I often look at this election and the past one and I think to myself, “I wonder if President Obama’s mother had any inkling of what her son would become when he was born.” And then I think to myself, “What if someone else had any idea what Barack Obama would grow up to be?” And then this leads me to the strange fantasy where a bunch of people living in the United States had a sudden prophetic vision of the 2008 Presidential Election. Some of these people would’ve (predictably) acted with fear and hate; others might’ve cried with joy; and others might’ve been curious as to what might the future hold.
In 2007 and 2008, we had a serious candidate for the White House with more melatonin in his skin than others past. Yet even if the difference was literally only skin-deep, it caused a wave. Every pundit in the media was speculating on what it would mean if an African-American won or lost the race at this point in the election, while also discussing who whites, blacks, and everyone in between would gravitate to, as if everything depended on it. Some people truly felt it did; one time in class we were having a discussion on the race and a friend said he’d heard someone called a racist because that person supported another candidate.
As much as I hate to admit it, race plays a factor in these elections, and in 2008 they played a bigger role than usual, it seemed. Personally, I was more concerned with how the economy might either collapse or grow again depending on which candidate was elected, but people were only seeing the race in terms of what it meant for civil rights and the gap that still existed between whites and minorities.
Do they have a point? Yes, actually; when the President was born, it was 1961 and the civil rights movement wasn’t at its peak yet. African-Americans, Latinos, and Asian-Americans from all walks of life would’ve found it hard to believe that a baby born that year would grow up to achieve the highest office in our country, especially when they themselves were treated as second-class citizens. After all, they were still trying to get a chance to vote safely and desegregate public areas.
But a lot had changed between then and 2008. Segregation is no longer legal (though some places will try to boot out minorities under false pretenses); minorities can vote without worrying about the reprecussions to themselves (if voter ID laws don’t get in the way); and a dark skin tone is not something to be deplored anymore, but something to be admired and proud of (at least in most circles). Much had still to be done, but when the President took office it felt like another step in the right direction.
And in 2012? Well thankfully the role of race has died down a little bit. In fact, “race” pertains less to the candidates and how their race plays into their prospects of winning the election and more into “How can we get the black vote?” or “How can we win minorities over to us?” I must say, I prefer this role than the role played in 2008, though I would rather race didn’t play any role at all in elections and politics at all.
Oh well. Maybe in 2016 or 2020, if this great nation known as the United States is still going strong, the role of race will be even more diminished than it is now. I can hope anyway. I’m looking forward to the day when our nation could care less about race because we’re so mixed anyway it doesn’t matter.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed, anyway.
Rami Ungar The Writer 