Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton: Just a couple
of 'gringos' campaigning in Florida, Oct. 20.
Semana, Colombia
Obama: A Negro
Gringo (Or a Gringo Negro)?
"It's not for being Black that
Obama will reach the presidency (though to a small degree, because of it), and
not in spite of being Black (although, there's a little bit of this, too). It
will be because, among the gringo candidates, he is undoubtedly the best. … and
he has the pluses and minuses, the advantages and disadvantages, of being Black
in a racist society that is rapidly shedding its racism."
By Antonio Caballero
Translated By Halszka Czarnocka
October 18, 2008
Colombia -
Semana - Original Article (Spanish)
I know well that one
shouldn't say “gringo” or “Negro”: these are two politically incorrect words.
One reveals a visceral anti-Americanism, the other, racism. But the reality is
more obstinate than political correctness - and the fact is that Barack Obama,
the next president of the United States, is a gringo - and a Negro. Or, if one
prefers, he's a Negro and a gringo.
(Caution: the order of the
factors changes the product).
It's not for
being Black that Obama will reach the presidency (though to a small degree,
because of it), and not in spite of being Black (although, there's a little bit
of this, too). It will be because, among the gringo candidates, he is
undoubtedly the best. Now that he has eliminated his Democratic rivals, all he
has to face before Election Day is Republican John McCain (plus two or three
marginal candidates: the indefatigable and tedious Ralph Nader, a Green woman
and a mad libertarian). And McCain himself is a mannequin, a stiff puppet who
sounds like a rusted machine - which is even worse when he laughs - and whose
main asset, as presented on TV by his vice presidential candidate [Sarah
Palin], is that “he knows how to win a war because he’s been in one.” Yes: he
spent almost the entire Vietnam War as a prisoner of those who eventually won
it.
But neither is it just
because McCain is so bad, nor because he is burdened with the sins of the
super-bad government of his fellow Republican George W. Bush (which has crashed
the economy, the influence, the morale, the prestige and the self-esteem of the
United States) that Democratic candidate Barack Obama is going to win this
election. He's also going to win thanks to the promise of hope in his governing
platform, which is less selfish or short-sighted than that proposed by his
Republican opponent: domestically, health care for all and higher taxes on the
over-protected rich; in foreign policy, fewer lost wars and a more responsible
energy policy. And above all, he's going to win because of his own virtues and
talents: eloquence, sincerity, naturalness, intellectual preparation and
political coherence. And by his capacity to raise funds: money is the raw sinew
of democratic elections.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Poll of polls for October 27
Barack Obama is amazing. It’s
been a long time since one has heard an American presidential candidate
speaking as well as he does: perhaps not since Robert Kennedy. It’s been a long
time since anyone has seemed so sincere: perhaps not since Jimmy Carter. None
have seemed so natural, so un-artificial: perhaps not since Dwight Eisenhower.
None have shone with such intelligence: perhaps not since Adlai Stevenson. None
has kept such consistency between his professional career and his electoral
promises: perhaps not since Woodrow Wilson. None have presented such a
well-structured program for governing: perhaps not since Franklin Roosevelt.
None has had this inborn, powerful, hard to define gift called charisma:
perhaps not since Ronald Reagan or John Kennedy. And in terms of amassing
campaign contributions, Obama looks like a pyramid scheme!
(All this sounds quite
impressive upon rereading. Perhaps, over the top).
And moreover - or but,
depending on your point of view - Barack Obama is Black. Moreover: he's a Negro
who has become a candidate for the Presidency of the United States for a party
of national dimension: He's the American dream made flesh. But he is a Black
candidate and now they're throwing it in his face: uppity Negro, terrorist
Negro, Negro gone White; kill him. His name is Obama, which sounds like Osama
(as in bin Laden). And his middle name - all gringos have them and Obama is a
gringo - is Hussein: Barrack Hussein Obama, like the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein,
the one they hanged more for being an Iraqi than for being a dictator. And he's
not even a domesticated Negro, a “house Negro,” as Harry Belafonte memorably
called secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice; he's a “barking
Negro” (within certain limits of prudence and composure). It's worth reading
his splendid speech on race in the United States, which was delivered mid-way
through the campaign 
. In short, he
has the pluses and minuses, the advantages and disadvantages, of being Black in
a racist society that is rapidly shedding its racism. Let’s remember
that when Obama was born, it was nearly impossible for an American Black to
gain notoriety as anything but a boxer or a trumpeter. Today, the almost surely
future president is the same age as the historic Black civil rights march on
Washington in 1963.
Senator Barack Obama delivers his now historic speech on race
in America, March 18, 2008. WATCH
But - or moreover, according
to your point of view - Barack Obama is a gringo. Which means he has
characteristics of a professional politician, of a senator, of a gringo
president: hypocritically religious, militarily jingoistic and inevitably
imperialist. Since his mother was an agnostic, Obama has to show that he's a
practicing Christian (worshipping in one of a myriad of Black protestant
churches in America; Trinity United Church of Christ). Since his father was
from Africa and Obama spent his childhood in Indonesia, he has to put on (and
has done so) a lapel pin with the stars and stripes to make a show of his
patriotism. And given that he thinks the war in Iraq is madness and doesn't
subscribe to the “Bush doctrine” of preventive aggression, he has to prove that
he believes in the messianic “exceptionalism” of the United States, which was
called on by Providence to interfere all over the world in order to save it.
Empires are imperialist. And Barack Obama is - stands on the brink of being -
the emperor of the currently prevailing empire.
Better than McCain? Without a
doubt (and it's not so difficult to be that). But the world should not have too
many illusions about Barack Obama. He's simply about to be the new president of
the United States.
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HERE FOR SPANISH VERSION
[Posted by
WORLDMEETS.US October 27, 4:32pm]
