Portrait of My Undergraduate Self: A Letter for President Barack Obama

Because we are less than two months away from the 2012 Presidential Election, I thought it would be fitting to share this letter.

 *Art by Anna Rose Soevik

December 1, 2008

Dear President-Elect Barack Obama,

I wish you the best during your presidency! Many of my family members and friends refer to me as “The next Barack Obama!”—Which is certainly an honorable analogy! I met you at Congressman John Lewis’ 65th Birthday Gala & Commemoration of Bloody Sunday on February 21, 2005—I was in high school then, on a ten-day Civil Rights Leadership Training called Sojourn to the Past (www.sojournproject.org).  I am currently a junior, majoring in English and minoring in Theology at Bethany University in Santa Cruz, California.  One day, I read a disturbing article in a San Francisco paper called "Obama's candidacy sparks debate on  race—Is he African American if his roots don't include slavery?" and couldn’t help but respond to it!

(http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/19/OBAMA.TMP.).

  

Even though the author of this article never wrote me back, it felt good to voice my opinion surrounding your particular “race”—since your bi-racial heritage made you especially eligible for the spotlight during this past year's election! 

February 20, 2007

Dear Leslie,

This past Monday, February 19, I read the article that you wrote called "Obama's candidacy sparks debate on race—Is he African American if his roots don't include slavery?" and could not help but respond to it. I understand that you don't hold all of the views in the article and that a consensus of people has different perspectives in general about his presidency and that's what you’ve covered. But there are still some questions that I have in regards to the article (and I would love to see them addressed in the future by the media in general). First, doesn't the country have more important issues to worry about right now than Barack Obama's ethnicity? It seems like race is an ever-present indicator of one's perceived capabilities in this society. I agree with Attorney General Kamala Harris, "We are diverse and multifaceted. People are bombarded with stereotypical images and so they are limited in their ability to imagine our capacity."

* Art by Thomas Hank Willis

Secondly, so if and only if a person is a direct descendant of slaves are they considered to be black (according to the American definition)? What about my teacher who identifies as being black, born in the West Indies who is clearly not African American? What if black children in twenty years cannot trace their genealogy as far as to see if they are in fact descendants of slaves? Black encompasses African Americans (Haitians, native Africans, Dominicans, and many others.) Even if Obama is not African American he is still black. My questions for those examining race so closely are does his blackness or not being black-ness make him a lesser or better candidate? I agree with Obama in that he should be “judged on his positions, not race.” Since race is not tied to intellect, his ethnicity should not matter.

Thirdly, What exactly is the “authentic African American experience”? Does someone somewhere in the world believe that all blacks have the same experience? If that is the case then they are tragically wrong. If that is the case, our nation still has a long way to go in terms of racial understanding. Who is the judge of how black an individual is? Is it based on a specific “experience”? Is it based on portrayal of them in the media? Neighborhood demographic? Class? Education? The way they talk or dress? A Kenyan father makes him of African Ancestry and he is therefore considered black. Race is merely a trap that we have as a nation fallen into, a social construct to mask our differences instead of celebrating them. Obama himself said, he “identifies as black.” I am proud that he is breaking whatever stereotypes exist about blacks. For some of us, it’s what we do everyday. I think our nation's concern with Obama's ethnicity, rather than his qualifications and ability, speaks of a much deeper-rooted problem at the soil of (the heart of) American society. If we eradicated our “limited perceptions of black people” (and other ethnic groups as well), we could break out of the “airtight cage” of cultural misunderstanding, to the Taj Mahal of racial understanding, and become an all around better, and hopefully freer society because of it.

Obama is right in that “if you look African American in this society you are treated as an African American.” I disagree with Al Sharpton's position, which states: “Just because you are our color doesn't make you our kind.” Because all black people do not have the same experiences, there is no one definition of being black. Just because we are the same color doesn't mean that we've had the same life story. Sharpton is making the assumption that all blacks (his “kind”) have the same experience (whatever that may be) and because Obama did not have the homogeneous experience he is (somehow) not black.

If a black child grows up in Beverly Hills as opposed to East Palo Alto or South Central L.A., is that child who grew up in Beverly Hills less black than the latter?  I agree with James Baldwin who said, “Color is not a human or a personal reality; it is a political reality.”

I was/I am proud to have been/to be in DC for such a historic election.  I went to the Lincoln Memorial and signed the wall for you.  My comment was highlighted with a yellow marker and read: “Someone called you a “terrorist”—I call you Mr. President. (Psalms 1:1-3). Thank you.”  And again, I say thank you—Mr. President. Thank you.  You have made me even more proud to be an African American.  Even if you never get the opportunity to write me back, I want you to know, that to me (despite the rumors), Mr. President you are black (smile)!

You & your family are always in my prayers,