As Senator Barack Obama finally clinchedthe Democratic nomination for the 2008 presidential election last week,many observers reiterated
Across the globe, numerous world powers over time haveattempted to assimilate peoples over whom they once asserted a colonialrelationship. The era of European colonialism, for instance, spanned several centuries and
The numerous obstacles impeding the process ofde-colonization help explain why descendents of colonized peoples have neveremerged to lead a global power — until now.
The Continuing Impacts of Colonialism
Palestine and the Indian Subcontinent are merely two amongmany regions devastated by predictable violence after colonial powerswithdrew. Artificial post-colonial boundaries
During the Cold War, many recently independent countriesbecame
And all over the world, drawn by the opportunities that onlypowerful countries could offer, the world's best and brightest fled theirhomelands through "
Racism in America
Brain drain and other colonial dynamics
Some propose that Obama's nomination proves that our nationhas finally transcended its racist past. But America remains plagued by various forms of institutional racism.
For instance,
Put simply,
But even though racial inequities persist, there is no doubt that the first black President will be a milestone, a watershed seemingly unthinkable before Obama's meteoric candidacy.
The Only Plausible President...
Of course, Obama has yet to win the presidency. But confronting an aging agent of a failed conservative ideology, committed to an untenable war that has provenitself an economic, military and diplomatic debacle, he is well poised for victory this November.
First, McCain's allure previously inhered in his anti-establishment convictions, which he has abandoned. After once challenging Washington insiders with
Even worse, McCain resigned his principled rejection oftorture — founded on his own experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam — to more recently accept torture as a legitimate tool of statecraft. Voting against a proposal to prohibit torture, "McCain reveal[ed] himself as
Moreover, McCain's broader policy paradigm repeats thefailures of the Bush Administration, while Obama's fresh thinking reflects anoverdue dose of sanity.
On the domestic front, Obama has enthusiastically engagedthe healthcareand
The candidates' respective foreign policy visions are also starkly opposed. Shrugging off the Washington consensus,
While obviously momentous in its own right, Obama's eventualvictory is ancillary to his impact on our political culture. "Whether he does or doesn't [win inNovember]...themere fact of his nomination has done something very important." Not since JFK has a leader mobilized such
...Sets a World-Historical Precedent: The Colonized Tail...
Obama will be the first standard-bearer of colonized peoplesto lead a global superpower.
On the one hand, his personal history does not intersect thebrutal legacy of crimes committed against African-Americans who trace their originsin the U.S. to the abomination of slavery. But his father is from Kenya, which was colonized byBritain. And, in a typical response to the impacts of colonialism,
Moreover,
And of course, Obama's demographic identity and skin colorrender him unique among his political peers. His example represents the zenith of the American dream, proof to minorities everywhere that, in fact, "Yes, we can."
...Wags the Imperial Dog
The message of hope that Obama promotes evokes parallels forpeoples around the world abused by colonialism and its continuing effects — and not just American Latinos, for whom Cesar Chavez already popularized the chant "Sise puede" thirty years ago.
America's historical conquests led to
By word and deed, Obama has helped revive two fundamentalAmerican narratives: the
Economicstratification has turned the U.S. from a meritocracy into a plutocracy,and the crushing weight of compounding crises in education, housing andhealthcare has pushed an escape from humble beginnings further out of reach ofmany American children.
Meanwhile,
These narratives — America's meritocracy and ourcultural inclusiveness — are flagging at a time that (and perhaps precisely because) America is losing its grip on its status as global hegemon.
America's Role in the World
The mortgage crisis, mounting economic downturn and fallingdollar are each tumultuous standing alone. Together, they portend
At the same time that our world-historical fortune hasseemed to wane, the United States is reminded by Barack Obama of "where it camefrom." The country that introduced democracy to the modern world, defended it from totalitarianism, and forged a multicultural melting pot will now be led by a man who is half-African.
No candidate with Indonesian parentage has ever viablycontested senior executive office in the Netherlands, nor have any withAlgierian lineage done so in France. Such a feat would not be possible in Britain, which colonized the land of Obama's father. While Benjamin Disraeli led Britain in the 19 century, his family was European and had lived in England for fifty years by the time he was born, he renounced his Italian and Jewish heritage long before entering public service, and he was a staunch supporter of imperialism.[1]
Can He Deliver?
Senator Obama has no historical parallel. Seen through the lens of post-colonial relations between ruling demographic majorities and the minority populationsthat struggle for equal rights & opportunities around the globe, his closest peers are Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan.
These examples offer contrasting visions of how the ObamaAdministration may be recalled in the future. Ultimately, Obama's future trajectory in public service depends on the American people.
Obama will ride to the White House on
Will Obama's legions of supporters remain engaged after hiselection, shifting the ground beneath their elected representatives bytransforming the nation's discourse beyond 2008? If we congratulate ourselves for voting and then fail tomount sustained grassroots pressure, he will ultimately either vacillatebefore, or be vanquished by, the stultifying institutions he will confront inDC.
But already, Obama's impact on world affairs has risen tohistoric proportions. We watch history being made in the moment — but to think it the history of only our nation repeats the Bush Administration's myopia. Barack Obama has rewritten the future history of nothing less than humanity.
[1] See