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| Image Credit: morehousealumni.com |
Stories merge, become metaphors
During his 2008 speech on race and politics in America, then-candidate Senator Obama refutes Rev. Wright’s divisive comments. Interestingly, while denouncing the Reverend’s rhetoric, Obama steadfastly refuses to denounce the man. Rather, Obama describes Rev. Wright in terms of the complexity of historical race relations in America, asserting that “he [Rev. Wright] contains within him the contradictions—the good and the bad—of the community that he has served diligently for so many years. I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can disown my white grandmother . . .” Here, Obama uses Rev. Wright as a metaphor for that faction in the black community that has lost hope in change, hope in the future. Obama portrays Rev. Wright as a man who has, tragically, been hardened against hope in the future by his own history; more importantly, Obama reveals Rev. Wright to be just a man—a fallible human being like the rest of us—warts and all.
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| Martin Luther King, Jr., 1948 Image credit: Morehouse: King Collection |
Similarly, Obama’s speech to the 2013 graduating class of Morehouse College contains a parallel story: one which depicts the humanness of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Describing the then-15 year-old Dr. King, Obama says, “it’s fair to say he wasn’t the coolest kid on campus—for the suits he wore, his classmates called him ‘Tweed.’”Here, Obama requires that we envision the monolithic Dr. King, arguably the greatest Civil Rights leader—as just a man—a fallible young man who was once teased for his suits! At Morehouse, this young man was taught the power of hope: hope in the possibility of change and hope for our collective future. Of Dr. King’s college experience at Morehouse, Obama says, “It was here that professors encouraged him to look past the world as it was and fight for the world as it should be.” Just as Obama’s illustration of Rev. Wright is a metaphor for cynicism, for being stuck in the past, for closing our hearts and minds to hope, his illustration of a young Dr. King at Morehouse College represents the antithesis of that tragedy; his depiction of Dr. King represents the beauty of a universal human possibility: hope and faith in change, in our collective future. Beyond color: we are all human.
History as a metaphor to understand race in
America: Connecting history to the present
In both speeches, Obama reminds us that these United States are not yet free from discrimination and racism; disparities in housing, health care, employment, education—and myriad other cultural/societal conditions—can be “traced directly to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery.” Particularly with regard to wealth accumulation, subtle forms of discrimination and racism continue to drive economic disparities between white and black communities. In fact, a 2012 study conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Urban Institute found that out of more than 8,000 tests in 28 different metropolitan regions nationwide, “blacks, Latinos and Asians looking for homes were shown fewer housing options than whites who were equally qualified. And fewer options meant higher housing costs” (see “For People Of Color, A Housing Market Partially Hidden From View ...”). Though less blatant than Jim Crow era laws, discrimination and racism continue to exist in increasingly subtle manifestations.
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| Image Credit: zazzle.com |
Obama’s personal story as metaphor
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| Image Credit: Ebay |
Obama’s personal life story is a metaphor for our collective vision of America as ‘the great melting pot’—where people of all colors, classes, socioeconomic statuses and backgrounds come together to strive toward our common value: freedom. In his 2008 speech, Obama says, “I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.” Obama is the embodiment of what he terms, “America’s improbable experiment in democracy.” Improbable? Yes. Impossible? No. Just as a young Dr. King embodied hope in our collective future and the possibility of change, Barack Obama embodies evidence that we have changed—we are changing—and we, in our interrelated, interconnected humanity—will continue to change.
History: both relevant and problematic
As Americans, we have more choices than most human beings on this earth. In his 2008 speech, Obama says, “We can accept a politics that breeds division and conflict and cynicism . . . but if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change. That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, ‘Not this time.’” Certainly, our collective past has been imperfect—and that imperfect past can function as a distraction, a barrier to our collective progress and momentum—or, as Obama urges in his 2013 commencement speech at Morehouse College, we can unite in the commonality of our humanity. He warns that “success may not come quickly or easily” but that “together, we will continue the never-ending task of perfecting our union.”
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