Worried?

I don't want Obama to save the World from Thatcherism but I'm hoping beyond hope that he can save us all from Hilary Clinton (surely the most false and insincere professional-politician since, err...Blair).

I'm also hoping to avoid all TV coverage of the US elections and all blog posts about it. I'll let you off this one - but please don't do an Iain Dale (what's his fascination with US Politics anyway; does he know you have to be born there to become president?)

Portia emailed me saying: "the post is great, very good. last sentence of the second para made me cringe -

" Here blacks score high as they always have in the entertainment industry."

The point made in the previous sentence, that the role of the president has morphed into a polico/entertainment type role is true, but your phrasing erks me a bit. the very fact that black people/ african-american (anything but 'blacks' is this just my generation!?) have succeeded in the entertainment industries is a nod towards the entrenched racism of the States. 'All we got is entertainment and sports' that is an actual quote from a rap record. Some feel black people have only succeeded here because although they are unquestionably talented in these areas, they have also been allowed to by 'the man'. they are designated 'safe' areas for black people to succeed in. n.b: women are also encouraged to achieve as dancers and singers.

Do you see why this sentence bothers me so? it's a bit dismissive, 'the presidential role has become less powerful and more about entertainment, well no problem there as black people are good at entertaining!' i don't think that is the tone you intended

but i think it lacks some acknowledgement.

And I replied: Well spotted, I completely agree, this IS what I was implying was going on, as in, "The president has to be an entertainer, so let a black-American do it!" I wasn't approving of this, on the contrary! The point it really makes, which I could have added, is that the election of Obama would not see the end of racism in the US. The rule of 'the man' has not been displaced. Of course, there is another aspect to this, slavery. Obama's father from Kenya, Powell's from Jamaica. This is what makes Condi Rice a true exception.

Thanks, Anthony

Anthony - African-american men have run some of America's largest corporations and occupy a disproportionate percentage of its prison cells: clearly the US has a complex and unfinished attitude towards African-American men, patriotic or not. Obama's candidacy is a hopeful and for some of us thrilling development, and a test of where the body politic is on race relations. Obama not only won much of the under-30 vote in Iowa, he won 40% of those who'd never participated in the caucuses before. And the numbers seem to suggest what one increasingly hears in political conversations today: yes, people are suspicious of and ambivalent about Hillary, but more importantly they are tired of the whole Clinton scene, including the hangers-on and the husband.

Re your absurd point about the president being an entertainer: the scary shift of pwoer during the Bush administration from the legislative to the executive branches would suggest that the president can and does far more than entertain, as many Iraqis know. The most exciting result of the Iowa caucus was the significant increase in voter turnout. If that is a harbinger of future turnout, it would suggest that Americans are, finally, taking presidential elections seriously, as they should.

and what in god's name are you talking about Obama's father being from Kenya being an aspect of slavery? If i recall the British colonized Kenya......

Janet: on slavery, my point is cryptic I agree: that the race issue in the US is not so much race or 'color' but slavery. Afro-Americans who are not from a slave background (Powell, Obama) are better able to enter the American 'dream' than those who are descended from slaves.

Anthony

"and what in god’s name are you talking about Obama’s father being from Kenya being an aspect of slavery? If i recall the British colonized Kenya……"

Having your country colonised the place isn't the same as being as slave though and many Africans were happy to sell others into slavery.

"Afro-Americans who are not from a slave background (Powell, Obama) are better able to enter the American ‘dream’ than those who are descended from slaves."

As someone Afro-Caribbean Powell probably would be descended from slaves. The black populations of the Caribbean are descended largely from African slaves aren't they? As I understand it Black Americans of recent immigrant ancestry like Powell and Obama are more successful on average than Black Americans of longstanding American ancestry (who are ultimately descended from former US slaves) though. Complex attitudes indeed.

Sarah: I'm saying that Obama is not from a slave background. The point about US slavery, unlike the British West Indies, is the long aftermath of brutality, lynchings to well into the 20th century and segregation into my lifetime, that put ferocious, often shattering pressure on Afro-Americans.

Anthony

Dizzy: these strike me as the words of a worried man, and nothing wrong with that:

"That question is quite simple, is America ready for a black President? I realise that some people may find such a question insulting in itself. After all, the civil rights movement in the US was a cornerstone moment in that nations' immediate and conscious history.

To even ask the question assumes that the answer is unknown and crucially ponders upon whether that answer might still be in the negative. Personally I hope that it's not, but at the same time I am not foolish enough to think that prejudice does not exist....

Anthony

"I’m saying that Obama is not from a slave background. The point about US slavery, unlike the British West Indies, is the long aftermath of brutality, lynchings to well into the 20th century and segregation into my lifetime, that put ferocious, often shattering pressure on Afro-Americans."

I'm perfectly aware you are saying Obama is not from a slave background. Powell probably is, is what I am saying. Though there are different circumstances between someone of his background who is Afro-Caribbean (such as a lack of long aftermath of brutality etc) and someone like Rice's many generations American background which you are saying (probably correctly) is what actually makes much of the difference, the slave ancestry would still be true in the literal sense.

I like the way Chris Rock, a Black American comedian, puts it: "George Bush has fucked up so bad that it's hard for a white man to run for president".

Beverly Anderson, born in Jamaica, worked in England where she was the first Chair of Charter 88 and became a head teacher in New York, emailed me saying:

"Two Christmases ago, we all had a heated but good-natured argument about whether Obama should run or not. Hamish and I were alone ( the rest were his musician friends) in thinking he shouldn’t. We both thought America didn’t deserve him.

Well, having seen the result in Iowa, its possible that America does. I hadn't realized how despondent I had become until I found myself watching and reading pretty well non-stop for the last few days, something I had not done for some time ago. I have contributed small sums to the Obama campaign during the last few months, and am impressed with their efficiency. I had a postcard with thanks the following day!

It is, of course, up to America whether it chooses to shake off the last years (and I include the Clintons in that) or not. I am encouraged by the diversity of the voters and workers so far.

The press is making its usual sycophantic about face, so the only way to see/hear what Obama is really saying is to use his web site, which runs complete speeches and interviews. Reminds me of the days when we could read politician’s speeches verbatim on the front pages of newspapers.

You make good points about the state of women, but I don’t see how it helps to have a woman candidate running on her husband’s record. I would have had more respect for her if she had run as Hillary Rodham and not pretended that her experience consisted of anything more than her Senate term.

We shall see, but its lovely to cheerful and engaged again with an America I recognise."

Christopher Lydon of Open Source takes up the theme. Thanks Chris!