (although I won't presume to know what personal issues Mr. Hutchinsons has).

I have yet to hear anyone say "Black President Obama" as if it's a part of his title. Instead... what people have done is acknowledge that America has elected a President who is Black... and knowing our history w/ race in this country... that's something that should be celebrated (like when America elected it's first Catholic president.... I wonder if there were any Catholic "Mr. Hutchinsons" back in the 60's complaining about that???).

What I find to be demeaning and demoralizing is this "wish" by some people to "pretend" that race doesn't exist. To acknowledge ones race... doesn't mean any one race is superior/inferior to another. The same can be said for gender and religious differences as well. The true meaning of diversity is not to pretend that we are all the same... but to appreciate the various differences we can bring together.

[robXdion]

We should see color. It's there and it's who we are. The problem is with attaching widespread negativity to someone's race or gender. I've read Mr. Hutchinson's articles for a while and the common vein is he feels as a black conservative he has to prove his intellectual superiority by attacking blacks and/ or longheld positions in the black community. The only ones to please by doing this are the white conservatives he wishes to impress and be accepted by.

And there wouldn't have been any Catholics trying to run down JFK because Catholics don't have an inherent desire to appease Protestants.

People don't want to acknowledge Obama as "black" because they can't let go of their own inferiority and superiority complexes depending where they fall ethnically. Some blacks want to be apologetic for applauding too loudly and some whites want to claim him as their own to resolve their disbelief that they got out-done by a "black guy".

The same thing with Tiger Woods. After the initial shock, blacks and whites made him less black for very different reasons.

[beaupritchard]

I agree ... please drop the adjective

[yomikey]

Interesting article and take on the upcoming Obama presidency. Almost had me thinking that Mr. Hutchinson was finally going to give the President-elect his due. But true to form, he couldn't keep himself from once again showing his Hillary bias with remarks such as "...prepped by W. Bush political guru Karl Rove on how to beat Hillary Clinton," and "If the media had so chosen, it could have torpedoed Obama's campaign by playing up his connection with his race focused former pastor Jeremiah Wright. It bought his protest of racial bewilderment at the Wright race revelations, and dropped the matter."

I'll always consider Mr. Hutchinson the ultimate PUMA.