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Babatunde Adenodi
Pharmacist
East Orange,
New Jersey
 USA

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One more issue of importance: Barack Obama’s father came to the United States of his own volition out of his desire for education and tasted of the forbidden apple that produced Barack. His parents were free born. Unlike the others whose grand-parents arrived the shores of the United States in chains. This is not to say that he did not suffer discrimination. He probably did. But he had maternal grand-parents that were strong and protective of his interests. So he would not have suffered as much as other people of color; a situation that most probably robs off on his perspective until this day.

 

The Barack Obama Phenomenon
 by Tunde Adenodi.
 

Shirley Chisholm, a New York House of Representative member in the 70’s blazed the trail. Then, Jesse Jackson, the fire-brand president of the rainbow coalition in the 80’s. Revd. Al Sharpton took the baton, along with the Abacha friend - Carol Mosley-Brown ( I did not say girl-friend) in 2004. What did any of them have to show for their efforts? Almost nothing! Chisholm won New York and that was it. I am not certain Sharpton carried his backyard in Brooklyn. Jesse Jackson had South Carolina as trophy.

If oratory can be translated into electoral victory, then, Alan Keith of the Republican Party would be president ten times over! He ran briefly in the primaries that produced George W Bush in 1999. He was even drafted to run against Obama in the Illinois senatorial race that eventually produced Barack Obama as a US senator. However, no one will blame him for not trying.

All the above-named people cannot match Barack Obama, the “slim kid” born to a Kenyan immigrant and an American mother, 47 years ago. He is the first African American to make such a tremendous impact on the American political terrain. But before going further, let’s determine the proper race of Obama.

Anyone with as little as 1 per cent black blood in him is considered black here in the USA. But does that make it true? I answer “NO”! Barack has 50 per cent black and 50 per cent white blood in him. He is therefore of mixed race. He is neither jet-black nor lily white. In other words, he is a hybridization of white and black. Even his physical features make him not black nor exactly white. However, Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Carol Mosley-Brown and Alan Keith are all unmistakably black.

Which makes me wonder: Is Barack Obama acceptable because he is not black enough? Is he in the race by the grace of the Republican political machine which propels him forward only to ditch him at the right time? The right time being the ultimate face-off between him and what now looks like John McCain of the Republican machine in November. McCain likes to subtly remind whites to not forget that they are Anglo-Saxon Judeo-Christian whites who would have so much to lose if they do not stick together to defeat Obama‘s insurgency. He has not mentioned Obama but the implication is clear to any perceptive black person. Is he going to get the same treatment meted out to Harold Ford of Tennessee in his senate bid against a white Republican Bob Corker from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Harold Ford, a black man with physical features not unlike Obama‘s, lost the election when an advertorial suggestive of black philandering with a white woman was aired only days before the election.

Barack Obama is in a class of his own. He is not weighed down by the pedigree of civil rights fight which angers the white establishment like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. He did not have to crave the blessings of the black establishment like the Congressional Black Caucus or the NAACP. He is not encumbered by the siege mentality of the likes of Louis Farrakhan nor indeed by the scholarly projection of black cause of the likes of Dr Frederick, K. C. Price. He was born a Muslim with the middle name of Hussein and a last name that rhymes with the feared terrorist kingpin Osama. He was born in Hawaii, raised in Hawaii and Indonesia and he even experienced life in an Islamic environment of Malaysia at the age of ten. He graduated from Columbia University and even headed the Harvard Law Review, the first black person to occupy such a position in the Ivy League Universities of the northeastern corridor. He is a Christian. So, the question still remains: Of what race is Barack Obama? I do not subscribe to calling him black nor can he be classified as white. I do not want to call him a Caucasian Negroid nor a Negroid Caucasian because these terms are offensive, out of style and indeed, will not be right. He is mixed or to use a common parlance: he is half-cast! Period.

One more issue of importance: Barack Obama’s father came to the United States of his own volition out of his desire for education and tasted of the forbidden apple that produced Barack. His parents were free born. Unlike the others whose grand-parents arrived the shores of the United States in chains. This is not to say that he did not suffer discrimination. He probably did. But he had maternal grand-parents that were strong and protective of his interests. So he would not have suffered as much as other people of color; a situation that most probably robs off on his perspective until this day.

His Iowa win of the democratic caucus was astounding even to Hillary and Bill (Billary for short). It forced Hillary to “find (her own) voice” and made former President Clinton panic and unwittingly become his wife’s attack dog with counter productive consequences. Ted Kennedy’s statement when he endorsed Obama was no less despicable than Clinton’s defense of his wife. Kennedy and Clinton are both senior party leaders who should always measure their words with great care and subtlety. Although Hillary won New Hampshire, the Iowa win of Obama created a seemingly unstoppable momentum which has threatened Hillary’s ambition till today. What he lacks in specificity of programs, he makes up for in oratorical prowess. He engages in highfalutin rhetorical oratory devoid of the likes of Hillary’s specific action plans. He speaks the language of the youth and forces them to participate as never before in the political process. Except for Hispanics who show some reticence in support of him, the demography of his backers is unprecedented in the history of elections in the United States.

After the Super-Tuesday elections, he has won all other elections and caucuses held till date except Ohio and is now threatening Hillary in Pennsylvania. If he wins in Pennsylvania, he will seal the fate of Hillary Clinton and the beloved Bill.

However, will that be the end? Not so fast! The forces stacked against Obama are tremendous. And I strongly believe that he is not unaware of these forces. Smart as he is, he is probably working his tail off to overcome these forces. But can he overcome 600 years of racist prejudice against black or anything seemingly black? Can he do anything about Africa especially Nigeria, South Africa, Darfur, Zimbabwe and all those other African countries that are nothing but sources of embarrassment to black people all over the world especially to the likes of Barack Obama? Will the goings on in Kenya not become an albatross for him and his likes? Can he overcome white suspicion of black experience. Has he overcome black resignation to their perceived take in the federal enterprise? Is he the messiah of the black race in the US and in the Diaspora? And most importantly, is America ready for a mixed race President of the likes of Barack Obama? Can he overcome the political hat-trick not unlike Geraldine Ferraro’s or a House member who insinuates that his middle name - Hussein will be celebrated on the streets in the Middle East if Barack should win the presidential election?

When John Kerry graciously asked Obama to present the keynote address at the Boston Convention of the Democratic party that produced him as Bush’s opponent at the 2004 combat for the presidency, little did he realize that he had unleashed a phenomenon on the American political landscape. His performance at that convention fired the enthusiasm of the convention participants and offered a glimpse at the stuff he is made of. From the look of things, Obama seems ready to lead. He seems poised to make history. If he defeats Mrs. Hillary Clinton and becomes the nominee of the Democratic Party, he will help himself and the democrats a lot if he does whatever it takes to make Hillary his running mate. If he does not get the nomination, he would have carved his name in gold in the history of politics in the United States of America.

And if Hillary Clinton is nominated, she will help herself a lot by making Barack Obama her running mate. And Barack would have no other choice than to accept the offer.

 

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