Coloring the blind spot: The urban black community as an object of racial discourse in the age of Obama

Introduction "On behalf of the great state of Illinois ... crossroads of a nation, land of Lincoln, let me express my deep gratitude for the privilege of addressing this convention. Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let's face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely. My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. He grew up herding goats, went to school in a tin- roof shack. His father, my grandfather, was a cook, a domestic servant to the British. But my grandfather had larger dreams for his son. Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place, America, that's shown as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before him. While studying here my father met my mother. She was born in a town on the other side of the world, in Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs and farms through most of the Depression. The day after Pearl Harbor, my grandfather signed up for duty, joined Patton 'S army, marched across Europe. Back home my grandmother raised a baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the GI Bill, bought a house through FHA and later moved west, all the way to Hawaii, in search of opportunity. And they too had big dreams for their daughter, a common dream born of two continents. My parents shared not only an improbable love; they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or "blessed," believing that in a tolerant America, your name is no barrier to success. They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren't rich, because in a generous America you don't have to be rich to achieve your potential. They're both passed away now. And yet I know that, on this night, they look down on me with great pride. And I stand here today grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents' dreams live on in my two precious daughters. 1 stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that in no other country, on Earth is my story even possible." --Barack Obama, 2004 Democratic National Convention (Obama, 2004) An American Story of Race in Three Speeches So began the ascent of Barack Obama into the heights of national endearment. In a few years time, he has advanced from all-star senator, to underdog presidential candidate, to President of the United States. An eloquent and charismatic speaker, Obama's notoriety has nonetheless mostly to do with his racial identity. His campaign can be credited with instigating, even if unintentionally, the reemergence of 'race' in the public discourse of a nation paralyzed by the cosmetically progressive decorum of color blindness. It is an impressive feat, for as WEB DuBois cited 'race' as the defining problem of the 20th century, so have recent scholars argued that 'color blindness' will unfortunately define our current time (Lewis, 2004; Bonilla-Silva, 2006). Yet the Obama campaign's involvement in reigniting "the race debate" is ironic since the themes that many have come to associate with it highlight the malleable character and general inconsequence of race, rather than its salience. One need only interrogate his debut speech. By way of it, we witness a political birth of sorts, the delivery of a charismatic politician from his place of state-level exposure and general obscurity into national renown. But also, in the speech itself, we stand witness to the miracle of birth; he narrates how his own racial identity was born. In several ways, it parallels the birth of Jesus. Like the virgin birth, the defining feature--as Barack himself makes reference to--is the 'unlikely' circumstances of it's occasion. We are, right at the onset, taken down through his lineage. We meet: his grandfather, a Kenyan servant of the British; his father, a Kenyan goat shepherd who becomes a student in America; his mother, a Kansas girl and daughter of an oil rig worker; his maternal grandfather, a patriotic soldier; and his maternal grandmother who, to weather the depression, worked in the industrial weapons industry. …