Hunting Season: Black Death and President Obama

"Black people are the magical faces at the bottom of the well.  Even the poorest whites, those who 

must live their lives only a few levels above, gain their self-esteem by gazing down at us."

-Derrick Bell, Faces at the Bottom of the Well  

Recently, I have been wondering if there is  a connection between white anger over Obama's presidency and the recent epidemic of murders of unarmed black people in America.  Logically, I know that conflict between blacks and the police has been a part of our country's history since before the idea of a black president was a seed in the minds of even the progressive white people. Malcolm X and the Black Panthers frequently spoke out against police brutality, and  Martin Luther King (who many view as more accommodating) talked about the "unspeakable horrors of police brutality" in his famous I Have a Dream Speech.

Nevertheless, the events of the past year seem excessive, even by American standards, and I am left feeling like it is connected to Obama.

But why are some white people so mad?  Obama hasn't said or done anything to give the impression that he is particularly aligned to black Americans.  He has repeatedly made the point that he is "everyone's President,"  and addressing institutional or personal racism has not been a priority of his administration in the way that addressing issues of gender and sexuality have been.  In fact, when Obama does choose to speak about race he stresses issues of personal responsibility in the vein of a 21st Century Booker T. Washington.

Nevertheless, the mere mention of Obama's name can produce a reaction from some people that is a scary combination of anger and disgust. If you have watched Fox News or read comments on articles about Obama in The New York Times, you know what I'm talking about. Let's be honest, we frequently shook our collective heads at George Bush, but when that Iraqi journalist threw a shoe at him we were mad because it was an insult to the office of the Presidency of the United States.  Any such respect for the office has seemed to have fallen by the wayside under Obama.

I am at the point where I don't even want to bring up President Obama's name in the classroom because of the vitriolic comments that erupt from the mouths of my otherwise sweet sixth graders.  I'm all for encouraging self-expression among my students, but there is no way that a twelve year old should be talking about the President of the United States like he is the clueless child.

6th graders when I mention The President

Black people are only 14 percent of the U.S. population and no longer the largest minority group in the country.  Despite our relatively small numbers, our presence in this country looms large.  We serve a psychic function in this country.  As Derrick Bell says in the epigraph of Faces at the Bottom of the Well, the stability of the capitalist system relies on Americans having blacks to look down on. No matter how bad off you are in America you can always feel good about not being black. (White people are fascinated with black culture, but they don't really want to be black.  There's a difference.)

Whether they are aware of it or not, many whites have a fear that blacks will unfairly get ahead, and thus threaten the material and psychic privileges attached to being white in America. Obama is hated because he  is a symbol of the manifestation of this fear.  He represents the threats of immigration, interracial marriage, affirmative action- and people who refuse to stay at the bottom of the well.

And so the police fire shot after shot and mutter "fuck your breath" to unarmed black people- because they dare not aim at The White House.  And the idea of Obama refuses to die.