Obama's Midnight Children (op-ed)
Growing up adults told us teenagers: We could be whatever we wanted to be. Then it was said, underneath breath, that none of us could become President of The United States. Why? We never asked. The mirror made it obvious.
But the inauguration of Barack Obama retired that remark and placed it into the catalog of 20th century comments no longer applicable in the new century of change Americans believed and wanted. (The 21st century began repeating the past, a second Bush and a second Iraq war.)
The day of Obama’s inauguration, right before the historic event was televised, I was conflicted because I wondered what really, if anything, was going to change, then I remembered a similar day in college.
It was April 27, 1994, the global event was South Africa’s first multi-racial elections, and Nelson Mandela ascended from prison to the presidency. Black Americans identified with the South African struggle to end apartheid because it bore resemblance to ending segregation in the American south.
So when the impossible was achieved by Mandela I celebrated with my college friends. Not only was it the biggest historical event of our lifetime, but it made us question the biggest barrier we believed during our childhoods. We asked among ourselves could there be a Black president of the United States? But the voice of reasonable doubt credited Mandela’s success to the Black majority population in South Africa, numbers Black American’s lacked; therefore it couldn’t happen in the United States.
Even the optimist that believed Mandela’s success could be emulated in the United States concluded it would not happen during our life times. The odds seemed insurmountable because we were so thoroughly indoctrinated that we couldn’t even imagine. That day I remembered thinking at least there will never be another South African child burdened by rules, written or unwritten, that limited what one could aspire to achieve.
With that thought in mind I stopped wondering if Obama’s election was just a superficial change or if substantial changes would result, and I thought about a novel of magic realism.
Salman Rushdie wrote a novel called Midnight’s Children. The main character was born at midnight August 15, 1947 when India became free from British colonial rule. This character was born with telepathic powers. Later on the character discovered that all the children born in India between 12am and 1am on the date of independence were born with special gifts. So the character used his telepathic powers to assemble the Midnight Children’s conference. All assembled were to reflect on the meaning of their gifts and how they could address the issues India faced during the early years of statehood.
After the inauguration it occurred to me that Obama will have children of all backgrounds born under his presidency. For the rest of these children’s lives a Black president will be normal, and it normalizes the highest of all human aspirations regardless of background. And it aborts the twins birthed in a racialized society, an inferiority complex and a false sense of superiority due to skin color. W.E.B. Dubois wrote: The problem of the 20th century will be that of the color line. That line has been erased in the 21st century.
The 20th century also had what was called The Great Generation, those that endured the great depression and fought World War II, but these children born under Obama’s presidency have the potential to be the greatest generation America ever produced because they will possess the unlimited potential that can produce a national exceptionalism unrivaled in the history of human civilization.
But right now that generation faces its first obstacle, the next presidential election. Sen. Marco Rubio seems to be aware of this threat. When he launched his presidential bid he mentioned he wanted to lead the way in what he called “A New American Century”. He also stated we don’t need leaders from yesterday promising to take us back to yesterday. The question now is what presidential direction will the American people endorse. Are voters looking forward to assist the next generation or are they looking forward to familiar names reclaiming the oval office? I guess we’ll have to wait until the midnight hour.
First published in The New Pittsburgh Courier 4/2215
But the inauguration of Barack Obama retired that remark and placed it into the catalog of 20th century comments no longer applicable in the new century of change Americans believed and wanted. (The 21st century began repeating the past, a second Bush and a second Iraq war.)
The day of Obama’s inauguration, right before the historic event was televised, I was conflicted because I wondered what really, if anything, was going to change, then I remembered a similar day in college.
It was April 27, 1994, the global event was South Africa’s first multi-racial elections, and Nelson Mandela ascended from prison to the presidency. Black Americans identified with the South African struggle to end apartheid because it bore resemblance to ending segregation in the American south.
So when the impossible was achieved by Mandela I celebrated with my college friends. Not only was it the biggest historical event of our lifetime, but it made us question the biggest barrier we believed during our childhoods. We asked among ourselves could there be a Black president of the United States? But the voice of reasonable doubt credited Mandela’s success to the Black majority population in South Africa, numbers Black American’s lacked; therefore it couldn’t happen in the United States.
Even the optimist that believed Mandela’s success could be emulated in the United States concluded it would not happen during our life times. The odds seemed insurmountable because we were so thoroughly indoctrinated that we couldn’t even imagine. That day I remembered thinking at least there will never be another South African child burdened by rules, written or unwritten, that limited what one could aspire to achieve.
With that thought in mind I stopped wondering if Obama’s election was just a superficial change or if substantial changes would result, and I thought about a novel of magic realism.
Salman Rushdie wrote a novel called Midnight’s Children. The main character was born at midnight August 15, 1947 when India became free from British colonial rule. This character was born with telepathic powers. Later on the character discovered that all the children born in India between 12am and 1am on the date of independence were born with special gifts. So the character used his telepathic powers to assemble the Midnight Children’s conference. All assembled were to reflect on the meaning of their gifts and how they could address the issues India faced during the early years of statehood.
After the inauguration it occurred to me that Obama will have children of all backgrounds born under his presidency. For the rest of these children’s lives a Black president will be normal, and it normalizes the highest of all human aspirations regardless of background. And it aborts the twins birthed in a racialized society, an inferiority complex and a false sense of superiority due to skin color. W.E.B. Dubois wrote: The problem of the 20th century will be that of the color line. That line has been erased in the 21st century.
The 20th century also had what was called The Great Generation, those that endured the great depression and fought World War II, but these children born under Obama’s presidency have the potential to be the greatest generation America ever produced because they will possess the unlimited potential that can produce a national exceptionalism unrivaled in the history of human civilization.
But right now that generation faces its first obstacle, the next presidential election. Sen. Marco Rubio seems to be aware of this threat. When he launched his presidential bid he mentioned he wanted to lead the way in what he called “A New American Century”. He also stated we don’t need leaders from yesterday promising to take us back to yesterday. The question now is what presidential direction will the American people endorse. Are voters looking forward to assist the next generation or are they looking forward to familiar names reclaiming the oval office? I guess we’ll have to wait until the midnight hour.
First published in The New Pittsburgh Courier 4/2215
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