Obama has changed the world just by being elected
James Forsyth looks back on an extraordinary contest and the victory of a man who, even before his inauguration, has had a transformative effect upon American politics
Washington, D.C.
In 1968, as Washington burned in the riots that followed Martin Luther King’s assassination, few would have predicted that in 40 years’ time America would elect a black president. But on Tuesday night, a diverse crowd gathered on the same street where the rioting had reached its height in 1968 to celebrate Obama’s election.
Earlier in the day, in a heavily African-American neighbourhood in DC, I watched people who had been brought up under segregation cast their ballots for Barack Obama, and I thought back to a voter I met in South Carolina on the eve of the primary there. He was an elderly African-American man, a second world war veteran. He described how when he returned from Europe, from fighting — though he didn’t mention it — in a segregated army, he went to register to vote. He was asked to copy out a chunk of the Constitution, something that as a college graduate he was more than capable of. He was failed for supposedly missing a comma. At this point in the story he gripped my arm and his voice dropped to a whisper. ‘But a change is coming to South Carolina,’ he said, sotto voce. ‘A change is coming.’ For this man, his opportunity to vote for Obama would right those wrongs.
That change has now come to the nation as a whole. No other president has ever changed America as much as Obama has by just being elected.
America has known for weeks that it was about to make history. But it has shied away from discussing the subject. Obama, above all a cautious politician, did not bring it up. A media that is aware of how pro-Obama it has seemed at times tiptoed around this element of the contest and the McCain campaign nobly steered clear of any last-minute racial dog whistles. At Obama’s final election-eve rally in Virginia he mused about receiving one of his first endorsements from the Governor of Virginia in Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, but then quickly changed the subject: aware, perhaps, that this was a conversation that should wait until the votes had been safely counted.
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George Steiner
November 6th, 2008 2:31pmI fail to see the excitement about Obambi’s blackness. Most black Americans are descendents of slaves.
This black American is a descendent of a Kenyan Muslim, first generation. Eventually black Americans will realize that he is not one of them. If he was, this election would have the dimension everybody claims.
The first group that will be singularly disappointed will be the blacks Americans. And they will show it.
Bob T
November 7th, 2008 6:37amJames Forsyth fails to mention the big catalysing event: Hurricane Katrina and the very public failure to bring speedy assistance to the mainly black inhabitants of New Orleans. America saw this, the world saw this. The very distinctive word I heard used subsequently by white interviewees was "healing". There was a groundswell sense of an historic injustice which needed to be publicly righted. I hope Black America will accept with good grace the olive branch White America has offered.
Ian C
November 7th, 2008 3:17pmObama has changed nothing by being elected. He merely changed the prospect of doing some things differently. Not all of them, by any means, for the better.
This truth will out as the media circus fades and the real issues need attending to. In the meantime James you are merely part of that circus that has to get someone to read your output in competition with all the other hot air being expelled on this subject.
For full and real wisdom, leave Obama alone for 18 months and re-visit what has been written (and comtemplated by you) then. The sophistry that is presented as foresight today will be far more interesting - and to the point.
alcook
November 7th, 2008 6:42pmTwo years ago, as a substitute-teacher in Northern Virginia, I had a class of High School Freshmen. As they were working in groups, I went around to monitor their progress. Toward the end of class, a Black girl said to me, "Mr.Cook, will you tell this White boy he is not black." The White boy spoke up,"But, I am Black." I looked at the girl and told her, "There you have it." I was about to walk on, but she insisted, "How can you say that he is Black?" "Why, he has soul, don't you know?", is what I replied.
One is free to be whatever ethnicity, including Beatnik and Hippie. There is certainly no law against it; but it is like living in farm country and not being a farmer - "If you ain't a farmer, you ain't."
Actually, I have always been a little uneasy, not knowing how "mainstream" anybody is. At my uncle's funeral, people simply asked me, "Alfred, Alfredo?" It is more comfortable knowing.
Mr.Obama's election spells the end of hyphenated-Americans. The only ethnicity that matters is "mainstream"; and we all know what that is. [With the notable exception of Puerto-Rico, which is Hispanic and ought to be "mainstreamed" into its own independence from the United States. We freed Iraq; Puerto Rico should be a snap.
