As we all recover from the remarkable events of the past hours, days, and weeks, and begin to look forward at what a President Barack Hussein Obama might mean for the United States and the world, I find the appropriate tone elusive. My faith in Obama as a leader is buoyed by the following: amidst the pervasive bloviating about the historical nature of this election, with the pundits and commentators falling all over themselves to proclaim a post-racial America, to muse about the Black Camelot, to argue that the election of someone they as recently as yesterday proclaimed a “socialist” means that this is in-fact a “center-right nation,” the President-elect himself spoke of his election in terms at once commensurate to the moment and clear-eyed about what awaits.
When Obama took the stage last night, I was struck immediately by just how somber he looked. He seemed both humbled by the moment and completely cognizant of the utter mess he’s set to inherit. In the most soaring section of his speech, he cast the history of the past century through the eyes of Ann Nixon Cooper, born in Georgia in 1902 to a former slave. He recounted the greatest American achievements of the last 100 years — women’s suffrage, the New Deal, World War II, the Black Freedom Movement, the moon landing, the fall of the Iron Curtain — interspersing, in the rhythm of the black church, the phrase “yes, we can” to connote that when Americans have faced existential challenges, the majority of them have repeatedly congealed around a shared, fundamental belief in the nation. He then pivoted to the future, imagining his daughters looking back upon the 21st century, pitching this moment as the one where we chose to give them a history about which they could be proud. This segment effectively situated the election in our national story and comfortably acknowledged its implications for the history of racism in this country, without letting the idea overwhelm the whole. It was an “omni-American” moment, drawing upon the pain and richness in our national experience to present an integrative vision of history.
Yet, his sober body language cut somehow against this profound statement of hope, and did so in a way that actually gave me more confidence in his ability to become the greatest president in more than a generation. This is a politician who is keenly self-aware, who said in May 2007, while reflecting upon his trouble in the earliest debates, “there’s a certain ambivalence in my character that I like about myself. It’s part of what makes me a good writer, you know? It’s not necessarily useful in a presidential campaign.” In an 180-degree turn from the current occupant of the White House, here is a man who struggles with ideas, who challenges himself to synthesize, who speaks to Americans as adults who can be trusted to see more than two diametrically opposed sides to an issue. This is the temperament that allowed Obama to surge against the backdrop of an economic crisis, to soar above Rovian politics; it’s the persona that injected humility into his presentation last night, that led him to address in sympathetic terms those who disagree with him; and it’s the proper tone to lead the nation as it begins to face this next wave of existential challenges.
This man can’t solve all of our problems, doesn’t portend the end of race, and is bound by difficult choices. But I can think of no better leader for this moment.
Some additional, random thoughts:
- Delano. S. Fitzgerald. Baines. Herbert Walker. Hussein.
- For the first time in my life, we have a President who may be able to convince some people that government is not the biggest problem in their lives.
- It will be fascinating to watch the Republican Party as it struggles to pick up the pieces and to find a voice. It will be at war with itself.
- Obama will be the first president my and many of your kids will remember throughout their lives.
- It’s almost as remarkable for a former community organizer to win this office as it is an African-American.
- The passage of Proposition 8 in California should lessen the joy progressives take forward from yesterday.
Just a note about O’bama’s acceptance speech seen through the eyes of my students in organizational communication. Many said that they really liked the fact that he only made one promise, “I will be honest with you.” They seemed to not be expecting miracles but at the same time the phenomena of something new- no political promises just honesty. Does O’bama speak to a new electorat’s will?
Well said Lucas. OveralI, am still a little stunned by the level of emotion I’m feeling today and felt last night. Communication-wise, one of the great speeches in American history. And, to be fair, I was really pleased with the gracious concession McCain delivered. Where was that guy for the last year?
As a gay man, the passage of Proposition 8 goes much further than lessen any joy. It devastates me as I am regularly devastated the day after election day in America in the new millennium. Growing up, the only message I received was that all people should be treated the same. I never understood until adulthood that other people had a different experience. Now in “later” adulthood I must bear the excruciating pain of seeing people organize to restrict my rights. What makes it so hard to not take personally is that the rights gay people seek have no bearing on the lives of others. I think, although I am not sure, that I have the exact opposite experience of a black person. Yesterday African Americans say they were finally able to believe in their hearts that there was nothing they could not achieve. But for me, yesterday the largest state in the nation voted to restrict the rights of a minority group to which I belong. There are countries where discriminating against someone on the basis of any minority status is illegal. I wish I could live in one of those countries.
While the election of Obama does not signal the end of race or the arrival of a post-racial America — race is a durable reality — it is also the case that his majority election is indeed a signal moment and the American racial order is changing. When the election returns are consulted, we will be able to see that, beyond the expansion of the electorate and recruitment and mobilization of the young, this election marks the mobilization of a remarkable coalition of African Americans (95% plus) and of post 1960s immigrants and immigrant children (60-70% plus), which suggests new realities about the American community. It is a 1932 moment. As we watch who Obama recruits into a new administration and we watch the commitments of a new administration, it is possible we may move far beyond what race has meant in the past to new meanings, new possibilities. Look for these in discussion of health care, education, and national service, of targeted public investment, and more…..
@ Rob: thanks for your comment, and I understand and share your disappointment. Perhaps my noting Prop 8 in the last bullet in a list of afterthoughts was dismissive– I apologize. I should note that Obama’s opposition to Prop 8 was tepid, at best,
At the same time, I think we need to be able to concurrently celebrate our achievements and express disappointments at our failures. Proposition 8 is a step backward within a step forward. Andrew Sullivan offers some perspective:
@Ken: thanks for your comment as well… this election is as much about youth and the future as it is about race and the past. I hope it’s a 1932 moment that ushers in a new progressive coalition and a mandate to reinvigorate liberalism… I think that’s needed. But 1932 wasn’t immediately recognized as a 1932 moment. We’ll just have to see.