Hungry for change, America and the world eagerly look to President Obama

Jan 20, 2009 Letters

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Dear Editor,
As a Guyanese residing in America for the last 20 years, I have never seen so much attention being paid by the American media and the American people to anyone like Mr. Barack Hussein Obama as he prepares to be inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America.
It seems like as though it is wall-to-wall coverage on cable and network television stations, radio talk shows, in newspapers, on Internet blogs, and man-in-the-street commentaries and analyses. It is almost in harmony with the expectations of Jews, who are eagerly looking for their Messiah to come and save them; and Christians who are eagerly looking for the return of the Christ to rapture His people. Never before can I recall such an air of expectancy and hope; it is almost like Obama is ‘The Answer’ Americans (and the world?) are looking for!
But as I quietly absorb the meaning of this truly historic, rather energizing and electrifying moment that has an internationally eclectic reach, I have noticed it is happening at a time when:
1) Americans, especially Caucasians, seem genuinely ready to not only embrace a change in attitude by helping elect a black as President, but also seem in desperate need of inspiring leadership in Washington,
2) Nations of the world, but especially those that support America’s democratic and free-market systems, have enjoined Americans in looking for a new vision and direction from the leader of the free-world to help them successfully navigate through an unrelenting global economic meltdown and troublesome pockets of tension and conflict that always threaten global stability, and
3) African-Americans, coincidentally, are observing the birth anniversary of the late Dr. Martin Luther King.
On point number one, it would seem that despite white-dominated America’s known history on treatment of blacks — as recent as the disturbing and raging sixties — this great country has matured to the point where it is willing to trust a black man (ironically, the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas) to occupy the prestigious White House that was previously occupied by white presidents only, to craft American domestic and foreign policies, and to lead the United States — the world’s lone superpower and leader of the free world.
Some analysts believe the sub-par performance of George W. Bush as President for the last eight years literally prepared the ground on which Mr. Obama was able to make his case for the presidency much easier to the American people. In fact, Mr. Obama did use the last eight years as fodder for his case, citing President Bush by name hundreds of times while on the campaign trail. But if it is true that the Bush years did have a part in Mr. Obama’s ‘electability’, it couldn’t be the only reason.
The truth is that there were over two dozen contenders from both the Republican and Democratic parties when the presidential primaries started, so it had to be Mr. Obama’s own inspirational articulation of his views on issues that helped catapult him to the presidency. The American people believed him more than they did Hillary Clinton and John McCain, the two fiercest contenders he faced (I would be hypocritical if I did not concede the powerful role of an Obama-friendly media!).
On point number two, Mr. Obama’s ascension to the presidency comes at a critical moment in world economics, as the American economic meltdown that sent ripple effects throughout the world is now threatening to become tsunamis in those countries that are part of the US-led capitalist system for doing business. It remains amazing that the leaders of the European Union member states appear to be eagerly awaiting the arrival of Mr. Obama to help come up with a new vision to deal with the current global crisis.
And he either comes up with a viable plan they can buy into, or they will be forced to come up with one on their own. If they do, this could be the end of their support for America as a superpower and the rise of Europe as the new kid on the block, thereby causing other nations of the world to look to Europe rather than
America for leadership. Regardless, there is a quiet consensus among several leaders of both the developed and developing world that the current economic system has outlived its usefulness and relevance and it is time for change; but will Mr. Obama’s plan help or hinder that change? Time, only, will tell.  And on the third point, the election of Mr. Obama, most times referred to as black or African-American, probably is the most important achievement to date of what the late Dr. King painted in his now famous “I have a dream’ speech.
Yes, along the way, there have been many signal achievements of blacks in their quest for equality and justice in America, but none of this magnitude.
It is almost as though blacks are saying they have not yet quite arrived, but they do feel a sense of vindication and pride. (Unless you are black, you would never know what it feels like to be described to the world as ‘sub-human’ and then watch as the world treats you as such, no matter where you visit or live and can find blacks). I would be remiss if I didn’t say, however, that while blacks around the world have a right to feel a sense of pride, this pride should not be seen as a free-ride ticket to slacken the fight for equality and justice for blacks (in America and elsewhere), or as the right to do anything inimical to the interests of preserving and furthering this moment in black and world history.
If anything, I believe this moment should be used as an opportunity by blacks to help others, regardless of race, to see they, too, can overcome challenges and rise to high levels in life. For if there is one other positive I have seen from the black struggles in America in the 60s is that whatever equality and justice they achieved are being extended to all races other than whites. Today, America is home to people of diverse ethnicities and nationalities, who are enjoying the fruits of the labour and fight by blacks. And just as there is a black President, who knows whether one day there may be another US President who is neither black nor white?
I pray for Mr. Obama’s safety and achievement of his vision for America (and the world, if he does have one), and may nations of the world take note that change is still possible if people dare to believe and act on what they believe to be in their best interests.
Emile Mervin

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