Barack Obama, A Three Time Reflection

The designation of the African-American candidate by the U.S. Democratic Party gave way to consensus in France, which articulates two good pieces of news. First, it is the first time that a man of color has arrived at this stage of political competition, which indicates a positive evolution in a country which did not abolish legal inequalities between Blacks and Whites until the mid-1960s. The contrast between he and President Bush, the creator of a war which violated the laws of his country and did nothing to fight inequalities, is striking. Barack Obama is the bearer of hope; he comes from the most social-democratic wing of his party. Contrasting with his Republican adversary, John McCain, he did not vote for the war in Iraq and instead envisioned a withdrawal of American troops.

Nevertheless, we must be careful not to reduce our thoughts to only aspects of identity that place us in front of the multicultural left. The ethno-racial identity of a candidate has not been known to be sufficient political criteria or a patent of progression. Mrs. Rice, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Bush government, is African-American but is also a “go-to-war” character that encouraged the pursuit of hostilities in Lebanon in 2006. Media presentations in the United States, as in France, focus all the debates on diversity and the ethnic origin of the politically responsible, dead-locking on the same political essence. Mr. Obama, victim of a diabolical campaign searching to involve him as a hidden Muslim, gave a speech in front of the most influential pro-Israel Organization (AIPAC) which did nothing to stand out from the words of Bush. The true friends of Israel and Palestine, who want peace, cannot worry about ultra-favorable support to the settlements. He must detach himself from the media idea that only one man exercises power.

As was noted, in order to congratulate him on something, Tom Friedman, a columnist for the New York Times noted, the President – whoever he may be, cannot stray from the consensus on the Middle East which prevails in the U.S. Various economic or ethnic lobbies limit the field of action for all the candidates and all elude them. Finally, a last encouraging element: Obama, by transcending racial splits, is certainly going to permit the movement of the political debate and reintroduce a reflection on inequality and the existence of social classes, which are all multicultural but where resources vary widely depending on their place in the social ladder.