Obama Serving Coffee?

It was supposed to be that Barack Obama’s election as president would mark the beginning of a new phase that left racism behind in the United States. His inauguration on that cold January morning, a year ago, seemed to be the end of a chapter in the history of America, one that included segregation and slavery, and the cessation of skin color being used to determine a person’s fate.

Racial discrimination, people said at that moment, no longer exists. With the arrival of the first black president to the White House, it is finished. The fact that a minority politician was elected made almost everyone feel good, even those who did not vote for him. Everyone thought that the United States was now a country with great social progress: an example for the rest of the world to uphold racial equality, opportunity and justice.

After all, even if more than 90 percent of the Black community voted for him, Obama won the presidency because a significant number of whites, Hispanics and Asians did as well, making the old days of racial division seem like things of yesterday.

However, the freshness soon passed. In a couple of months, rallies that were supposed to be politically opposed to the presidential plans for the health care reform became focused on racial tension, with signs of bad taste as social internet groups began to offensively compare the first lady to a gorilla.

Right wing extremists initiated a campaign that supposedly denounced Obama as an impostor, saying that in reality he was not born in the U.S., but in Kenya, thus disqualifying him for the Oval Office.

In a speech to lawmakers, a Republican congressman from South Carolina, Joe Wilson, shouted “liar” to the president and refused to apologize. Warming up the atmosphere, former President Jimmy Carter said the outburst was not politically motivated but inspired by racism “because in reality many resent the fact of having a black president.”

Analysts wonder how this country rid itself of racism and quickly returned to it over a period of months. Arguably, racism, as though it were something new, dominates not only the daily lives of American citizens but also their politics at the highest levels.

The days during which the vast majority of Americans of all colors and races were fascinated with the extraordinary story of the life of Obama, the son of an African father and white mother who was raised by his grandparents in Hawaii before graduating from the most exclusive universities in the country, seem distant.

The issues have resurfaced because a book has come out written by two reporters from “Time” and “New York” magazines. According to the authors, the leader of the Senate and a political ally to the president, Harry Reid, allegedly said during the president’s campaign that Obama had chance of winning because he did not speak “black.” Even former President Bill Clinton once referred to the new leader as someone who “just a few years ago would have been the one that brought us coffee.”

Democrats, including the president, have tried to tone down the controversy. Republicans have tried to get political juice out of the matter, even by asking that Reid, a key man for the White House, resign his position.

It is not expected that Reid will actually resign, and in a few days, the matter will probably be forgotten. What has become clear is that although Obama has refused from the beginning to play the race card, these stories will not only follow him forever but they will always be sensitive and thorny issues that persist in politics.

Racism is one thing and political opposition is another, though. In Washington, they are often interpreted on the same level. Obama’s election was a triumph for him and his country and if the president has disappointed many and lost popularity, it is not because of his race but because of the high expectations he created. It simply cannot be said that his critics and opponents are all racists.

Obama wants to be judged and go down in history as president and not as an African American who became president. In any case, true social evolution in the United States will in part depend upon whether other minorities follow his steps or, as Clinton said, “serve coffee.”