My President is Black (The 2012 remix)
“My president is black in fact he’s half white, so even in a racist mind he’s half right. My president is black but his house all white. Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther could walk. Martin Luther walked so Barack Obama could run. Barack Obama ran so all the children could fly.” Back in the day, four years ago to be exact, Jay-Z recited these lyrics on Young Jeezy’s “My President” remix. Jay and Jeezy captured the enthusiasm and hope of a generation of young black Americans in the prospect of the nation’s first black president.
On November 6th Americans will go to the polls to choose between reelecting President Obama or replacing him with Mitt Romney. If you are reading this blog you have no excuse not to vote and encourage your friends via phone, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, and daily face to face conversations to do the same. The president has had a mixed record during his first term. His administration is responsible for the capture of Osama Bin Laden. But the economy has been slow to improve. Some black scholars and cultural critics have criticized him for failing to address enough issues that would benefit blacks and the poor. Diddy, a vocal advocate for the president in 2008, even criticized him for this. It is important to note that the president should not receive a pass from criticism because of his race. Those in the black community who point out failures of the Obama administration are not sell outs or haters. Likewise, the president should not be criticized by conservative media outlets, like the Fox News Channel, because of his race.
Jeezy’s “My President” is still significant in 2012 because it reminds us of the relevance of Barack Obama’s presidency. In his autobiography, Decoded, Jay-Z said the following of Obama:
“And he was black. This was big. This was a chance to go from centuries of invisibility to the most visible position in the world. He could, through sheer symbolism, regardless of any of his actual policies, change the lives of millions of black kids who saw something different to aspire to.”
President Obama’s journey to the White House was a major step in the history of black politics and in influencing the global image of black men and women. The 1915 film The Birth of a Nation captured the white supremacist’s ultimate fear: black men gaining political power and becoming his equal. Griffith’s film reflected the image that many racist whites had of these black politicians: namely, they were dangerous, deceptive, untrustworthy, lazy, incompetent, power hungry, hypersexual, and violent. Although The Birth of a Nation was a work of fiction, it forecast the future of the black politician, whose presence was a threat to white hegemony.
Black males had been excluded from the political system since the nation’s founding. Enslaved males did not receive the vote until 1870; however, free black men also experienced discrimination at the polls. Women could not vote until 1920. The Reconstruction (1863-1877) allowed black men to hold political power for the decade following the Civil War; but, over the course of one hundred years following the Reconstruction, few black men held significant political positions of power. The success of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements of the 1960s opened the door for black men to gain political power in large numbers for the first time since the 1870s. Richard Hatcher, Maynard Jackson, Carl B. Stokes, Harold Washington, J.C. Watts, Marion Barry, and Douglas Wilder were among the new generation of black politicians. Black women like Shirley Chisholm and Maxine Waters also assumed positions of political power. In 1972 Chisholm became the first African-American to run for president. Although she lost, her campaign inspired Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to run for the presidency years later. In the summer of 2004 a young black politician named Barack Hussein Obama II delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. In January 2005 he was sworn in as a United States senator from Illinois. On January 20, 2009 Senator Obama became the first African-American to be sworn in as the president of the United States.
President Obama’s intellectual ability, poise, work ethic, and swagger gave America and the world a more realistic version of black men. He made it cool to be a “nerd” and proved that black men did not have to rely on sports, music, or crime to be successful. Obviously, there have been countless other black men to do this as well, but the president did it on a global stage. Obama’s presidency opened the door for other blacks and minorities to serve as future Heads of State. His presidency also affected the global image of black women with the ascendance of his wife, Michelle.
Michelle Obama’s presence rejects sexist notions in America that say women must either be housewives and mothers or single, independent and lonely professional women. As successful as Oprah has been, she does not have any children nor has ever married. Mrs. Obama proves that women can have their cake and eat it too. Mrs. Obama also challenges the negative stereotypes associated with black women in America. Slavery created stereotypes of black women as either hyper-sexual jezebels or mammies (a.k.a. the help). In 1965 the federal government released the controversial Moynihan Report incorrectly blaming single black mothers for black crime and poverty. During the 1980s and 1990s, conservatives pushed stereotypes of black women as welfare queens. Although it can be argued that black women, like their male counterparts, have played a role in perpetuating some of these stereotypes by engaging in “ratchet” behavior on reality shows like Basketball Wives and appearing in raunchy hip-hop music videos (e.g. “Birthday Song”); such stereotypes are a gross misrepresentation.
Michelle Obama shows young black women and the world that black women are devoted mothers and wives, exceptional leaders, classy, intellectual, spiritual, financially independent, and confident. Likewise, President Obama gives young and old black men a new standard of success to aspire towards. In closing it’s crucial that you do not take the president’s legacy for granted. Please vote regardless of your political party affiliation. But, if you are an Obama supporter, as you head to the polls remember the significance of your president being black.
Written by Dr. Joshua Wright, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
UMES Department of Social Sciences
The accuracy of references in this essay, (including all opinions, quotes, references, proper names, dates, references to documents, literature, film etc.) are the responsibility of Dr. Wright and have not been fact checked by the Real Life @ UMES Blog Team.
UMES Family!
Leave a comment.
SUBSCRIBE to Real Life @ UMES!
Look to the right of the blog posts to: Submit your email address, or subscribe by RSS Feed on My Yahoo, Google, in a Reader, etc.
SHARE our blog with other people interested in Real Life @ UMES.
If you are a UMES student, faculty, or staff member and you would like to join our Blog Team, please send an email request to: communications@umes.edu to receive an application.
The Real Life @ UMES Blog is a place for our commentary and opinions about what life is really like @ the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. It is not designed to express the views and opinions of the University as a whole. Peace.
