Obama And Race

The May 28, 2008 edition of The New Republic carries an article by television writer Cinque Henderson, who describes himself as "par to an internet group of black people who yammer on about politics." He makes an eloquent case as to why he (alone among his "yammering" colleagues) is highly skeptical of Barack Obama and is an HRC supporter. Here is one of Henderson's insights:

Why do black people love Obama? In large part, it's because of the dark-skinned woman on his arm. Black people (especially black women) are nuts for Michelle. Had Barack married a white woman, his candidacy would've never gotten off the ground with black people. And would whites really be so into him if he hadn't had a white mother? Based on U.S. political history, you would have to conclude: not a chance. My suspicion is that people are ultimately comfortable with Obama because a member of his family looks like them--and, if you think about it, that's not terribly transcendent.

Although Henderson's point is that Obama's circumstances suggest "his so-called racial transcendence... is mostly hokum," the writer inadvertently exposes one of the most controversial questions of the campaign- whether a black "can be elected" president of the U.S.A.

We'll never know, of course, because Obama is, in fact, biracial. And early in his campaign, his appeal to white people owed in part to the hope that he could "transcend" race, though that dream has been largely extinguished with the escapades of Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Much of Obama's support in the white community resulted from the perception that the Illinois senator, born in Hawaii, fairly light-skinned, and dressed oh, so professionally, was not the typical black male; that he had largely escaped the African-American experience and was free of the grievances whites perceive blacks as holding.

Whether being black has helped, or harmed, the candidate is unknowable. But it is barely arguable that without his particular ethnic heritage, Barack Obama would not now be on the verge of securing the Democratic nomination for President.