Breakthrough

Sonia Belle has an interesting post about Barak Obama's book Dreams From My Father, where she theorizes that if Obama had known he would be a candidate for national office at the time he wrote this book, he might not have written it. She makes a compelling case, and adds some quotes to back up her contention. Admittedly, it does seem strange that Barak Obama would willingly make the following admissions-

To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets (...) At night, in the dorms, we discussed neocolonialism, Franz Fanon, Eurocentrism, and patriarchy (...) we were resisting bourgeois society's stifling constraints. (p. 100-101)

And then there is this-

I had stumbled upon one of the best-kept secrets about black people: that most of us weren't interested in revolt, that most of us were tired of thinking about race all the time; that if we preferred to keep to ourselves it was mainly because that was the easiest way to stop thinking about it. (p. 98)

I had learned not to care (...) Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. (p. 93)

I disagree with her main contention. I think Obama had already by this time chosen a political career, and meant to go far, though I agree with Sonia he probably never imagined he'd get as far as he did.

He reveals himself to be the penultimate politician, but at the same time, one who might be seen as inventing a cover should some of his more radical associations come to light in the event he made strides towards gaining state-wide office, perhaps as governor or as Senator. He just had to go along to get along according to the constraints imposed on him by society, the immediate environment through which he circulated, and the culture which spawned him.

He wants to make a positive contribution, he seems to be telling us, but as a black man he has a harder burden to carry. At the same time, as an individual of mixed race, he is uniquely qualified to walk through both worlds with vision and understanding.

Obama's supporters seem to view him as someone who might do for black people in national politics what Jackie Robinson did for professional sports. If he wins, Obama might well be the Jackie Robinson of politics-but I doubt it. In fact, he might have the opposite effect.

Remember, Jackie Robinson met the standard imposed on him, a standard which was much higher than what is fair to impose on any individual. Barak Obama's presidency will probably be mixed at best. It could conceivably be a horrible term of office.

It would be a matter of obvious racism should anyone criticize or denigrate the contributions of Jackie Robinson to the game of professional baseball, or to professional sports in general.

It won't be as easy to make the case that criticisms of an Obama presidency amount to racism. There will be those who will make that case, of course, and chief among them will probably be certain media figures, not only in the entertainment world, but within the halls of journalism.

They will get their answer at the ballot box four years from now, if indeed an Obama presidency is in fact a dreary one. In the long run, however, it won't set back the prospects of all black candidates for national office-just those who wear the Democratic Party label.