:)
jon livesey
November 7th, 2008 7:51pmI admire intellectual integrity, whether I agree with a viewpoint or not. I don't see it in this article.
Who would bother to take the views of the bar crowd seriously on the Stock Market, on strategy, on trade, or - in the US at least - even on civil rights?
But let the bar crowd get sloppy drunk over a Presidential candidate, and suddenly the World has changed.
The bar crowd got sloppy drunk over JFK, and he did nothing about civil rights and instead got the US into a nuclear confrontation with the USSR, and then into VietNam.
But everyone still remembers JFK, and belittles Johnson, who actually did something for African Americans, even while fighting an inherited war.
Janice Fikse
November 8th, 2008 6:00amDr. Martin Luther King was concerned about people being judged, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. We in the USA have elected a man based on the color of his skin. This can't be a good thing because we elected him for the wrong reasons. It's just Affirmative Action on a big scale. As virtually everyone admits, Obama is far less qualified than McCain, and we will no doubt pay a steep price for electing him. As far as Katrina goes (see previous comment), perhaps the government was slow to act, but that's the way the unwieldy government operates. Public groups and charities sped to action, even here across the country in Washington State.
elfpix
November 8th, 2008 10:25pmI don't speak for all Americans but I can assure you I voted for Senator Obama because, exclusively because of the content of his character.
Early in the campaign for the nomination Mr. Obama was interviewed on 60 minutes. He was asked at which moment in the campaign did he think he would have to start bringing out the dirt on his opponent.
His answer was "never". Asked again, incredulously ''never???", he again asserted "never".
There you have it - the content of his character. Did he transgress? While he let his staff build advertising around the contradictions and foolishness of his opponents' campaigns, he never did go back into their past and launch the slime that was clearly there.
If you believe, as I do, that the candidate is accountable for the conduct of the campaign, then that part of Senator Obama's character was worthy of respect and, for me, of my vote.
And that was only one part of Mr. Obama's character.
donald
November 9th, 2008 2:13amvery simply- Americans vote against someone more than they will vote for someone. In obams's case there was a certain percentsge of voters who wanted to be part of history asnd wanted to be part of it-knowing full well that whoever they vote for can only do so much damage as our political system is designed for very, very slow change. Blacks came out in force to vote for Obama as they can count on their vote- if you follow the National football league you will see the cities with the highest number of minority citizens will have the highest number of minority players-QB's, coaches....- you didn't really think that was a coincidence-did you? All in all it is a good thing to have voted him in and we pray that he guides our country in a right and proper direction. McCain..and I did vote for him, and only because of Obama's abortion stance, is a very good man but.... if what he is allowing to happen to Sarah Palin is any example of how he would run his office I couldn't be happier that he lost. He is allowing this to happen to knock her out of the box so Hillary does not share the stage-Hillarty does not play/share well. I was at a wedding in Chipping Campden and you Brit's love Hillary. All in all- it is very good and we will be in for a couple of curve balls but we don't pass on from generation to generation as others do. It's those damn taxes.
David Short
November 10th, 2008 4:35pmI trust Peter Hitchens' properly-informed view on Obama in the Mail on Sunday rather than those of the groupies of which Forsyth seems to be one.
Time was when the Speccie used to give the properly reactionary view on commonly-accepted, misguided viewpoints.
Now we have to buy the MoS. Well, it's cheaper and there's more of it.
Ian D
November 11th, 2008 7:17amI have to take an opposite view to Fiske. Neither has had experience as President and there are no classes to learn even Pres101. However I believe Obama has learned more in the last 6 years than McCain will in his lifetime.BTW. Down here in Oz, reading our dailies, you would think Australia was electing their President. (We don't have one of course). After the election, Obama got a half page full colour picture, Block headlines and four or five pages in our broadsheet paper. That's about twice as much that our PM received after he ousted Bush's "Man of steel".
Steven Ball
November 12th, 2008 4:58pm"New" Obama = "Old" Clinton Obama's administration is a trip back to the '90's It's full of Clintonites. Obama & Michelle are two Ivy League lawyers playing & pretending in Barbie's White House. Everyone says he "looks" so presidential. While looks don't count. The only thing different is you won't find any really ugly women like Maddie Albright, Janet Reno & Donna Shalala. Read Camille Paglia's latest column for a wake-up call.