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.

This Could Be Us But You Keep . . .

President Obama's Attack on Sexism; The Safer of the Two 'Isms'

I don't watch the evening news because I am tired of seeing President Obama looking tired and defeated.  I don't read articles about him online because the comments usually reveal a shockingly high number of intensely racist sentiments.  If President Obama is on the cover of The Post or The Daily News, I avoid looking at the headline out of fear that the accompanying photograph or illustration will demean the office of The President of the United States.

The New York Post: When freedom of the press trumps good taste.

It is interesting that much of the anger at Obama comes from the liberals who supported him. President Obama's recent decision to normalize relations with Cuba reminded me of how many historic decisions he has made since taking office in 2009. For example, President Obama:

• Approved the raid that led to the capture of Osama Bin Laden
• Signed the Don't Ask Don't Tell Act of 2010
• Supported Supreme Court decision striking down The Defense of Marriage Act
• Ended the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Nominated first Latina to The Supreme Court and appointed the first black man as Attorney General

Obama Smiling Photo: collective-evolution.com

Despite all of these accomplishments, I too have been guilty of looking at President Obama with some measure of disappointment because of his dispassionate and sometimes awkward approach to dealing with the issue of race in America (remember The Beer Summit?)  In the midst of the racial tension caused by the murders of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, and Eric Garner, I wanted more from him. 

Perhaps I was looking for President Obama to to make a statement in support of the protestors, and to admit that in his youth he would have been one of the activists organizing the protests.  Maybe I wanted him to visit Ferguson and ask for healing from the front lines, or meet with the children of Eric Garner and promise to find a way to support their continued education.  Considering the position that New York Mayor Bill De Blasio now finds himself in with the police department, maybe it was the right political decision to remain relatively silent. 

Cops Turn Their Backs as Mayor Speaks at Funeral of Slain Cop Photo: NY Daily News

However, in the wake of these deaths, I did not want to hear our President speaking the carefully calibrated words of  a politician. I wanted to hear him speak the passionate and inspired words of a man.

It appears that when race is uncomfortable for him to speak of, Obama turns to issues of gender.  At a recent, Toys for Tots event, President Obama made a point of placing sports equipment and Legos in the bin reserved for girls.  This comes at a time when recent research suggests that toys are more gendered than they were 50 years ago.  

It's a shame that this is as triumphant as Obama has looked in years

Obama also recently held a press conference in which he only called on female reporters, in order to make a point about how it feels to be seen but not heard.*  Furthermore, he allowed himself to have his picture taken wearing a tiara with several Girl Scouts who had exhibited a flood proof bridge project at a White House Science Fair.  Clearly, these actions are sincere statements about equality from a man who adores his wife and two daughters.  But they also seem calculated (Obama has never attended the Toys for Tots events before this year). At a time when blacks and whites seem to be viewing the world through two different lenses, focusing on gender equality is a way to generate goodwill from liberals and progressives without actually alienating anyone. Moderates and conservatives have daughters too, and if they don't support gender equality they will most likely keep those opinions to themselves out of fear of looking like Neanderthals.  In the end Obama comes out looking revolutionary without actually being controversial.

I haven't decided if this is shrewd or cowardly.  Probably a little bit of both.

Photo: Washington Post

* As an aside, when I taught Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye I did a similar activity.  I told the 8th graders that I was reassigning their seats because of their behavior on the previous day.  I put all of the darker-skinned students in the front and all of the lighter-skinned students toward the back.  I conducted class as usual, but ignored the light-skinned students and heaped praise on the darker skinned students.  Usually about 20 minutes into the lesson, my students figured out what I was doing and we were able to have an interesting discussion about colorism and the main character Pecola's experiences in school.   Interestingly, my students were more offended by what they saw as my error in categorization ("Im not dark-skinned") than by the treatment they received.  I wouldn't suggest doing this without a written lesson plan and another adult in the classroom.