The Higher Forms of Racism?

2009-10-13
By Ethelbert Miller

One thing about racism is that it changes and it adapts to change. Ellison was on to something when he wrote about black invisibility. We see this taking place with how Obama is now viewed in the world. Let's measure the full impact of his election to the presidency by looking at conservatives of the extreme. Here we will find people who believe Obama is not a US citizen, maybe never took the correct Oath, or just isn't their president. White fog for four years? You betcha! Obama might be very visible to some people but invisible to others. Must we remind a US general that - yes - there is a commander-in-chief?

The idea that Obama hasn't accomplished anything is like reducing the man to Sidney Poiter in Guess Who Is Coming To Dinner. Remember how folks wanted to know Sidney's credentials in that flick? Or go to the Autobiography of Miles Davis and return to that incident at the White House when a white woman during the reception wanted to know what Miles did.

Has Obama accomplished anything yet? Do we still have an American economy? Unemployment might still be high but some of us are still working. We have jobs because of who? Yes, the black man and the decisions he made and the people he selected for his cabinet.

Remember the stimulus battle? We will soon pass a major health care bill and Obama won't get credit for that either.

So what has Obama accomplished? He has introduced to the world a new form of blackness. It's blackness linked to power. It's blackness linked to a new way of seeing the world. It's the blackness that was always part of the American experience. It's jazz now being played on the world stage for what it is - black classical music. You don't have to define it - maybe you can't.

It's a new sound every time Obama gives a speech. OK - if you think Obama is just a man who makes speeches then you probably believe Duke Ellington was a man who only played notes.

Obama's election to the presidency is new jazz to American and world politics. Some people can't see it or don't want to hear it. Worse - they can't even play it. So introduce a "higher" form of racism. Cool Obama down or just make him invisible. Right? Yes, Far Right.Deny his sound and his accomplishments. Have him humble himself to the point of accepting his own invisibility?

The Nobel Peace Prize being handed to Obama in December is nothing short of awarding Charlie Parker something for playing "Cherokee" or "Now's The Time." Obama's sound marks a new departure and some people will scream - it ain't music so it must be noise. A higher form of racism creates a back door for the black president. Obama's four or eight years in office might become the "lost" years for many white Americans. They will long for a return to normalcy. They pray daily for another Great White Hope. Too late. Obama is not changing the world -he already has changed the world. What we are seeing are Obama tremors. Reactions around the world to his being.

At the end of the day - Obama's blackness -once SEEN is more significant than any law he could ever pass. This is why Michelle Obama's mere presence has redefined our concept of beauty. Oh, and what has she accomplished? Maybe a black person being FIRST at something is too radical for sad eyes. How many black people live and die everyday - building America - and are never given credit. Here is a question, some white people can never answer correctly - what have African American accomplished in America? Is it too early yet to measure our historical contributions? Wake, the world baby. Rise and SEE the New America.

E. Ethelbert Miller is an award-winning poet and director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University.