What is partly contributing to this euphoria is the fact he is a mix of Kenyan father and white American mother; that makes him as African and as American as either side wants him to be or represent. And also, the fact that no black man or woman has ever come this close to the Oval Office, that has been occupied by white old men in over 200 years.
But is Obama really an inspiration? Will his victory spur the millions of Africans and African-Americans to go against the grain and rise above the hurdles, they are confronted with every day, to realise their dreams and achieve their ambitions?
In other words, is Barack Obama in the calibre of people like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Nelson Mandela or Kwame Nkrumah?
Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) advanced a Pan-African philosophy that, among others, inspired liberation movements and leaders who fought against colonialism in Africa and others parts of the world. He was described by Martin Luther King as “the first man on a mass scale and level to give millions of Negroes a sense of dignity and destiny”. Malcolm X (1925-1965) is viewed as one of the most influential African-Americans of the 20th century and is credited with raising the self-esteem of black Americans and reconnecting them with their African heritage. Nelson Mandela was one of the leaders in the fight against social injustice in South Africa and helped to unite the country after apartheid. He has since become a symbol of freedom and equality.
So, is Obama’s campaign for change borne out of the kind of conviction that these icons had or is it driven by an ambition to break barriers by giving it his best shot?
It should be noted that Obama is not the first African-American to attempt the race for President. Shirley Chisholm, who was the first African-American Congresswoman, sought nomination in 1972 and won 152 delegates. Rev. Jesse Jackson campaigned for the Democratic Party nomination in 1984 and 1988. Twenty years later, Obama is further up this less travelled road.
Since 1870, there have been only four African-Americans in the US Senate before Obama, who is the only one among 100 members. Currently, there are only 42 African-Americans in the 440-member House of Representatives.
In the corporate world, blacks are also a rarity. There only four black Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Fortune 500 companies, the 500 most powerful and high grossing companies in America. This can be contrasted with a study by the University of Georgia, which shows that by 2011, annual black spending power will reach $ 1.1 trillion “representing almost 9 cents of every dollar spent in the US”. George Curry, former Editor-in-Chief of Emerge magazine, said “If African-Americans were represented at the top of the corporate ladder in the same proportion as their percentage of the population, there would be 63 black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies”.
If Obama should win in November, he would be President in country where about one million black males are in prison, more than those who are in college, and where African-Americans are still victims of racial profiling and negative stereotypes.
In addition, despite his popularity in Africa, in his campaigns he has barely mentioned Africa and its position in his foreign policy. While President Bush committed billions of dollars to malaria and AIDS, what will be Obama’s priority for the continent?It remains to be seen if Obama’s participation in the 2008 presidential race will encourage more African-Americans to take a more active role in the politics and economy of the US. It is only then that we can safely say he is an inspiration and not a token that falsely represents blacks as having equal opportunities even in “restricted realms”!
An edited version of this was published by The New Vision on 20th October 2008, see it at http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/459/655234
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