Is Obama a Racist? In Obama's Own Words
I had been intrigued by Barack Obama, and I recently
finished reading his first book, "Dreams from My Father: A Story
of Race and Inheritance." More specifically, the edition of the
book was published by Three Rivers Press, New York, New York,
Copyright 1995, 2004, paperback edition, ISBN 978-1-4000-8277-3
(Original edition ISBN 1-4000-8277-3).
In 1995, Barack Obama was 34 years old.
Some of his statements in the book were enlightening,
especially about what I interpreted as Obama's inner turmoil
about his social identity.
But, some of his statements in the book disturbed me by what
seems to me to be racially negative comments and stereotypes.
Some of the statements were also negative about American children
and American tourists.
It occurred to me that if such statements had been made
about Jews, Obama would be accused of being an anti-semite.
Also, if Obama were white and had made such negative
comments about blacks, then he would be accused of being a
racist.
Should a black man be exempt from being accused of being a
racist simply because he is black?
For all those persons who have neither the time nor the
inclination to read the over 460 pages of his book, I have copied
selected portions which disturbed me from the point of view of
racial and American negativity.
[ PRELIMINARY NOTE: I have CAPITALIZED WORDS that I want to
emphasize. These words were NOT capitalized by Obama ].
Page 47:
Telling some of the things he learned from his mother, Obama
states:
"She had always encouraged my rapid acculturation in Indonesia:
It had made me relatively self-sufficient, undemanding on a tight
budget, and EXTREMELY WELL MANNERED WHEN COMPARED TO OTHER
AMERICAN CHILDREN. She had taught me to DISDAIN THE BLEND OF
IGNORANCE AND ARROGANCE THAT TOO OFTEN CHARACTERIZED AMERICANS
ABROAD."
Page 211:
After Obama and his white girl friend (that he loved, whom he
had been seeing for almost a year, and whose parents he had met
and described as very nice and very gracious, on page 210) had
seen a play by a black playwright; they discussed the play, and
Obama states:
"After the play was over, my friend started talking about WHY
BLACK PEOPLE WERE SO ANGRY ALL THE TIME. I said it was a matter
of remembering--NOBODY ASKS WHY JEWS REMEMBER THE HOLOCAUST, I
think I said--and she said that's different, and I said it
wasn't, and she said that anger was just a dead end. WE HAD A
BIG FIGHT, RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE THEATER. When we got back to
the car she started crying. She couldn't be black, she said.
She would if she could, but she couldn't. She could only be
herself, and wasn't that enough."
Page 220:
In describing personal attributes he desired, Obama states:
"Yes, I'd seen weakness in other men--Gramps and his
disappointments, Lolo and his compromise. But these men had
become object lessons for me, men I might love but never emulate,
WHITE MEN AND BROWN MEN WHOSE FATES DIDN'T SPEAK TO MY OWN. IT
WAS INTO MY FATHER'S IMAGE, THE BLACK MAN, SON OF AFRICA, THAT
I'D PACKED ALL THE ATTRIBUTES I SOUGHT IN MYSELF, THE ATTRIBUTES
OF MARTIN AND MALCOLM, DUBOIS AND MANDELA."
Page 301:
On his way to Kenya, Obama is thinking about his conversation
with a young British passenger seated beside him on the plane.
The British passenger is a student of geology who is on his way
to a mine in South Africa, and Obama states:
"How much could I blame him for wanting to better his lot? MAYBE
I WAS JUST ANGRY BECAUSE OF HIS EASY FAMILIARITY WITH ME, his
assumption that I, as an American, even a black American, might
naturally share in his dim view of Africa; an assumption that in
his world at least marked a progress of sorts, but that for me
only underscored MY OWN UNEASY STATUS: A WESTERNER NOT ENTIRELY
AT HOME IN THE WEST, AN AFRICAN ON HIS WAY TO A LAND FULL OF
STRANGERS."
Bottom of page 301 to top of page 302:
After travelling in Europe for more than a week, Obama states:
"I began to suspect that my European stop was just one more means
of delay, one more attempt to avoid coming to terms with the Old
Man. Stripped of language, stripped of work and routine--
stripped even of the RACIAL OBSESSIONS TO WHICH I'D BECOME SO
ACCUSTOMED AND WHICH I HAD TAKEN (PERVERSELY) AS A SIGN OF MY OWN
MATURATION--I HAD BEEN FORCED TO LOOK INSIDE MYSELF AND HAD FOUND
ONLY A GREAT EMPTINESS THERE. WOULD THIS TRIP TO KENYA FINALLY
FILL THAT EMPTINESS? The folks back in Chicago thought so."
Page 311:
Obama, visiting Kenya for the first time, enjoying how he fit in
so comfortably in a black society, Obama states:
"HERE THE WORLD WAS BLACK, AND SO YOU WERE JUST YOU; YOU COULD
DISCOVER ALL THOSE THINGS THAT WERE UNIQUE TO YOUR LIFE WITHOUT
LIVING A LIE OR COMMITTING BETRAYAL.
How tempting, I thought, to fly away with this moment intact. TO
HAVE THIS FEELING OF EASE WRAPPED UP AS NEATLY AS THE YOUNG MAN
WAS NOW WRAPPING AUMA'S NECKLACE, AND TAKE IT BACK WITH ME TO
AMERICA TO SLIP ON WHENEVER MY SPIRITS FLAGGED. But of course,
that wasn't possible. We finished our sodas. Money changed
hands. We left the marketplace. The moment slipped away. "
Page 312:
In reflecting on his dislike of tourists in Kenya from Europe,
Asia, and America, Obama states:
"I took the opportunity to study the tourists as Auma and I sat
down for lunch in the outdoor cafe of the New Stanley Hotel.
THEY WERE EVERYWHERE--GERMANS, JAPANESE, BRITISH, AMERICANS--
TAKING PICTURES, HAILING TAXIS, FENDING OFF STREET PEDDLERS, MANY
OF THEM DRESSED IN SAFARI SUITS LIKE EXTRAS ON A MOVIE SET. IN
HAWAII, WHEN WE WERE STILL KIDS, MY FRIENDS AND I LAUGHED AT
TOURISTS LIKE THESE, WITH THEIR SUNBURNS AND THEIR PALE SKINNY
LEGS, BASKING IN THE GLOW OF OUR OBVIOUS SUPERIORITY. HERE IN
AFRICA, THOUGH, THE TOURISTS DIDN'T SEEM SO FUNNY. I FELT THEM
AS AN ENCROACHMENT, SOMEHOW; I FOUND THEIR INNOCENCE VAGUELY
INSULTING. IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT IN THEIR UTTER LACK OF SELF-
CONSCIOUSNESS, THEY WERE EXPRESSING A FREEDOM THAT NEITHER AUMA
NOR I COULD EVER EXPERIENCE, A BEDROCK CONFIDENCE IN THEIR OWN
PAROCHIALISM, A CONFIDENCE RESERVED FOR THOSE BORN INTO IMPERIAL
CULTURES."